Chapter 9
SIENNA
I love how Micah doesn’t take me on an expensive date to impress me. That he remains fully true to who he is and what he enjoys doing. And when I pondered on what a date with him might be, I couldn’t say this was what I imagined.
I’ve never been to an outdoor concert that wasn’t some big global phenomenon. This event features local bands and a hyped crowd that appears to follow them faithfully. They know all the words, sing at the top of their lungs, and dance until the next set just to do it all over again.
This small park is super cool. It’s like an enclave you descend into, the stage being at the bottom so that the music echoes off the hills and enclosing it round you. There are some food trucks and a beer tent, but Micah brought his own leather backpack of goodies for the two of us only.
Beer in a small bagged cooler.
A small container of cupcakes.
A couple of wrapped subs with chips, accompanied by little wine coolers.
And a large black comforter that Micah had tucked under his arm while holding my hand with the other as we found a perfect spot under the shade of a tree.
Micah…doesn’t make it easy for me to resist him. Not when he does things like this that may seem so painfully difficult for some, but Micah doesn’t even seem to try.
He might have the illustrations of a bad boy with his inked sleeves and immaculate blue eyes, but he’s extremely conscious of making me comfortable whenever he can. To make sure he brings me everything I could need to make this date absolutely perfect.
Honestly, there’s nothing more I can think of that would make this even better. Except maybe not being so nervous, though.
I like being under Micah’s intense gaze, the cause of his knockout smiles, and the ways he permits his focus to drift down my body like he’s imagining every single action he could do with it. I may blush a deep pink, but I would never deter him from it.
In fact, I feel the most beautiful when I’m with him.
And that is both a blessing and a cruel reality check of how this isn’t ideal for my career, and I don’t want to keep him a dirty little secret.
“You good, sweetheart?”
I’m more than that if I didn’t have that meeting with Principal Simpson. Something I haven’t told Micah yet.
“Yeah,” I reply. “I’m great, but—”
“You want one of your favorite cupcakes?”
He cracks open the plastic container, displaying vanilla cupcakes with almonds and a cherry on top.
I narrow my eyes suspiciously. “How did you know they were my favorite?”
I swear, I think I see him blush when he drops his head to grab the container. “Instagram. I may have…stalked you a little bit to find out what you liked.”
Difficult.
This man is making it so hard in the best way that could have the worst consequences.
I love my kids, my job. I’ve worked so hard to become a teacher and gain respect amongst my peers.
My parents were a little disappointed that I didn’t want to become someone who made more money, but the job is rewarding enough for me.
I’m an only child, so their expectations were pretty high for me, but they’ve come to expect it.
“I should file a restraining order,” I tease as he pulls a perfect cupcake from its container before taking a large bite out of it. “Hey!”
Micah shrugs his massive shoulders underneath a white tee that says punk rock isn’t dead. “Bad girls don’t get cupcakes…” His blues slide slowly over to me with a heaved brow. “Or dick. Be nice to me.”
“A girl has to be careful,” I argue.
“I’ll take care of you,” he vouches without a second thought. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”
I wish that were fully true. I’d love for us to be able to have a relationship that was just as simple as that.
However, I have a big decision to make here, and I’m afraid to choose wrong because either way…I lose something or someone.
“You keep doing that.” I blink away my inner thoughts, not realizing I zoned out, and focus on him. “You’re thinking too much about this, Sienna. It’s not that big a deal. You can hide me until the school year is out.”
“I had a meeting with Principal Simpson.”
Micah stops chewing and stares at me like it was the last thing he was expecting. “And…”
“The moms complained that you chaperoned.”
He scowls. “Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately.” He rolls his eyes and continues chewing. “She reinforced the rules.”
Micah averts his gaze and looks at the crowd. “What rules?”
He knows which rules I’m referring to.
Or should I say the rule.
My response is clogged in my throat, reality looming and eating away at my resolve because this—us—we’re over before we started.
We have to be.
“Dating…parents.”
Blue eyes flick back over to me, and it’s written all over Micah’s face.
He knows.
He knows I won’t continue this based on what I’ve just disclosed.
I also won’t drag him into a secret relationship because it’s not right.
I’m not rebellious, but I follow the rules placed in front of me.
Not only because it’s in my DNA but because it’s a career I’ve worked extremely hard at and take a lot of pride in.
