Dinner commenced as normal as expected. My McCoy or Nathan sat next to me at the dinner table. As soon as he sat down, he maneuvered his chair closer to mine so that his thigh was pressed right up against mine throughout dinner, making it increasingly difficult to concentrate.
Claire and Travis were just opposite of us across the table looking every bit the unhappy couple that they no doubt truly were. Claire hadn't been able to hide her obvious jealousy and Travis just looked as though he had a large pole stuck up his ass. Even as uncomfortable as they looked and as awkward as this situation was, it couldn't compare to the round of questions that my parents fired at us though the meal.
"So how'd you guy's meet?" my mom asked Mr. McCoy and I politely while putting butter on her croissant.
Oh shit. We never talked about any of this. We were supposed to up in the bedroom but Mr. Hot and heavy had other plans.
I felt the rush of fear creeping into my lungs as no words found their way out of my mouth. A nervous laugh escaped for just a moment. I shifted my body in my chair so that I was facing Mr. McCoy and smiled sweetly at him.
"You tell the story so much better than I do, honey. Why don't you go ahead and tell it."
I reached my hand out and placed it gently on his bicep in a loving way, or what I hoped came off as loving at least. His eyebrows rose slightly and his eyes tightened at the sides, a mischievous glint embedded deeply within them.
Before I could pull my hand away, his reached over and clasped mine in his warm grip.
"It's actually quite a funny story," he began. "Well, first off, I'm a teacher, just in case Alex didn't mention it before."
What the fuck did he just say?
Was he trying to get me murdered by my parents? My eyes darted around in panic between Mr. McCoy and my parents trying to conjure up some way to remedy the shit storm that was about to rain down on our family dinner.
"And one day I was headed to the Teachers' Lounge for some morning coffee before my first class of the day. When I got there I saw," He briefly spared me a cool and collected glance.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. He's gonna reveal everything and I will die a slow and painful death tonight. Jesus, here I come...
"That there was no coffee left."
My eyes snapped back to his face in shock. Relief spread its way through my veins and the muscles in my body that I was unconsciously tensing began to relax. Mr. McCoy turned his head to meet my stare and a small but knowing smirk crept onto his lips.
Bastard.
"So I decided to make a quick trip to a coffee shop that I had seen a few blocks away. When I got inside of the coffee shop I noticed a woman crouched down on the floor trying to pick up little individual pieces of sugar that she had presumably knocked down onto the floor. I walked over to try and help and heard her muttering profanities at the sugar." A small, breathy chuckle tumbled through his lips as he looked on, not really focused on anything in particular. He looked as if he was almost reliving the moment in his mind.
"Now, in my head I'm already thinking that this woman is a little on the weird side, talking to spilled condiments and all but she was incredibly funny while doing it; at least I thought. So I asked her from behind if she needed a hand." Mr. McCoy looked over at me with a gleam in his eyes, adoration clear as day in them before looking back to my parents. "And instead of thanking the stranger for offering to help, she stands up, still not facing me, and jumps on my case about how she's not some damsel in distress and some other colorful words that I won't mention. But then she turns around to face me and... I was lost." His thumb started to rub soft, slow circles over my hand in such a soothing manner that even I couldn't hide how much I loved the feeling.
"I had never seen such a captivating, beautiful woman before. And then she opened her mouth and her witty, sarcastic, charming self made its way out and," His eyes found mine and that intense look that I was all too familiar with was entrapped in his gaze. "I knew I was a goner."
My lips parted at his words. Something passed between us in that moment. Staring at this temptingly handsome man sitting next to me, my hand in his, our legs pushed up against each other, I felt something change within me. His words carved their way through my chest and straight to my heart, thrashing around inside of me until there was no possible way to deny it any longer. My heart rate began to increase rapidly as the realization dawned on me in that moment, still fixed in a silent stare down with the man responsible for my internal break down.
Thankfully, just as my realization was taking full effect, Travis spoke up.
"So how old are you anyways? Aren't most teachers, like, in their forties?" he asked with a vile look on his face. Claire and my dad both shot him a look but he didn't seem to notice as he was all too focused on burning a hole through Mr. McCoy's head. Mr. McCoy took a beat to compose himself before he directed his attention to Travis.
