Page 96 of Forget Me Not

The kid’s not laughing now as he looks around him nervously. “Uh . . . It’s the lobster me and my dad caught, last year.”

“And why is it blue?”

“Because it’s rare,” he stammers, his face a bright shade of red.

“I see,” Nova says, inspecting the picture. “And how did that make you feel?”

The kid’s cheeks flame and he chuckles, a smile lighting up his face. “It was awesome.”

“So, when someone else looks at this picture, they might feel the same thing.” She points the picture to Abigail who wrinkles her nose in disgust. “Or, they might feel fear because lobsters scare them.” Nova pins the picture back to the wall and turns back to the class. “Or they could think you’re crazy because they don’t know about the rare blue lobster.”

All eyes are on her, transfixed, and I really don’t know how the fuck she does it. It’s like she’s using mind control. Hell, with Nova, maybe she actually is.

“Art is about evoking an emotion, whether it’s good or bad. Just like the rest of life, if you do what everyone else wants you to do, you’ll never be happy.”

“What does that mean?” Cody’s friend asks, cocking his head.

“Say your friends really want you to get strawberry ice cream, but you really want vanilla,” Nova explains. “You settle for the strawberry because that’s what everyone wants you to do, but are you really happy about it? Wouldn’t you have rather gotten the vanilla?”

Silence fills the room as each of them process this and I’m reminded about the popsicles, currently melting in my hand.

“I prefer chocolate.”

“Reid!” Abigail yells and everyone rushes to the door when they see the popsicle box in my hand. Abigail hugs me and I’m so taken aback, I stumble a step to catch myself. “Did you come to see us?”

“And I brought popsicles.”

Each kid takes one excitedly, and the world doesn’t seem quite as bad anymore.

“Kids, what do you say?”

“Thank you,” they chime in unison as they head back to their seats to talk animatedly while they eat their popsicles.

Nova smiles as she approaches me, though I can see the faint blush on her cheeks.

“Going to be some mighty sticky artwork later,” she chuckles.

“Ah, all the more fun,” I say, holding up the orange creamsicle I brought for her. “Didn’t think I’d forget the teacher, did you?”

Heat spreads up her neck and her smile widens as she takes it from me.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”

I’m starting to think I’d do just about anything to see that smile of hers. Let’s face it, she’s got me by the balls, heart, fucking soul. Whatever Nova Fischer wants . . . that’s what she gets.

“So, how much of that did you hear?” she asks, leading me to the back where her desk is strewn with various art supplies.

“All of it,” I chuckle, pulling up a chair and she groans. “It was good.”

Her eyes zero in on me when I sit down, almost crushing the tiny chair.

“Are kids getting smaller? Or am I just huge?”

She laughs, covering her mouth with a pretty twinkle in her eye. “I think you’re just a lot bigger than them, Daddy Long Legs.”

I raise a brow at her, smirking deviously, and she blushes harder, fighting a grin.

“You know what I mean,” she scolds quietly so the kids don’t hear. “How’s the boat?” she asks, ripping open the wrapper of the creamsicle and sucking on the end. My cock pulses against the zipper of my jeans and heat travels through me.

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