Chapter 22
twenty-two
QUINN
“Hey, Bug,” Declan says from my classroom door the next morning, a smile on his face.
I can’t help but smile at him as I turn away from the whiteboard. “Okay, you’ve gotta find a new nickname for me. Bug is not cute.”
“No way. Nicknames aren’t something you get to choose. They happen naturally, and you’re stuck with them for life.” He walks toward me, and when he reaches me, he places his hands on my hips, pulling me into him.
I place my hands against his chest, tilting my head up to look at him. “It’s a nickname you gave me. You can change it if you want.”
“Well …” He lowers his voice. “I don’t want to change it.” He leans down, his lips a hair’s breadth away from mine. “I think it suits you.” His lips brush mine as they move, but he doesn’t kiss me.
“I changed my mind. I don’t care anymore. Shut up and kiss me.” I fist his shirt in my hands and pull him closer, pressing my lips against his.
Declan doesn’t disappoint. He takes charge of the kiss as soon as our lips touch. One of his hands travels up my back, cradling me to him—like I’m something precious. While his other hand moves down to my ass, grabbing it with a possessiveness that has me gasping. Which Declan takes full advantage of, his tongue flicking out to meet mine. I moan, pushing myself even closer to him.
“We should stop,” Declan says as he pulls his lips from mine, ghosting them over my cheek and down my neck. “We’re at work.” He changes direction and trails his lips up to the space under my ear and sucking lightly—my thighs clench.
“Yeah, we should definitely stop,” I say while my hands release his shirt, moving to his shoulder, one veering down his back and the other into his hair at the base of his skull. His lips move back to mine, kissing me deeply for another minute before finally pulling away.
“Okay, we really need to stop now.” He presses into me, making sure I can feel his hard length behind the zipper of his slacks. “I’m going to need a minute to calm down.”
“If it makes you feel any better, that kiss got me pretty worked up too,” I say, rocking against him.
He hisses, his hands going back to my hips, pushing them away from him. “Yes, but you can hide the evidence of your arousal. I cannot.” He releases me and adjusts himself, causing my eyes to follow his movement.
My eyes widen slightly. I know I just felt him pressed against me, but looking at him now, those pants leave little to the imagination. “Are those pants allowed at school? We don’t need you getting arrested for indecent exposure.”
“Ha ha, very funny.”
“I’m not joking. That thing is huge,” I say, pointing toward his dick.
“Thank you, but if you could stop looking at it or talking about it, that would be great,” he says with a slight grimace to his face.
“Sorry.” I go to move toward him, but he shakes his head.
“You coming near me is not going to help this situation.”
“Okay. I’ll stay over here,” I say, linking my hands in front of me.
“I need to go.”
“What? I didn’t do anything!” I can’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of this situation.
“I know, but looking at you standing there is not helping, so I’m going to remove myself from the situation.” He moves to me, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before turning to leave. “I’ll see you at lunch,” he says over his shoulder, and I can’t help but laugh more.
“Hey!” I look up to find Ava standing in my doorway right before lunch.
She’s dressed comfortably in black leggings and an oversized pullover sweater, highlighting her short stature and slender frame. Ava’s hair hangs loose down her back in beautiful waves, framing her small, heart-shaped face. She’s gorgeous, which shouldn’t be surprising, knowing who her brother is. However, the similarities end with their hair color and eyes.
“Hey, your brother’s classroom is one more door down, but he’s got a class right now.”
She steps into the room, “Oh, I know. I got here a little early, but thought I could bug you for a little.” She pauses as if realizing something. “Unless you’re busy.”
“No, I’m not busy. Come on in.” I wave her further into the classroom.
“Are you enjoying teaching so far?” Ava asks as she looks around the room, taking in the student work hanging around us.
“You know what? Surprisingly, I am.” I hop onto the edge of my desk, taking a seat. “It’s not what I expected, but I love watching when a technique or concept clicks in their brains. It’s fun.”
Ava glances at me and smiles. “You sound like my brother.”
“I’m going to take that as a good thing.”
“Oh, absolutely. I love my brother. Like you said yesterday, he’s a good man.” She turns back to the photos she was looking at. “Better than most.”
I frown at her tone of voice. “Everything okay?” I ask concerned.
Ave turns to smile at me. “There you go, sounding like my brother.”
