Page 48 of Me and My Hot Professor

Jess was surprised to hear that from me, she looked at Casey who nodded, impressed, then took a sip of his own drink. “And if there’s ever a doubt of me being here for Naomi and the baby…first of all, I love Naomi—like I said—and second, I’ve wanted to be a dad for a long, long time. The baby is a literal miracle for me and I’d go to Neptune and back for them,” I said and looked at Naomi again. She bit her lip, trying to stifle the huge grin on her face.

“So you’re going to be there? For everything?” Jess said.

“For everything,” I said without hesitation and without looking away from Naomi.

“What about the school? Casey told me that you guys reported your relationship?” Jess asked.

I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, the report was just filed with the ethics committee. My supervisor is waiting to hear back from them. The fact that Naomi is pregnant could be a problem,” I said honestly.

“Actually, according to the language in that handbook you forwarded, if any wrongdoing is filed by Naomi then there’s a problem. I’m pretty sure the next steps will be that they ask for a brief statement from her to cover their asses and yours a little bit. Just in case you split and my sister brings hellfire down,” Casey said with a mischievous grin. Naomi snorted at her brother’s antics, I wondered how true to his nature that was and paused for a second.

“I hope it’s not too difficult of a process, in any event,” I said and took another sip of my drink.

“It might take a little while but difficult, it shouldn’t be. Unless they suddenly change their policies,” Casey said. He looked at Jess and raised his brow, “Done with the grilling?” he asked. “I’d really like to order appetizers now.”

“I guess,” Jess said. Casey waved to the waiter and we all quickly decided on a couple of appetizers and started looking at the entrees.

“Have you decided when you’re going to tell Mom and Dad?” Jess asked Naomi, she shrugged.

“Not at all. I kinda just want them to settle everything and get into their separate lives before I do. This moving out and splitting the assets thing is too sensitive,” she said. “I haven’t even heard from either of them since that time I went over.”

“That’s to be expected,” Casey murmured. Jess was quiet, she sipped her mojito.

“How do you think they’ll react? I haven’t told my parents yet. They’ll freak, but in a good way. Imagine mister and missus Claus,” I said. Casey chuckled, Jess simply tilted her head to the side. I didn’t think she liked me at all.

“My dad will probably disown me, my mom…she’ll be shocked and disappointed but she’ll come around,” Naomi said.

“I’d put money on that,” Casey said.

“Sometimes they behave lovingly, you know. Out of the blue, who knows, they could throw you a curveball,” Jess said. Both Naomi and Casey looked at her as if she were an alien. “What? It’s possible,” she said and shrugged.

“So what do you do in the summers, Josh?” Casey asked.

“I teach summer classes, I try to work year-round. It’s easier for me than a grade school teacher with summer semesters and whatnot,” I said. Casey nodded.

“That’s not bad, do you ever consult?”

“I have once or twice, only because it keeps me out of jury duty. I don’t really like talking to cops or investigators about the sad cases they have to work on. Especially if it involves kids,” I said.

“You have a doctorate?” Jess asked skeptically.

“Jess,” Naomi said in a low voice.

“Sorry, what kind of doctorate do you have?” she said. Her reframing of the question made Casey laugh, Naomi just rolled her eyes.

“I’m actually a clinical psychologist but I realized very quickly that I’d rather teach,” I said.

“Wow, nice,” Casey said. “So you could have your own practice and the whole nine yards if you wanted?” he asked. I nodded.

“How interesting. Maybe you can diagnose our parents,” Jess said.

“I specialize in developmental disorders. Especially PTSD in kids,” I said. Naomi’s hand twitched in mine under the table and I glanced at her, realizing she didn’t know any of that about me. I wanted to get up and go home to tell her everything she wanted to know…my whole life’s story.

“What made you want to specialize in that?” she asked in a low voice.

“My dad was a school teacher and ended up being the therapist to a lot of his students. The stories he’d tell us about what teens go through…was tough. I realized that a lot of kids deal with varying degrees of PTSD that will follow and affect them well into their adult lives. I got really passionate about it. But then, when I was on the front lines for like two years, the stories broke me down. I was getting angry at the world, you know?” I said, speaking to her more than the table at large. Naomi nodded.

“That’s something to think about Nao,” Jess said. “She wants to do the same thing but with learning and attention disabilities.”

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