Page 64 of Past Tents

Secrets didn’t stay secret for long in Green Valley, to say nothing of secrets at the high school. Within two days of our date, everyone knew.

On Tuesday, every chair in the teachers’ lounge was taken when I arrived. Witty was eating something green that had the stench of day-old broccoli without looking nearly as healthy. As usual, I didn’t ask.

As usual, the same mugs festered in the sink and the same individuals had made coffee with the Keurig machines, without removing the used pods.

As usual, no one sat on the green couch against the wall, even though it meant two teachers were teetering on one chair together, half-cheeking it and nearly toppling over each time one of them reached for a bite of lunch.

And as usual, Principal Pindich made a beeline toward where I stood by the coffee machine. “Pour me a cup, would you?” he asked, reaching over my head to retrieve a mug and missing my face by mere millimeters in the process. He gave me the creeps, but I took a step back and tried not to choke on the musky smell of his body spray.

As I filled Pindich’s cup with coffee, I could hear Clay’s voice in my head telling me not to drink “that swill.”

I had no problem pouring it for our dear principal.

He leaned in again, uttering a whispered “Thanks,” but before he backed away, Clay “accidentally” tripped and splashed cold brew all over Pindich. Shaking off the cold coffee and muttering something about a dry-cleaning bill, Pindich moved away to search for paper towels.

Thank you, I mouthed to Clay. My heart squeezed at his protective gesture.

As he moved past me, his chest grazed my shoulder, and he placed his hand on the small of my back. A tiny gesture, but it set off a firestorm in my veins.

Guiding me away from the coffee maker, Clay tipped his head toward the hallway. I felt Pindich’s eyes on us as we left. The curiosity in them had turned into a glare.

Wordlessly, Clay moved us outside to the teachers’ parking lot and drove us off campus for lunch. “I swear to God, Ally, if Pin Dick does anything even the least bit skeevy to you, I want to know about it. So help me, he’ll barely live long enough to regret it.”

One hand on the steering wheel, Clay drove, his fury evident in the crease in his brow and the set of his jaw. We pulled up to Daisy’s.

Clay hopped out and came around to my side. He didn’t extend his hand to help me out of the car like he usually did. Instead, he leaned in, bracketing my head with his forearms on the frame of the truck, and kissed me like it was his final dying request. Lips. Teeth. The scrape of his stubble. I felt it straight down to my core.

When he backed up an inch, I let out a shaky breath before inhaling the pine-and-soap scent of him. My eyes fluttered open.

“Hi.” The sexy rasp of his voice was a balm to my senses.

“Hi.”

His lips were on mine again and dizziness took over. It was an authoritative, claiming kiss, and as much as Pindich irritated me, I had to credit him with bringing out this protective side of Clay. I loved it.

The sound of approaching voices immediately put space between us, and Clay wrapped his hand around mine and pulled me out of the truck. Before we went into Daisy’s, he grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips. “You free tonight?”

I nodded.Tonight and every night, I wanted to say. But I didn’t.

I wasn’t ready for Clay to know how smitten I was with him. I wasn’t even sure if I could admit it to myself. Except that, yeah, I had to admit I had it bad for him.

And also . . . so good.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FIVE

CLAY

Alight bluegrass soundtrack snuck through the speakers I’d installed in my living room and the music followed us onto the deck that overlooked my yard.

I’d made an effort to come up with an activity for us this afternoon, so it wouldn’t seem like all I wanted to do was kiss Ally and carry her to my bed. But when she showed up in a plaid flannel shirt, painted-on jeans, and hiking boots, all bets were off.

“C’mere,” I said, leading her into the house. “We need to get you out of those clothes.”

She looked down. “What do you mean? I thought this was the perfect outfit for a hike.”

“It is. But I won’t be able to think straight watching your tight little ass in those jeans if I don’t have you first.”

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