The bell rings, signaling the end of fourth period. “That’s lunch,” I tell Ava, hopping down from my desk and grabbing my lunch from the bottom drawer. “Did you bring something with you?”
“Yeah.” She holds up the bag I didn’t see her carry in. “Where do you normally eat?”
“Your brother normally meets me here, but we can head to his classroom,” I tell her, coming around my desk.
“Okay, I’ve calmed down, but it took way longer than—” Declan stops talking when he sees Ava in the room with me.
“I’m sorry?” Ava asks, a look of confusion crossing her face, and I burst out laughing at the look of horror that passes over Declan’s.
“Nothing,” he mumbles. “I didn’t know you were coming to the school today,” he says louder, pulling her into a hug.
“Yeah, I finished writing the return suit and filed it this morning, so I thought I’d come bug you for lunch before I look for something else to occupy my time,” she says a little flippantly.
“You wrote and filed a court document all in one morning?” he asks in disbelief.
“Well, I wrote the brief last night, but I had to wait for the courthouse to open this morning to file it.”
“You wrote it last night? You must have been up all night.” I can see the concern growing on Declan’s face.
“I haven’t been sleeping well, so I figured I would just get it done.” Ava looks at Declan, trying to communicate something silently to him.
“Ava, I don’t?—”
“Big brother, I told you yesterday I didn’t want to talk about it,” Ava interrupts him.
I can see the struggle on Declan’s face. He’s clearly concerned but also trying to respect her wishes. I walk quietly to his side and place my hand on his back. He startles slightly, glancing at me before turning back to Ava. “You’re right.” He turns to me, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. “Let’s sit.” Declan walks over and sits at the table in front of my desk, and Ava and I follow suit.
“How’s your morning been?” I ask Declan, giving Ava the distraction she seems to need.
“It was good. Nothing out of the norm to report.” He glances at me out of the corner of his eye, and I can’t help but laugh, thinking about how he left my classroom this morning.
“What am I missing?” Ava asks from across the table.
“Nothing,” Declan rushes to answer. “How was your morning?” He throws back at me. “Anything else from Tyler today?”
“No, he wasn’t in class. I checked, and he was marked absent from school today.”
“Weird. I don’t think he’s ever missed a day of school.”
“Tyler’s the kid you told me about?” Ava asks Declan. “The one who acts out a little in class?”
“Yeah. It’s normally not serious, but on Friday he was a little more disruptive than normal,” Declan answers her.
“Why not write him up?” She looks between us.
“He’s so smart, and doing well in his classes, but his behavior has him on the cusp of being expelled. I don’t want to be the reason for that,” I tell her. “I don’t want to ruin his chances of doing whatever he wants after high school.”
“Not everyone is worth saving,” Ava mutters under her breath, but Declan and I both hear her and share a look.
I reach over and squeeze his thigh under the table, giving him the little bit of comfort I can offer at the moment. It’s clear something is going on with Ava, but I don’t know her well enough to press her for information, and it seems she and Declan have already talked about it.
“Do you know what you want to do with your time in town since you’ll be staying longer?” I ask Ava, trying to find a safer topic for us, and get back to eating my lunch.
“I honestly don’t know.” She shrugs.
“Do you know how long you’re staying?” Declan asks as he picks at his lunch.
“Well, I’ve got a little over a month saved up. So I was thinking about staying through the new year.”
Declan stiffens beside me, and I instantly place my hand on his back, offering my support. “Ava.” He closes his eyes briefly before opening them and looking at his sister across the table. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, and I want to respect that, but I need you to give me something to stop me from worrying.”
She fiddles with her lunch for a minute, then lifts her head to look at Declan. “I was fired from the firm.”
“What?” Declan breaths out.
“That’s all I’m going to say on it. I’m not sure I’m upset about it. Practicing law hasn’t made me happy for a while now.” She glances over at me before looking back at Declan. “I just need a little time to figure it all out. I promise, when I’m ready, I’ll tell you everything.”
Declan takes a deep breath before responding. “Okay. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”
“Thank you.” She looks back at me. “I know you’re still in the same general field, but you did technically change careers. Would you recommend it?”
“Ava!” Declan exclaims, but I laugh.
“You know what? I absolutely would. Sometimes, being forced to change one aspect of your life leads to a domino effect of wonderful things falling into it.” I smile at her, and she smiles right back.