"No, actually it varies. I'm 27 though, turning 28 soon," he stated matter of factually while glaring at Travis, challenging him to retort.
Hmm, 5 year age difference. Not too bad. Not too bad at all.
"Wow, so you teach High School?" My mom piped up and saved the day without really knowing what was going on between the two young men in the room.
McCoy stiffened for a moment as did I. He looked down at the food on his plate and replied.
"Yes, photography." He never made eye contact with my mom as he answered, most likely due to the fact that it was a lie.
"Oh, that's nice! Alex is a Fine Art major and loves photography!" My mom beamed over at me across the dinner table. I nodded and shoved some mashed potatoes in my mouth while Nathan answered.
"Yeah, that's just another one of the many things that we have in common," he remarked with a small smile sent in my direction and straight to my heart.
Oh, this is gonna be a long day.
Dinner finished up shortly after the barrage of questions was settled. Mr. McCoy and I cleared the table and he insisted on doing the dishes himself. Even my mom tried to intervene and he scooted her out of the kitchen and proceeded to do them all himself. I couldn't seem to keep the smile off of my face ever since his recalling of our first meeting. Besides a few key details, it was almost verbatim what occurred in that Teachers' Lounge on that fateful day.
Since there wasn't much left to do in terms of helping clean up dinner, I decided to go upstairs to use the restroom and spruce up my appearance a bit.
After doing my business I washed my hands, applied some more lip gloss, and fluffed up my hair some. Before leaving the confines of the bathroom, I found myself face to face with my reflection in the mirror, staring at my blank face and wondering. How was any of this going to work out? My family was involved now. Mr. McCoy said that he wanted a full relationship with me no matter the consequences, but was it worth it? Are having both his and my reputations and his possible job on the line worth the risk?
Taking a deep breath, I pushed all of those thoughts out of my mind until another day. Right now was all about spending time with my family and making sure they bought McCoy and I's story.
I ran a hand through my chestnut colored hair and straightened out my outfit. Giving myself one last look over, I straightened my posture, nodded to myself in the mirror, and opened the bathroom door.
I didn't make it but a step out of the bathroom when a small yelp tore through my throat and echoed through the room.
Standing with his arm stretched out on the door frame, blocking my exit, was Travis. I grabbed my chest to settle my uncontrollable heartbeat and backed away from the door.
"Travis! You scared me half to death!" I scolded him while still trying to catch my breath.
"Sorry. Just got to wondering where you were." A sly smirk played at his lips and his eyes held nothing but wickedness; and not the fun kind.
"Well, here I am." I made a grand gesture with my arms. "Now, I smell brownies cooking so I'm gonna make my way down there before there's nothing left in the bowl to lick."
I took a step in his direction and he side stepped me. Mistaking it for an accident, I moved to the other side only to have him block my path again. An annoyed growl vibrated in my throat.
"Seriously, Travis. I'm not in the mood for any of your crap right now. So please," I raised my eyes to his in a menacing manner. "Move." The word came out slow and deadly but it didn't seem to faze him in the slightest.
"I think I rather like the view from where I am now." His eyes traveled lower and landed on the slight cleavage that was visible from my shirt. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.
"Oh, fuck off," I spat at him and tried to force my way out of the bathroom only to have his hand reach out and grab my arm, effectively stopping me from going anywhere. His hand felt absolutely repulsive on my skin and I wanted nothing more than to fry it off and replace it with Mr. McCoy's perfect one. I attempted to rip my arm out of his grasp only to have him tighten his grip, causing me to wince and buckle slightly under the pressure.
"What do you even see in him?" he demanded, sounding almost vindictive in his words. My head reared back in confusion and shock.
What the hell? His eyes searched mine, commanding an answer sooner rather than later.
"Um, you mean besides that fact that he's insanely attractive, more charming that should be legal, and more considerate than any other man I've ever met besides my dad?" I raised my eyebrows at him arrogantly.
Travis frowned deeply and took a step closer to me, making me in turn take a step back, putting myself up against the door frame with nowhere left to run. He used this to his advantage and brought his face closer to mine, close enough to where his nose brushed up against mine. His eyes locked onto mine, determination and ruthlessness mixed within his deep hazel eyes.
