Page 96 of Crossing the Brooklyn Briggs
We spend the next twenty minutes tying balloons to each of the chairs in Mark’s classroom. Jordan and Mateo hang a huge birthday banner on the back wall, and I place a unicorn-themed birthday hat on Mark’s podium up front. The cake is my favorite part. It’s just as colorful as the rest of the decor and in bright green letters says, “Happy 34th birthday, Mr. DeNiro!” so there’s no confusion as to who is celebrating today.
I even got a bunch of plates and forks so his students can enjoy the cake while he teaches.
“It’s perfect,” I declare, grinning at the absurd amount of color we just added to Mark’s otherwise dull classroom.
“Almost,” Jordan corrects. He picks up a fork and scoops a bite out of the middle of the cake, stuffing it in his mouth before I can stop him.
Honestly, I don’t care, even though a week ago that would have driven me crazy. Clearly Jordan has been a bad influence on me. Or maybe a really good one.
“We should leave before he gets back,” Mateo says, already heading for the door. He has my class next, but since he missed lunch because of this, I told him he can sit in my office and eat the food I brought for him. He seems determined to follow through with that.
Jordan follows me back to my classroom, though we stop just inside the open door, out of sight of the hallway. We have a couple of minutes before lunch ends, which means we have a couple of minutes to test my hypothesis.
Jordan laughs as soon as he gets a look at my face. “I’m not going to kiss you in your school, Queens.”
“Then your text was incredibly misleading.”
He shakes his head. “No. I’ve gotten in trouble too many times for kissing on school property.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Yours, mainly.”
I huff in frustration, but he’s not wrong. I definitely ratted him out a time or two. Or several. “Okay, well, if you had been kissingme, you wouldn’t have gotten caught.”
He cocks his head, a smirk pulling up the corners of his mouth. “I was under the impression you hated me in high school.”
It’s hard to imagine hating this man with the way his hands snake around my waist, pulling me closer. Besides, the more I think back on the years we knew each other before, the more good stuff I’ve remembered. Maybe it wasn’t all that bad. “Hate may be too strong a word,” I say breathlessly.
He brushes a kiss against my jaw. “Mm, I can think of other strong words that I like so much better.” He kisses the delicate skin below my ear. “If I had tried to kiss you in high school, would you have let me?” He kisses my eyelid.
I can barely get the words out. “Probably not. But I was also pretty young and stupid in high school.”
“You did date Garrett Butler, so that’s true.” He finally brushes a kiss against my lips, sending a shiver through me. “I’m glad we ended up here eventually.”
Me too. Instead of saying that, I hook my finger on the collar of his t-shirt and drag him closer, kissing him like I’ve wanted to do since he left my house last night. He doesn’t complain, diving into the kiss right along with me.
“Oh,” someone says.
We break apart, and though I try to distance myself, Jordan keeps an arm around my waist and holds me close. “Mark,” I gasp.
He scowls, eyes jumping between the two of us. “I was going to ask if you saw who trashed my classroom, but I have a pretty good guess.”
Jordan’s arm tightens around me. I put my hand on his chest, hoping to keep him calm before he says something he shouldn’t. “Someone trashed your room?” I ask. “I didn’t see anything. Jordan was just dropping something off for his brother.” It’s sort of true.
Mark scoffs and folds his arms. “His brother. Sure. Now I see why you’ve been avoiding me all week, Briggs.”
While that’s true, it’s not like he’s made an effort to see me either.
“Do you need help cleaning up your room?” I ask. “I’ve got a lab today, so I could probably step away for a minute if you have a lot of mess.”
His eyebrows drop. “It’s not a mess, necessarily. My mom must have done it for my birthday.”
“It’s your birthday?” My loud question is genuine, which makes Jordan cough a poorly covered laugh. Talk about coincidence! “Happy birthday!”
The bell rings overhead, making me jump.
Chuckling, Jordan presses a kiss to my cheek and gives me a squeeze. “I’ll see you tonight?”
