Page 73 of Wanting You

Looking up, she smiled sadly. “Now I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.” She paused. “No, that’s not true. I know that I miss Tanner. So damn much.”

“Have you spoken to him at all?” Jade asked.

“No. Obviously, I’ve seen him at school, but he sort of stays out of my way—so much it’s almost painful. And I didn’t want to bring any of…you know…this…to school. When I’m there, my students are all I’m focused on.”

“Okay, but it’s not like you couldn’t call him or text him or just go to his house,” Ashlynn said. “He only lives like two minutes away.”

“And what was I supposed to say, huh? Until a few minutes ago, I was perfectly fine living in my own pity party!”

“That’s fair,” Billie said. “But what about now? Do you think you could call him and talk to him?”

“I want to say yes, but…I’m not ready. I’m not sure what I’d even say. That night was a big deal to him and even though he was partly to blame, I wasn’t exactly understanding and I certainly didn’t even try to be a part of what was going on. I just shrank into a corner and let it happen. So really…”

“The whole thing was an unpleasant experience and you need to chalk it up to a one-time thing,” Levi said. “Now that he knows how you feel, I doubt he’d allow that to happen again.”

Tanner’s words came back to her.

“That will never happen again. I promise. I’ll make sure that you are front and center at every event moving forward! That you get treated like a VIP! I can totally work that into any contract for any promotional event I do!”

Now she realized he meant it.

Just like some other things he said to her that night.

“Do you want me to beg?” Because I will. I think we’re worth fighting for. I think we have something good here, Chloe. Something that has the promise of an incredible future.”

“I’m willing to give you the space that you need, but I’m not giving up on us. I’ll always be there if you need me. For anything.”

And she did need him.

For everything.

She just had no idea how to ask.

“Mr. Westyn! Mr. Westyn! My mom signed me up for skiing lessons and I saw your picture in the ski store!” Alex Maynor told him on Monday morning. “I told everyone you were my teacher and they said that maybe you would teach my ski lessons! Will you?”

He smiled patiently. It seemed a bit early for ski lesson sign ups since it would be at least another month before the snow started, and even then, the prime skiing time wasn’t until January. “I didn’t think they were doing sign ups yet since we don’t know when it’s going to snow,” he said.

“I’m going to the kiddie ski camp,” Alex explained. “It’s inside with a little hill, and my mom said it’s gonna be fun!”

For a moment, Tanner racked his brain to remember if he saw that facility or if anyone had even mentioned it. It wasn’t something he’d be interested in participating in to teach, but it could be a fun field trip option. Perhaps he should call them and see about it.

“I’m sure it will, Alex. And I promise to let you know if I’m going to be one of the instructors!”

“Yay!” And as the boy ran back to his seat, Tanner looked around the room and couldn’t help but smile. All his ski-themed stuff was on the walls, his shelves were now almost completely full of books, and the room looked great. He’d been doing this for almost two months, and this was the kind of classroom that would make any teacher proud.

But it especially did that for him.

This wasn’t the grade he wanted, and it certainly wasn’t the situation he had always envisioned for himself, but it was better—so much better. The only thing that would make it perfect was if he and Chloe were still together.

Eleven days.

The longest eleven days of his life. She was literally so close and yet so far away. He could see her every damn day, but he didn’t want to do anything to upset her, so he kept his distance.

And it was killing him.

Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that—again. It was time to take his class down to lunch. “Okay, everyone!” he said cheerily. “Let’s put our pencils down and grab our lunches. Line up by the door and let’s see who’s going to be the best listener today!”

They all silently scrambled over to their cubbies and grabbed their things while wiggling their way into a straight line. It was so damn adorable that it made his heart feel lighter than it had in days. As soon as they were all ready, he led them down to the cafeteria and left them with the aide.

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