Chapter Chapter Fifteen
Amy
The rest of the week went by quickly. We had a carnival at school on Wednesday—the one Gregory and I made decorations for. I swear, the guy seemed to stay far away from me at all costs. When he was in the same room as me, he avoided my gaze even more than usual.
Was Knox right, and did Gregory have a crush on me? But that was impossible. He’d been working here for a year. Surely he would have picked up the courage to ask me out at some point.
“What’s up with Gregory?” Agnes asked me as we took down the decorations.
So she’d noticed he was different too. I debated telling her everything, but the truth was, Agnes was a work friend. We might have made that pact about dating, but we didn’t share too many details.
“Not sure.”
“Hmm... poor guy seems even more awkward than usual. So, how were your dates?” she asked with a grin.
I shrugged. “Didn’t pan out.”
“You have new ones lined up this week?”
“No, I’m taking a break.”
She pouted. “Already?” With a sigh, she added, “Well, my dates weren’t good either, so I might just follow suit.”
We spoke a bit more about the carnival and what we could repurpose the decorations for, and then I went back to the high school.
* * *
On Friday morning, we were all meeting in the parking lot where the bus was waiting.
Since I was a teacher, I made a point to arrive earlier than the students.
I was wearing comfy clothing: sneakers, loose workout pants, and a sweater.
Gregory had jogging attire on too—a green-and-orange tracksuit.
He had a matching orange cap too. I was pretty sure it had been “in” back when my grandparents were younger.
I blinked several times. Vanessa, the other teacher joining us, was wearing jeans. She kept throwing Gregory incredulous glances, as if she couldn’t believe he’d wear something like that.
Knox arrived around the same time as five of the students.
Holy shit, the man looked hot. He was wearing jeans, a short-sleeved black shirt, sunglasses, and a leather jacket over his shoulder.
I realized that he’d actually thrown the jacket over a backpack.
He could have been filming an ad for Calvin Klein or something.
“Dude, I thought they were kidding that you were coming with us,” Joel, one of our students, said.
Knox grinned. “Here I am, in the flesh.”
Joel laughed. “Cool.”
I understood his appeal to the students. He was laid-back and yet extremely successful.
He then looked at me intently. Knox’s sex appeal was through the roof. He was wearing sneakers, too, but even those were fashionable.
“Hey.” Gregory blinked rapidly as he greeted Knox.
Vanessa looked at Knox with an appreciation I instantly recognized. I wasn’t the only one who thought he was sexy.
“I’m Vanessa,” she introduced herself to him.
“Knox Sterling,” he said, shaking her hand. “And we’ve already met,” he said to Gregory.
“Yes, we have,” Gregory replied and frowned, looking down at the list of students, moving the pen in an odd way. I was pretty sure he was just doodling, because there was no reason to take notes.
“Knox, thanks for coming early,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
The familiar gesture caught Vanessa’s attention. She frowned slightly, but then Knox cocked a brow at me. I immediately dropped my hand. Oh God, what am I doing? I had to be professional. I took a deep breath. Thankfully, only Joel saw us.
“Well, Joel, the early bird gets the best seat. Have at it,” I said.
“Cool,” he replied as he went up.
The other students started arriving soon after, and we helped them all load up and get settled.
The bus was big enough that everyone had their own seat. I expected Knox to complain that it was a regular school bus—we took the cheapest option—but he didn’t. In fact, he was amazing the entire trip. He didn’t embarrass Gregory even once.
Knox sat up front, behind me, but he occasionally got up and walked around, talking to the students.
They hung on his every word. He was telling them about how he’d decided to start his own company after working exclusively at Sterling Investments for many years.
The more he spoke, the sexier he became.
I was happy to have my own seat because I could curl up a little and just look at him as long as I wanted.
“Where did you find this hunk?” Vanessa asked when we still had about half an hour to go. She was sitting in the seat in front of me. Now she had climbed on her knees to face me.
“We’re friends. We went to college together.”
“Friends,” Vanessa said. She flashed me an interesting smile. It was almost saucy. What the hell?
“Right. Well, this is fun. If I’d known, I would have brought my sexy stuff.”
“Vanessa, you’re a teacher,” I chastised, shocked that she’d share that with me. I’d been around her maybe three times in total. She taught senior classes, and I’d never seen this side of her.
“So what? I still have a life. I’m not a prude.”
I wasn’t, either, but that didn’t mean I wanted to share spicy details with her. Even so, I had to make sure she knew that Knox was mine.
