Page 9 of Just This Once

Whip King had a pierced. Fucking. Cock.

I had only ever seen one in porn or random late-night Google searches, but being presented with a penis that looked like his—long and thick and veined—only to find out that he was also sporting a Jacob’s ladder?

My thighs quivered at the memory, and I pressed my legs together, sucking in a long deep breath at how he’d?—

“Earth to Emily.”

I jolted at the feeling of a hand pressed between my shoulder blades, splashing coffee over the rim of my mug. “Ow! Shit.” I shook off my hand, sending droplets of coffee flying.

“Are you okay?” Rachel assessed me from head to toe, concern pinching her eyebrows. “I was calling your name, but it looked like you were in a different world.”

Yes. A world in which I was pinned beneath Whip King as he drove into me over and over with that glorious bedazzled cock.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, sorry.” I let loose a nervous laugh. “Just lost in thought, I guess.”

Rachel flicked her short blonde hair back. “Well, the bell is going to ring in three minutes. We gotta get in there.The Wardencan’t be late.”

I pulled down a handful of napkins from the dispenser and wiped away the spill and tried to hide the cringe from my unwanted nickname—as if being a teacher withruleswas a bad thing. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

I had better get my head on straight. I need this job.

The rumor floating around the teachers’ lounge was that Mrs. Kirk wasn’t planning on returning after her maternity leave. That meant there was a very good chance that this job at Outtatowner Junior High could turn into an actual career. For the time being, I was considering my long-term substitute job as her maternity sub as an extended interview of sorts.

I could nail this gig and get that job.

Oh god... but then I would have to face him again.

I clutched my coffee mug in both hands, letting the warmth seep into my fingers before taking a steadying breath.

“Rachel,” I called. She turned and smiled as I hurried to catch up. “Wait for me.”

Side by side we walked through the corridors of the junior high school until we reached our doors across the hall from one another.

“Happy Friday.” She clinked her coffee mug against mine. “Another week down. You know, a few of us are going to do happy hour after school. Are you in?”

“Sounds fun. Where are you going?”

Rachel smiled at Mrs. Kuder, the crabby, septuagenarian librarian who pushed her cart between us. I stifled a giggle, recalling Mrs. Kuder’s beloved town nickname:Scooter Kuder.

I shook my head as she shuffled away.You can’t make this shit up, I swear.

“We’re going to the Grudge Holder. It’s a local place. Do you want to come along?” Rachel looked at me expectantly.

The knot in my stomach grew taut. “Yeah, um. I’ll think about it.” I sipped my coffee to hide the slip in my smile. “I might come out tonight.”

I wouldn’t.

Rachel could see right through my bullshit as she tipped her head and raised her eyebrows in a look that said,Yeah, fucking right.“Come on. It’s been almost two months since you took over Kirk’s class. You’re one of us now. You should come out. Given the students you wound up with this year, you have definitely earned it.”

I chuckled as I glanced over my shoulder and through the classroom door. She wasn’t kidding—my classroom of eleven- and twelve-year-olds was most definitely a handful. There was even a rumor going around school that Mrs. Kirk had found out about the cluster of students in her class and had timed her pregnancy perfectly. The students were rowdy and rambunctious and needed a firm but kind hand if we were ever going to get anything done this school year.

They were perfect.

My eyes landed on one desk. “Hey, what do you know about Robbie Lambert and his family?”

Rachel’s gaze followed mine. She was petite, but what she lacked in height, she more than made up for in gusto. Her short, light-blonde bob bounced when she tipped her head. “Not much, why? Is he a troublemaker?”

I shook my head. “No, the opposite. He’s an angel—very sweet, but really quiet. I just get the feeling something isoff. He came to school with no socks on last week and the other day forgot his coat.”

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