Page 14 of Dear Mr. Brody

Denny put the book in his bag, and while he grabbed the pencil from the floor, I fought to contain my smile. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it sure as hell felt like a win to me. I cleared my throat and rapped my knuckles on the desk once he was settled and back in his chair. “Should we finish this damn essay so we can grab some cookies from the kitchen?”

“Hell yes.”

“Alright… then show me what you got.”

I quietly slid into my seat next to Marcos near the back of the room, thankful Mr. Brody had his back to the class while he scribbled what I assumed was our next assignment onto the white board.

“You’re late,” Marcos whispered. “You missed it.”

“Missed what?” I asked and opened my notebook. “Did you take notes?”

Marcos reared his head, his nostrils flaring like I’d just shit in his lap.

“Um… of course not.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “When I walked in, Mr. Brody stared at me, and I swear to God, you should have seen his face… it was like I stole his ice cream cone or some shit. I think he was disappointed you weren’t with me.”

“This again? I should have never told you I talked to him at the club last night.” I ignored him and flipped past my math notes to find a clean page to write on.

“Listen…okay, you weren’t here, you didn’t see his face. I’m telling you—”

“Welcome to class, Mr. Mills. I’m sure you and Mr. Basulto have a lot to catch up on, but I’d appreciate it if you both could wait until after my class.” Mr. Brody set his dry-erase marker down on his desk, his piercing gaze sending a flash of heat to my neck and face.

Shit.

“Yes, sir. My apologies.”

Marcos chuckled, and I gave him my shut-the-fuck-up-or-I-will-end-you look. It only made his immature ass laugh harder.

“I want to thank everyone for getting their essays in on time,” Mr. Brody continued, no trace of the adorably nervous smile I’d been treated to last night.

Running into him had been awkward, but considering the obscene amount of alcohol I’d consumed, I thought I’d handled myself well enough. Too bad I hadn’t been able to muster up some of that control when Tam asked to suck me off. He’d shared a ride with us, and instead of going back to his own place, he wound up in my bed. Not one of my finer moments. He’d left right after we hooked up, and when I’d woken up this morning, I’d almost thought I might’ve had some weird, drunk, sex dream. But Marcos had been sure to remind me I had him to thank for my “good time.”

I was too busy worrying I’d made a huge mistake fucking around with one of Marcos’s co-workers, I missed it when Mr. Brody called my name.

“Park,” Marcos hissed. “Wake up,mijo. He’s talking to you.”

I lifted my eyes from my notebook and met Mr. Brody’s expectant stare.

“Could you repeat the question?”

Hell, had he even asked me a question, his quiet laugh had me thinking maybe not?

Before he could speak, a girl in the front raised her hand.

“Yes, Ms. Williams?”

“I’m not very good at free writing…”

“What did he say?” I whispered to Marcos while Mr. Brody discussed the merits of free writing.

“He asked if you could tell the class the definition of free writing.” Marcos flicked his gaze to the front of the room before he whispered, “And you literally said nothing.”

“It’s your fault, I’m still hungover from last night. Never again, Basulto.”

“Whatever, you enjoyed yourself… according to Tam, a couple of times, actually.” He smirked and I dropped my face into my hand. “Don’t worry, he said it was casual… Though, I think you should text him for a re-do. You get cranky when you haven’t gotten any.”

“I hate you.”

He squeezed my thigh under the table and kissed my cheek. “I love you too,mijo.”

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