Page 94 of Hot Four Teacher
Changing the subject, I ask, “Any idea what you’re going to do at your dad’s?”
“I’m not sure. We haven’t talked about it much.”
Knowing Danny, he’s going to try to buy her love the whole time. Eve’s visits to her dad’s have never been frequent–mainly because Danny has never had his shit together for very long at a time. It wasn’t until recently that he finally began to grow up.
On the rare occasions that he would have Eve come over, he would be thefunparent. He would take her to movies and to race go karts. He’d take her shopping and buy her anything she wanted. While Eve and I have fun, I still have to be a parent.Danny likes to skip over that part. Now that he has a pretty, new house, I wonder what Eve is going to come home with.
“I hope you have a good time,” I tell her.
“Me too. And I promise when I get back, we will have a movie marathon and eat all the junk food.”
I smile. “I can’t wait.”
Danny’s jacked up pickup pulls into the spot next to us. He gives me an awkward little wave before focusing all of his attention back on his phone.
Eve turns to me. “If you get really bored, call me, and I’ll come home. Really, it wouldn’t be a big deal. I mean–”
“Eve,” I get her attention. “Get the fuck out of the car.”
She laughs. “Okay, okay.”
After she steps out, I wait for her to get into the truck, and then, I watch him peel out of the parking lot.
I then pull out…at a reasonable speed. I know I should probably go home, but I really don’t want to. I’m not sure of what else to do, though.
Okay, that’s a lie. I know exactly what I want to be doing. I want to go see Dane.
He hasn’t reached out since our encounter at the soccer fields. I can’t say I blame him. He probably thinks I’m crazy. I’m the woman who keeps trying to break up with him but ends up fucking him instead.
He probably thinks I’m certifiable.
I thought a few days away from Dane would be enough to get him out of my system, but theopposite seems to be happening. I’m thinking about him more than ever. I miss him like crazy.
I also can’t stop thinking about what my dad said. What would have happened if he would’ve listened to everyone else–including my mother? None of us kids would even exist, and his life would look completely different. He gave up a manager job to be with a woman he would go on to open his dream bar with.
I’m not saying that I think Dane and I are going to have the same type of outcome. It’s way too early to make that kind of statement. But I do know that I’m crazy about him. And I’ve never been this crazy about anyone.
As I wait at a terribly long stop light, my fingers tap on the steering wheel. When it turns green, I could go left and go home…or I could turn right and go to Dane’s.
I don’t know what I would do when I got there. Past experience says fuck him. But this time, I think talking would be in order.
I can’t even believe I’m considering this. A few days ago, I wouldn’t have, but since I can’t seem to get him out of my head, I figure something has to change. How are we going to make any of this work? I have no idea. But maybe it’s worth it to at least try.
So, I tell the tiny voice of reason in my head to shut the fuck up, and I turn right.
***
Twenty minutes later, I’m sitting outside of Dane’s house. I wait in my car for a few minutes until one of the neighbors goes inside. I don’t want to risk being recognized…not that I know that many people around here.
When the coast is clear, I quickly jog up to Dane’s porch and knock on his door. When he doesn’t answer for a few moments, it occurs to me that maybe I should have called first.
I knock one more time although I feel like I already know the outcome. Just when I’m about to turn and walk away, the front door swings open.
A smile spreads across my lips but just as quickly fades because it’s not Dane standing in the doorway.
It’s a woman.
An attractive woman.