“What does that mean?” he volleys back, studying my expression and daring me to say the words I’ve said before.
Except it’s hard.
I open my mouth, but I hesitate because I don’t want to do this. I hate being the one who has to put an end to something that could’ve been something great.
“It means my career could be ruined here, in Magnolia Ridge, if we continue.” He bobs his head and pushes his left cheek out with his tongue. “And it’s not fair to you.”
“How do you figure?”
“Hiding you. You deserve to be able to go on dates…in public. Without the worry of me freaking out because I see someone I know—”
“I already decided that it’s not a deal breaker for me.” He shoves more of the cupcake in his mouth and, geez, this man can not not be sexy for one moment. “I’m not going to let some stupid rule for a few months take away what I could have with you.”
I blow out a silent and unsteady exhale through my lips.
His decision makes my chest tighten, and small butterflies knock into each other because why did he have to be one of my kids’ parents?
“I love my job,” I tell him. “And my kids…”
I can’t continue because, while all those things are true, I feel like I’m making him inferior. I’m explaining that, current day, he’s second place to all those things because I have to think of myself outside of a relationship with him.
“I get it,” he finally says. “I can wait.”
“Please don’t,” I say a little too quickly, which gets his expression to twist a bit. “You might find someone—”
“I haven’t liked someone like this in a really long time, Sienna. I’m not going to drop you to go find someone better. I’m not built like that. I can wait.”
“Micah…”
“You can break up with me temporarily, but I can hold out until the end of the school year.”
“I don’t even know if that’s allowed.”
He scoffs then. “Principal Simpson isn’t my biggest fan, and if we’re going to start getting more petty about it, I’ll drag her around town.”
“You can’t.”
“That’s the power of being in a small town, sweetheart.
Reputation is everything around here. If you’re not teaching my kid anymore, what could you possibly do to jeopardize his education and whatever other excuses she gave.
I knew you signed up to be a teacher, but I don’t think you took the job to become a nun for the rest of your life. ”
“I didn’t, but—”
“I like you, Sienna. I’ll wait.”
Studying his solemn expression, I can’t help but mutter, “You can’t be serious.”
His lips quirk upward into a self-assured smirk. “Why don’t you come over here and find out how serious I am about that?”
Micah doesn’t wait for me to move, leaning over and reaching for my t-shirt to drag me closer to him.
My breath catches as the sound of rock music fills my ears, the hyped-up buzz of the air intensifying the crazy need that pulsates through my veins.
His lips hover over mine, taunting the possibilities of everything he could do to me right now. Everything he may want to do.
“Tell me you want me, Sienna,” he mutters, loud enough to where I can hear him and my thudding heartbeat against my ribcage. “You get a cupcake…and me, if you want.”
Screw the cupcake.
The smell of leather and sweet frosting fills my nostrils as I meet his breathtaking blues. “I really want you.”
His mouth crashes into mine, not giving me any reprieve to just naturally flow into the kiss because his tongue slips between my lips and causes my pussy to throb underneath my leggings.
It’s cool out tonight, but I’m on fire for this man who still has his possessive hold on my tee as if he’s never going to let me go.
I could sit here all night worrying about what I already know—my job, losing my kids, being looked at like a slut who can’t keep her legs shut for a student’s parent—but it’s getting to be extremely irrelevant now that the more time I talk to and see this man.
Because he’s right, the rules are stupid, and I shouldn’t be punished for wanting to be happy.
“Micah?”
“Mhm?” He licks at my tongue again, coaxing a rebellion to come out of me that’s about to take everything in my world and flip it.
“I want this.”
“Remember that.” I swear I feel him smile against me before his tongue slips past my lips again and pulls me deeper into a moment of raw need.
“The next time she or one of the moms tries to scare you…I’m better than them at all this.
I know that doesn’t sound good, but I swear, I’ve been stealth and a pain in my ass all my life. ”
He runs the crook of his index finger underneath my chin and pulls away, looking down at me like I hold every bit of happiness he could ever want.
“I promised to be good tonight, and I want to court your ass eventually without any inserted doubts in your head that I’m doing this for fun, and that’s all I want to do. It’s only a few months. Even if this is our last night together—”
“I hate this,” I breathe because I do. This sucks so bad, and months feel like years. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not mad.”
“You should be. I’m breaking up with you.”
