Page 5 of Room One Hundred and Twenty Nine

Despite the need to touch her, I enjoy having her around the office. She’s good at her job and she brings a nice energy. There are a lot of stuffy people in business suits around, and she’s a bright light in the fog of pocket squares. I enjoy having her around. Too much, but not enough to extract myself from her presence. I figure if this is all I can have, I may as well enjoy it.

I walk to my car with the box of bats and balls. I open the back to stow the box in when I hear, “Hey boss.”

I turn to see Haruko leaning against my Jeep with a smile on her face, her backpack slung over one shoulder. Her eyes are so bright I can see the incoming stormy sky reflecting in them.

“I believe that’s Coach Bateman today.”

She chuckles, then waves at me. “Okay. Hey, Coach Bateman,”

Fuck, can you call me that while you’re riding me?

Damn it. Stop it. Don’t go there.

I clear my throat then ask, “Hi. What’s up?”

“I was wondering, since we live on the same street and I think it’s going to rain, can you give me a ride?” she asks, just as what feels like a bucket of rain falls from the sky.

Haruko squeals as I guide her to the passenger side door. After getting her in, I round the car, running, and get into the driver's side.

“Fuck!” I take off my hat and shake my head.

“Oh, my God.” Haruko laughs.

I chuckle too as the sound of rainfall fills the car.

“Wow, that came out of nowhere. So glad I asked for a ride,” she says, pulling the elastic band out of her hair and shaking it. Her vanilla scent wafts towards me and I push down a groan.

“Yeah.” I chuck my baseball cap to the backseat and sit properly in my seat. “Ready to go?” I ask as we put on our seat belts. Haruko nods, and I pull the car out of the parking lot to head home.

It's crazy. This woman's dad and Elijah are best buds, and she lives right next door to us! I say “us” because Parker lives with me and Elijah lives on the other side. Haruko moved there last year, her on one side and Elijah on the other.

That means that every day, when we’re drinking our coffee on the front porch, we see her going for a run. She waves at us, gives us her beautiful smile, and takes off. We sip and unintentionally watch her gorgeous ass in tight shorts. I’ve never been a coffee drinker, but I’ve picked up the habit last year after Parker told me he was.

Is it weird? Probably.

Can I stop? Not really.

Despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to do the smart thing. Instead, any chance I get to be around her, I take. Any chance I get to see her, I take. I guess this is my consolation prize for not pursuing her.

It’s only a ten-minute drive to where we live so we get there quick. I pull into her driveway. It’s still raining like hell, so I reach into the back and pull out an umbrella. Getting out of the car, I walk around and open the door, holding the umbrella for her.

“Thank you,” she says as she gets out and holds the umbrella handle, her hand around mine.

We walk to her door together. We get there, she lets go of my hand and digs through her bag for her keys. When she’s got them, she unlocks her door, opens it and turns.

“Thanks again for the ride and the umbrella.”

We stand silently as the rain comes down harder.

It feels like the end of a date when the guy takes the girl to her door. She even fiddles with her keys as if waiting for a kiss. I know that’s ridiculous. I’m her boss and her coach. Awkward tension builds and before I can do anything stupid, I clear by throat.

“Well, I guess I’ll go. See you on Monday.” I give her a nod and she waves as I get back into my car, driving the fifteen seconds it takes to get into my garage.

When I get into the house, I see Parker sitting in the living room. He turns on the couch and looks at me.

“You really like torturing yourself, don’t you?” From our living room, we can see her front door. He was watching me stand there longer than a normal person would.

I roll my eyes and hang up my umbrella.

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