Page 24 of When You Left Me Speechless

“That would have most definitely been an email. I bet it’s way juicier,” Ruth says. “Or at least I hope it is.”

After lunch, we pass by his classroom. I take the opportunity to peek in, and to my surprise he is seated at his desk. A red-headed woman is seated on the edge, batting her eyelashes and laughing. My stomach turns.Am I jealous? No, I couldn’t be. Could I?I try to shake the feeling and divert my eyes down the hall.

CHAPTER 13: HI, MS. COLLINS

POPPY

“Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Beth says, running out the door to attend the staff meeting I learned about yesterday. I quickly finish what I need to do for my group sessions tomorrow morning and pack up my things.

Speech Sluts

Nicole: Did you talk to him yet?

Poppy: No, I haven’t been able to get him alone.

Andrea: Pop, it’s Wednesday. You aren’t trying to hook up with him. You’re just trying to talk to him! Do it!

I hurry out the door, hoping I may be able to catch him before he heads to the staff meeting, too. To my disappointment, his classroom is empty when I get there. I shake it off and continue to walk toward the front of the school where Iam parked. I will have to find the time tomorrow. At least I will be home a little early today.

My phone begins to ring. The sound obnoxiously bounces off the cinderblock walls and echoes down the very quiet hallway. I fumble to dig through my bag to find it, searching the bottom corners and pockets. My hands are full, making it harder to search efficiently. I’m completely distracted, head down, still walking. I’m focused on not dropping my water bottle or keys while I search when I feel my body run straight into someone coming down the hall. My water splashes all down the front of them and me. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry,” I say, pausing and trying to wipe away the water all down my shirt before looking up.

The person laughs, and a deep, familiar voice says, “No problem.”

I know who it is before I even lift my head to meet his face. “Oh hey, Mr. Peters—I mean Logan. Hi, Logan,” I choke out. It's more of a squeak than my actual voice.I really need to pull myself together. Did I really just try to call him Mr. Peterson?

“Hi, Ms. Collins,” he smirks.

I grab some tissues from my bag and drop to the floor to try cleaning up the water splashed there. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you keep running into me on purpose…” My voice trails off.Shit. Why did I say that?

“And I was thinking you are the one that keeps running into me,” he laughs. I can feel my face turn red as I stand and meet his gaze.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, trying to keep this charade up for a little while longer because even though I had all the courage to confront him about this three minutes ago, I’m realizing now I am not ready to face any type of reality with this man. Whatever that might be.

“Poppy, a couple weeks ago, at the Local…”

“Oh, that, yeah, I remember that.”I just can’t remember if I slept with you. “I thought maybe you were the one withtemporary amnesia the way you have been acting since Freddie’s IEP meeting.”

“I remember everything.” His mouth starts to form into a small smile. My cheeks blush.Shit, did we actually sleep together?Part of me thought, or at least hoped, we really hadn’t. My face falls.

“Oh well, okay, glad that is finally out in the open. See you tomorrow.” Feeling awkward and realizing I should probably leave before I make it more awkward, I begin to walk away.

I feel his hand on my arm. My body heats from the grip of his hand on my forearm, and goosebumps erupt under the feel of his skin on mine. It takes everything in me to push the feeling out of my head.

“Wait,” he says, pausing long enough for me to turn around to face him. “I know you ran out of there that morning before I was awake, but I planned to take you to breakfast and get to know you better. I thought we hit it off at the bar. You fell asleep so quickly once we sat down on the couch?—”

“I fell asleep?” My thoughts are racing. I take a step back. “Oh my god, so we didn’t?—”

“Didn’t what?” he cuts me off. His whole face breaks out into a devilish grin. He thinks this is funny.

“You know…” I pause, hoping he won’t make me finish the sentence in the hallway of this elementary school.

He smiles. “No, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

I let out a frustrated huff and lower my voice to barely a whisper. “You know, hook up?”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “No, call me old-fashioned, but I don’t hook up with girls who are too drunk to remember what happened.” He steps close to me so our bodies are a few inches from touching. He smells like teakwood and I have to lock my knees so they don’t buckle underneath me. He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to.”

I’m staring at him now. Mouth parted. Breaths heavy.

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