He lifts his shoulders. “You gonna promise me you’ll come back?” My head immediately bobs before my brain silently answers yes to his question. “That’s a good girl. The moment you do, all my good gentleman nature and self-restraint won’t last long.”
I hold my breath in bated anticipation when I mutter, “You promise?”
I see him draw in a shaky inhale as if holding on to that so-called composure for dear life. “Woman…I swear to God you could tempt a saint.”
“I’m not looking for a saint,” I croon, giving his resolve a quick test, and because I’m so beyond curious about how much I can affect it more than it appears I already am. “I want that bad boy who said he was only going to be bad for me. Who let me ride his dick…and take what I needed.”
“You can always take what you need, sweetheart,” he imparts. “But tonight, I’m going to drive you home and say goodnight.”
Seriously?
I’m all for chivalry, but not at the present moment. Not when it’s our last night together.
I bristle a little bit. “Look who’s following the rules now.”
“It’s why I never followed them in the first place. But I’m serious about you. And I want this. So I’ll play.”
“You’re making it worse.”
He smiles. “Am I?”
“I don’t like this.”
“I don’t either, but it’s all we’ve got right now. And I’m good with it.”
“Are you? Because that means being on your absolute best behavior when we’re out in public together.”
He bristles a little as if I insulted him, but he just fully admitted to being a pain in the ass. “I’ll have you know that I do have a level of self-control.”
“Mhm.” I lean closer, before he does the same, but I don’t finish out the distance between us because, you know, he allegedly has a level of self-control and all. “That’s good to know.”
“I’m fully aware of what you’re doing here.” His gaze falls to my lips, and I silently root for him to kiss me and get it over with. “But it’s not happening.”
“Of course it’s not. You said you were a gentleman with self-restraint.”
“I did.”
My lips lightly brush his. “I appreciate that.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t.”
I smile. “It just helps, you know?”
“Not me in the present moment.”
“You could back out. This is a lot for a girl you barely know.”
“I know the basics.”
“Like?”
“Cupcakes, for one.” I pull back a little, and he chases my lips but doesn’t press a kiss to my lips. “And you’re the sexiest teacher I’ve ever seen. Heath likes you. My dick is practically—”
I straighten my spine and gape at him in surprise. “Heath likes me?”
Micah blinks a few times before slowly saying, “Yeah…you didn’t know that?”
Ugh.
Not really.
And it’s a sensitive topic because our first conversation about Micah’s son was my recommending a therapist.
Not exactly my finest moment when I didn’t even walk him into the suggestion carefully.
“Heath is quiet,” I convey quietly. “I…have a hard time gauging him sometimes.”
Micah pushes out his lower lip, appearing seemingly in thought. “It’s hard for him to open up. It takes him some time. Especially to new people.”
“Mrs. Whitman said he was a good kid.”
“Not a big fan of her when she decided to retire, and the woman I’m wanting to date took her spot.”
“I thought you were fine with it.”
“I am,” he retorts simply. “But, damn woman, she couldn’t wait to finish the year?”
“Health issues.”
He perks a brow. “I just saw that woman doing a cake walk at full speed at the end of the summer fling a few months ago.”
I lift my shoulders. “That’s what she said.”
“Mhm.” Micah snorts at his inability to believe it fully, but I don’t have any other information to give him. “I think she got tired of the little shits.”
A broken laugh escapes my lips. “Micah. Those are my students.”
“And you haven’t thought before that they’re little shits?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“They’re kids.”
“And they’re little shits. You’re either the definition of patience or you’re good at blocking them out.”
“Both,” I reply with a lift of my chin. “I have resilience.”
“We’re still going to have to build on that, though. After months of being without me and round two, you’re ready to take a nap.”
My cheeks blush furiously, but I don’t break eye contact with him. “Shouldn’t you take that as a compliment?”
“I do. However, I’d love to shoot for round three, eventually.”
Silently, I sigh because a few months without Micah…without being around him is going to be hard. “You can still change your mind.”
“I’m not going to.”
“You should.”
“My fantasies will tie me over, don’t worry.” Micah gives me one more long kiss before saying, “The next best thing besides fucking you.”
“Kissing me?”
“Mhm.” He does it again and, this time, slides his tongue between my lips just to get my heart to skip a beat. “I can’t wait to hear how much you missed me while I’m balls deep.”
I’m deceased.