"He's just using you. You can do so much better than him, Alex."
A knife of truth stabbed through my stomach with his statement but for the opposite reason. Nathan could do better than me; much, much better. That didn't mean that I was going to let creepy Travis get the better of me though.
"He chose me and for whatever reason he did, I'm grateful. He makes me feel more special than anyone ever has before." And even as I said it just to win the argument, I knew it was true. Mr. McCoy had always made me feel significant; like I was the only woman to ever make him this flustered or smile in a certain way. He had this way about him that drew me in and made it difficult to ever let go.
Travis laughed a dark, sinister laugh and pierced me with his eyes. "You're too special to be with just anybody, Alex," he spoke with intent and slowly, letting the words sink in all around me.
My breath hitched in my throat and my eyes widened. Where had I heard that before; spoken in that same possessive way?
My eyes were stilled on Travis's for longer than they ever have been before, and something sparked in the back of my mind. His eyes...I'd seen those eyes before.
"Have we ever met before today?" I asked Travis, my eyebrows knitted together in concentration, trying to place his face in my mind.
He blanched for a moment, seemingly caught off guard. His lips formed into a snarl as he found his words again.
"Is there a problem here?" Mr. McCoy's voice cut in over top of Travis.
I whipped my head towards him and sighed in relief when my eyes land on his. Mr. McCoy's eyes were still attached to Travis's face, whose stare was still concentrated on me.
"No, Travis was just leaving," I stated and turned my head back to face him. He fumed silently while I daringly yanked my arm out of his grip and took my place securely next to Mr. McCoy. Mr. McCoy's arm slipped around my waist and dragged me up against his side possessively, eyes still trained on Travis in a deadly manner. Travis gave me one last heated look before storming out of the bathroom and down the hallway out of sight.
My entire body slumped into Mr. McCoy's and relished in the way his muscles welcomed me with open arms.
We stayed like that for a moment. His arms wrapped around me protectively and I for once let my body enjoy his company. Resting my head on his broad chest, listening to his breathing, and letting it sooth me into relaxation. The moment was all too soon ruined when he pulled away but kept his hands on my waist, making sure we didn't break body contact.
"Are you okay?" his deep voice asked with such a level of concern that my heart couldn't help but flutter slightly in response.
"Yeah, he's just got spacing issues," I tried to lessen the situations intensity of what really happened. To be honest, I still wasn't entirely sure why any of it even happened.
"I could see that." His voice came out extremely strained and I moved my head up so I could see the deep frown that had found its way on his otherwise handsome face.
"Oh, come on now. I can handle myself. I'm not some damsel in distress, remember?" I jokingly referred to his story about how we met.
One side of his mouth lifted up into a smile that eventually spread to his whole mouth. His eyes flickered up to meet mine in a soft gaze. I felt his arm move up and then his hand was in my hair, moving a piece that had fallen in front of my face to the side. His hand gently cupped the side of my face as his thumb ran over my cheek affectionately.
"No, you certainly aren't. But I will always be there to protect you."
Seriously, how many more things is this man going to say and do before my heart explodes?
I took a deep breath and released it as I shook my head slightly, still keeping eye contact with Mr. McCoy. My hand snaked up to greet his. I laced my fingers through his in a purposeful manner. I steadily turned my head into his hand and ran my lips over his palm lightly. I heard a sharp but small intake of breath come from him at my touch. I let my eyes close on their own accord before placing a singular kiss on the inside of his palm.
Opening my eyes, I looked up to find Mr. McCoy staring right back at me, the most tender look engraved in his ocean blue eyes. I mentally committed this moment to my long term memory bank before sliding out his grasp and walking towards to hallway that lead to downstairs.
Noting that he hadn't followed yet, I turned back around to face him.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Dessert is waiting! Come on!" I gestured for him to follow me and turned to head back down the stairs when I heard him chuckle and walk my way. I made it almost around the corner but stopped momentarily when I heard Mr. McCoy speak.
"I'll follow you anywhere, Ms. Merrick."
Yay! What a tender moment at the end between them :) I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I was writing it lol Sooo what's ya think?? What do you think about Travis and where Alex may know him from? Thank you all so much for your loyalty! Next chapter will be out soon! :) Until next time!