I swallowed hard. Was he, though? He’d had a fit of jealousy, but that didn’t mean he actually wanted a relationship—or even knew what one meant. He’d been crystal clear about it. He simply didn’t want me sleeping with someone else while I was sleeping with him.
Nevertheless, Vanessa had to know that he wasn’t available.
Oh, I was being such a hypocrite. I gave Knox a hard time for behaving the way he did in front of Gregory, and look at me now.
As we finally approached the camp, Knox exclaimed, “Right, looks like we’re here.”
The kids cheered. I swear, he could command the group for the whole trip. I was going to bring this up to Ms. Adams. The teenagers needed to see more adults on a regular basis who weren’t teachers. I strongly felt that this would help them be connected to the outside world and inspire them too.
“That’s our spot,” the driver said as he pulled the bus into a small parking lot next to a forest.
We came here last year, too, and it was a truly lovely place. Just a bit isolated.
As we all got off the bus, Knox came up to me and said, “Had your fill, huh?”
“What do you mean?” I asked under my breath as the two of us walked side by side toward the cabins.
“I saw you watching me.”
“You did?”
“Amy, you weren’t being very subtle.”
I giggled. “Well, I thought I was. I’ll do my best to be on very good behavior from now on, then.” I turned to the group. “All right, everyone. You already know who you’re bunking with. Go in and drop your luggage, rest a bit if you want. We’ll regroup at the firepit in about twenty minutes.”
“All right, cabin colleague,” Vanessa said, winking at me. “I’m going to take a shower.”
I nodded at her. “I’ll come in later.”
As all the students went into the cabins, Knox came over to me. Gregory had already gone inside their cabin.
“What’s with that smile?” I asked him.
He tilted his head. “I didn’t realize the opportunity to be alone with you would present itself so quickly.”
I laughed. “We’ve got about twenty minutes before everyone regroups.” Though staying with him wasn’t a bad idea. I had zero desire to chitchat with Vanessa.
“Is that carte blanche? Because I have so many ideas.”
“Knox,” I chastised, looking around. I couldn’t see anyone on the front porches of the cabins, but that didn’t mean no one was looking through the windows.
“Let’s take a walk,” he said. “Do you know any place where we won’t be disturbed?”
I grinned. “Yeah, I do happen to know a place, actually.”
He made a come-here motion at me, but I turned around, walking a step in front of him. We looked a bit silly, carrying our backpacks, but I didn’t want to waste any time by going in to drop it off.
Secretly, I hoped Vanessa was looking out the window at us. The thought caught me by surprise. What is with me and this insane urge to stake my claim? She’d made a throwaway comment, and I was fixating on it. This wasn’t like me.
As soon as we disappeared between trees and the cabins weren’t in view anymore, Knox threw our backpacks onto the forest floor.
Then he put a hand on my waist. He turned me around and kissed me, and oh my.
It was deep and wet and so damn desperate, it almost mirrored my need for him.
Emphasis on almost, because I was truly desperate.
I jumped him the next second. Thankfully, the man had good instincts and put his hand under my ass.
I placed my forearms on his shoulders and kissed him right back.
Then he put me back down on the forest floor, and I felt us walking backward until something scratched my back.
He’d pushed me against a tree and was deepening the kiss.
I shoved my hands under his shirt, feeling his abs, and then he paused, pulling back.
“Damn it, Amy. I’m losing control.”
He closed his eyes, exhaling sharply, and then drew in heavy breaths. When he opened them, I shivered. I’d never seen him look so feral. Not even while we were having sex.
“Knox,” I murmured.
Licking my lips, I took my hands out from under his shirt and put them on my hips. If I didn’t park my hands somewhere, I was going to just maul this sexy guy right here.
“I can’t control myself around you,” he confessed.
I let out a sigh of relief. “I thought I was the only one who couldn’t.” I took a deep breath in. “I can’t explain this. What’s happening here?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Well, we’re out in the woods. Literally animalistic attraction.”
“Knox,” I said. My heart was beating faster. “I mean it. I mean, we’ve known each other forever. Why is it—ouch!” I looked down and shrieked. “That’s a snake. Oh my God!” I screamed. “A snake bit me! No, no, no. This can’t be happening.”
Knox immediately rolled up my pants leg. “It’s bloody.”
“Was it venomous?” I asked.
“No fucking idea. But I know how to take the venom out,” he said, looking up at me.
My voice was shaking. “You do?”