Page 45 of Surrender
“Sure,” Dallis responded with a shrug.
“They’re in the closet in the hall,” Colbie stated in general as she pulled a spoon from the drawer.
“You just ate,” Lawrence stated.
“And now, I’m having dessert. Go get the dominos,” she replied, and Dallis chuckled as Lawrence rolled his eyes but headed into the hallway.
When Lawrence returned a couple of minutes later with the dominos, the three sat at the kitchen table. They each flipped a domino, and since Dallis had chosen the smallest one, he had to wash first.
“Just so you know, I’m going to beat both of your asses,” Colbie informed them before spooning some ice cream into her mouth.
“Yeah, right,” Lawrence answered at the same time Dallis stated, “We’ll see about that, baby.”
Alittle after midnight, Dallis watched Lawrence stand and stretch, releasing a yawn. After playing a few games of dominos, they’d watched two movies before Lawrence suggested they order something for dinner since he didn’t feel like going out after the drive he’d made earlier. That had been perfectly fine with Dallis since he couldn’t take Colbie out in town.
After dinner, they’d played Spades for a while before watching another movie. The one Colbie was currently dozing off to.
“That’s it for me, lovebirds. I’m going to call it a night. Us old people need sleep,” Lawrence told them.
“You are not old,” Colbie countered. “You’re only three years older than I am, plus a few months.”
“Tomato,tomato. Goodnight, you two.”
“Night,” Dallis responded while Colbie waved. He looked down at her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I should get going. You’re falling asleep.”
“Mm, you could stay. If you want to.”
Dallis wasn’t going to turn down her offer, so he nodded, picking up the remote and turning the television off. He stood, pulling Colbie with him. He checked the front door as Colbie turned off the two lamps on the side tables.
He sent a text to his mom as they went down the hall to her bedroom, turning on the light. Dallis watched her remove her joggers, throwing them into the hamper before she pulled off her shirt and bra, tossing them in as well. As she pulled out a tank top to put on, Dallis stripped down to his boxers, reminding himself that someone else was in the house with them and he needed to behave.
Once she was in bed, Dallis turned out the light before joining her. He pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Goodnight, baby,” he stated, kissing her shoulder.
“Goodnight, babe.”
With that, Dallis closed his eyes and allowed the feel of her in his arms to lull him to sleep.
13
They were back at school after the Thanksgiving break, and Colbie honestly had mixed emotions about it. She loved her job, and teaching was her passion, but she felt the holiday should have been longer. The saving grace was that they were halfway through the week, and Christmas break was only a little over three weeks away.
It was clear that quite a bit of the staff knew that Coach Porter was suspended and pending a board review. Some of them had discovered what he’d done and questioned her about it, but Colbie had just blown it off. She didn’t see the need to talk to anyone about it or answer anyone’s questions when it seemed the nosy-ass sanitation worker who had seen the fight break out and the office secretary had told everyone what happened.
A few students in her last class had even asked her about it, and she had told them that it was none of their concern.
She was now in her third-period class, passing out worksheets for them to do. It was over the material she had covered yesterday, and they would be allowed to use their books.
“Ms. Morris.”
Colbie turned to see one of the students in the corner with his hand up. “Yes, Justin?”
“Is it true that you got Coach Porter suspended? A lot of the students have been talking about it.”
Colbie sighed inaudibly before returning to passing out the sheets as she addressed him. “Don’t worry about it, Justin. It’s not any of your concern.”
“But it is because I’m on the team, andyoutook our coach away. So now, because ofyou, our team will have a tough time in the upcoming games.”
