Page 32 of Riley

“I’m thirty-eight!” I said in alarm. “I’m not?—”

“I know. I mean, I don’t know, but I know, I mean... ugh, why is this so hard?” Trevor said, his cheeks turning red.

I wasn’t sure what Trevor was getting at it by his comment, and a part of me was surprised he’d confronted me in general. Though he was a great student with a lot of artistic potential, we didn’ttalkabout his social interactions or things outside of school during his study hall sessions when he’d come in to work on his projects.

The flush on his cheeks, the chewing of the lip... the way he was dancing around the topic... Suddenly, I realized the subtext of what he was saying.

Trevor himself was gay. And likely hadn’t told anyone.

“Trevor, if this is about what you think you saw... If you are feeling... some sort of way?—”

“Oh God, no!” Trevor said shaking his head. “I mean, I like you, but not like that, obviously. Not that you’re not attractive, or... Oh my God, what I mean is just...”

I swallowed harshly at his trail of compliments, because even as nice as they were, they were certainly misplaced.

“I just wanted to tell you to be careful, that’s all. You seem like a good guy... I think, and I just don’t want to see some asshole hurt you.”

My heart sank at his words.

For starters, Eric was the furthest thing from an asshole, and why on earth would he hurt me?

“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Klaypas, but my personal life is just that. Mypersonallife. There is a reason I don’t share it. Because I value my privacy,” I said as politely as I could.

“But if you need someone to talk to about anything, you know you can talk to me,” I said as nicely as I could. I knew how hard it was growing up in this town, after all I’d been a lot like Trevor once myself.

Trevor sighed, nodding. “Yeah, right of course, my bad. I just... I’m sorry, can... can we pretend this never happened?” he asked, his flush returning to normal. A part of me understood his desire to forgo the awkwardness, and clam up. Perhaps whatever was truly bothering him, he wasn’t ready to divulge to himself.

“Of course,” I said, for I too, wanted nothing more than to forget this equally embarrassing moment.

“Okay, well... um, in that case, I’m gonna go...”

I wrote him his art pass, sent him on his way, and tried to shake off the odd encounter.

Glancing at the clock, I knew I only had ten minutes left until the buses would clear out, which meant if Iwanted, I could leave early.

I usually stayed around till at least six, working on curriculum and getting everything organized for my professional development and the upcoming field trip as well as organizing my things for next week’s project. But as I looked out the window at the sun shining down on the pavement, as I watched the kids walking outside, goofing off, I felt a need to shirk my adult responsibilities and just do something fun.

Maybe I’d catch a movie—something I hadn’t done in awhile—or swing by the cafe for a coffee or even just go for a walk.

The world was full of endless possibilities, and so I didn’t waste a moment as I grabbed my phone, my jacket, and headed out into the world anew.

CHAPTER 15

Eric

I staredat the text that readBrunch?

I hadn’t seen Julie since the other night, when the guys and I met up at M’s Place. The night I first met Riley.

Even though it was almost a week ago now, it felt like ages.

To be honest, I hadn’t thought about much else except Riley, and the fact that I could feel myself falling into his quicksand.

It was hard not to like him, once you got past his Sunday School attire and his blushing cheeks.

And he does play a good game of air hockey.

I decided that maybe a good brunch was what I needed to get my head right, to get myself back on track.

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