Page 32 of Keeping it Real

Sheridan shiftedher hips in the child-sized chair, crossing her legs before quickly uncrossing them.If Alek noticed her fidgeting, he ignored it.Mainly because he was too busy charming the clothes off Finn’s teacher.And from the looks of it, Miss Lane was there for it.

Gah!

The woman was young.If Sheridan had to guess, she’d venture that the woman wasn’t long out of a sorority meeting.A trio of gold chains, two of them displaying Greek letters, circled the porcelain skin on her neck.Despite appearing so youthful, she was conservatively dressed in black slacks and a cream-colored T-shirt that she’d paired with a simple cardigan—purple, no less.Coincidence?Sheridan thought not.

She looked down at her yoga pants and T-shirt, wishing she’d dressed in something that identified her as an adult.If only she owned something like that.Her wardrobe consisted of comfy sweats and scrubs.As a result, the recent college graduate looked more mature and worthy of Alek than Sheridan did.

Not that she wanted to impress her roommate.It was no use, anyway.She already knew exactly how he saw her.A lot differently from the way he was looking at Finn’s adorable teacher.

Her bravado from last night faded quickly in the harsh light of day.She thought she was mature enough to handle seeing Alek with someone else.Turns out, she was not.

The woman blushed at something Alek said.Sheridan tried not to gag.She glanced around the room.The walls were decorated with colorful bulletin boards.On the whiteboard, it looked as if Miss Lane was charting dates on a graph.Sheridan did a double take when she noticed the word February was missing the first r.She bit back a groan.

“Does Finn have a favorite subject?”the teacher asked Alek as if she didn’t know the man had only recently met Finn.

“Besides hockey?”Alek flirted.

Sheridan rolled her eyes.“He’s really into spelling,” she lied, tongue-in-cheek.

Miss Lane snapped her gaze over to Sheridan as if she’d realized only now that there was someone else in the room.

“That’s good to know,” the teacher said.“We have a spelling bee every Friday with their vocabulary words.”

Of course you do.

Sheridan made a mental note to make sure she quizzed Finn extra hard on Thursday nights.

“I’ve heard such great things from Gunner about your class, Miss Lane.This is a big adjustment for Finn.I’m glad he’ll have someone like you to help guide him.”Alek was laying it on so thick, she was surprised the room didn’t stink.

The teacher was blushing.“That’s sweet.Gunner is a great kid.And from a wonderful family.”

“You probably shouldn’t let them sit together,” Sheridan interjected.

Both she and Alek jerked their heads around to stare at her.

Sheridan shrugged.“You know how little boys can be.They’re already thick as thieves.I wouldn’t want you to have any discipline problems.”

Finn had never once been a discipline problem.And Gunner had been nothing but the picture of politeness since she’d met him.Sheridan was stirring the pot, that’s all.She should be ashamed of herself.Except she wasn’t.

The ringing of the bell saved her from embarrassing herself further.The three of them stood.Miss Lane extended her hand to Sheridan.

“Please don’t worry about a thing.I’ll take good care of your nephew,” she said.

Feeling like a total jerk, Sheridan nodded as she shook the teacher’s hand.“Thank you.”

The other woman turned to Alek.He took her hand in both of his.“If you need to discuss anything regarding Finn, please don’t hesitate to reach out.I left my number in the front office.”

What the what?

“I will,” Miss Lane said with a lot more moxie than Sheridan liked.

As if Alek knows the boy like I do.

Sheridan moved toward the door, but Alek seemed reluctant to release the teacher’s hand.

“You should come to a hockey game sometime,” he offered.

“Oh.I’d really enjoy that.”