Page 18 of Hot Four Teacher (The Lawson’s #4)

Michelle

T his is it.

This is how I die.

I was wrong about a hangover being the thing that would take me out. This is much worse.

When I agreed to go hiking with Dane, I thought we would simply be walking. I had no idea there would be so much climbing and crouching and other exhausting activities.

I’m doing my best to keep up and act like I’m not fazed, but I’m not sure if I’m doing a good job. I’m pretty sure I’m wheezing and sweating way more than normal.

I should have known that lying about my love of the great outdoors would come back to bite me in the ass. Speaking of getting bitten in the ass, I’m pretty sure something just crawled into my shorts and feasted on me.

Dane turns around and asks, “You doing okay?”

“Great!” I lie in my best perky voice.

As much as I want to give up so that we can get out of here, every time he flashes me that smile, I find the will to keep going.

Well, that and the fact that after our little make out session last night, I’m excited to see more.

The man kisses like he’s an expert, which has me wondering what else he’s an expert at.

I’m a little shocked at how turned on I was by the whole thing. Yes, it’s been a decade since I’ve gotten laid, but even when I was having sex, I never was overly anxious about the prospect of it.

Now? I’m practically panting.

I was hoping he’d come inside, so that we could do more, but I was left all alone. I was so horny that I even pulled out the wand vibrator Ronnie got me and fantasized about Dane while I used it.

Twice.

Maybe tonight, I’ll get the real thing.

Earlier, Mom texted me asking how things were going. When I told her I was seeing Dane again, she insisted Eve stay one more night, so I’m free again.

Dane pauses a moment at a small overlook to stare out into the wilderness. “Man, isn’t it gorgeous out here?”

Standing next to him, I put my hands on my hips and pretend to be equally as invested in the view.

“Oh, yeah,” I agree. “Stunning.”

While I can admit that this is very pretty, I’m not sure that I see the appeal of hiking for over an hour to get to see it. I’m not sure that anything is worth this hike.

But I just go with it. Turning us around, he puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls out his phone to aim the camera feature toward us. Instinctively, I smile although I can see on the screen that I’m looking a little rough.

“There,” he says after pressing the button. “Now, we have our first picture together.”

Pulling me close, he presses his lips to mine. It doesn’t last long, but it’s great all the same.

See? It’s things like that picture and kiss that keep me putting one foot in front of the other on this ridiculous hike.

We move forward, and I get lost in thoughts of kissing him…among other things. I’m so lost in my own mind that I barely even notice that we are no longer walking uphill, but now, we are heading back down. Good. Maybe that means we are almost done.

As we are walking around a steep curve in the path, I step on a rock wrong, and kerplunk.

I fall right on my ass, twisting my ankle on the way down.

“Holy shit, Michelle!” Dane cries while rushing to me. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” I say as he helps me sit up. “Just a little embarrassed and even more clumsy.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. It happens to the best of us.”

“Dane, while I appreciate you being so nice, I hardly think you trip over your own feet and fall down.”

Kneeling to get a better look at my ankle, he smiles up at me. “You’d be surprised.”

He lightly grabs my foot and begins to rotate it. “Tell me if anything hurts.”

“It’s a little tender but not too bad.”

He helps me to stand up, and I’m about to put some pressure on it. It’s not comfortable, but I can handle it. I pushed out a baby with no drugs. My pain tolerance is fairly high.

“Come on,” he says. “How about we go back to my place? I’ll make us some food, and we can ice your ankle.”

“That sounds nice.” I smile.

As we start making our way back to his truck, I realize my ankle is a bit worse than I thought. I can still walk on it but much more slowly now, and mind you, I wasn’t exactly quick to begin with.

I am mortified that things have gone this way. This is my second date in a decade, and I’m off to a fantastic start.

Just when I think there’s no way it can get any worse, the sky opens up, and rain starts to fall.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

We both stop walking and just stare at each other.

It takes about five seconds, but we both start laughing. Hysterically laughing.

“I’m not sure things could get much worse.” I regret the words as soon as they exit my mouth because the light rain almost immediately turns into a torrential downpour.

That makes us laugh even harder, but we try to reel it in when thunder booms in the distance.

“Shit, we better get out of here,” Dane says. “Looks like things are about to get nasty.”

We get on the move once again, but the problem is that I’m not moving very quickly.

Dane stops and looks at me. Before I can ask what’s wrong, he says, “Don’t be mad at what I’m about to do, okay?”

“Uh, alright.” I barely get the words out before he picks me up and slings me over his shoulder.

I make a noise that can only be described as an excited yelp.

“Sorry, beautiful,” he says as we begin to move at a much quicker pace than we were a moment ago. “We need to get out of here before the weather gets much worse.”

“Totally understand,” I respond as my eyes are level with his butt. It’s a nice butt–as far as butts go.

To be honest, nothing about this is bad for me. I mean, maybe it’s a bit uncomfortable, but there is something ridiculously hot about Dane being able to hoist me over his shoulder and carry me like it’s nothing.

“Tell me if you need a break,” he says.

“I think you may need a break before I do. You’re the one doing all the heavy lifting,” I say. “But maybe you should be worried about if someone sees us like this, it looks like you’re kidnapping me or something.”

“Michelle, exactly how much true crime do you watch?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Well, how about if someone comes by, you tell them I’m not kidnapping you?”

“Eh, that’s not nearly as much fun,” I joke.

He laughs and gives a quick slap to my ass. “I’ll remember that later.”

Why did I like that so much?

It’s quickly becoming clear to me that Dane is unlike any guy I’ve ever dated.

For lack of a better way to put it, he’s a real man.

No guy has ever slung me over his shoulder and carried me through the wilderness like some sort of modern-day Tarzan.

The mere thought of any of my past lovers even being able to do that is comical enough to have me chuckling to myself.

I’m pretty sure none of them could have even lifted me two inches off the ground.

Sure, I’m not thin, but I think it was more of a them problem than a me problem.

Before I know it, Dane stops walking, and I realize we’ve made it back to his truck. Gently, he turns me right side up and sets me on my feet, holding onto me for a moment to make sure I’m steady.

When he’s confident I am, he hurries to reach into the large box in the backseat and pulls out two towels.

As he hands one to me, I say, “You’re a regular Mary Poppins…just with a magical box instead of a bag.”

He smiles. “Should I take that as a compliment?”

“Absolutely.”

The sky turns a little darker, prompting Dane to say, “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Quickly, we both wrap ourselves in the towels and climb into the cab of the truck. Of course, he opens the door for me.

As we get on the road, the weather worsens as hail begins pelting the windshield.

“Looks like we got out of here just in time,” Dane says “Are you okay with going back to my place? It’s about ten minutes from here.”

“Yeah. Sounds great.” Part of my reasoning is because I’m cold and wet and ready to change that.

And part of it is because I’m curious to see where Dane lives. Maybe it’ll be some more insight into him.

A couple minutes later, we pull into his driveway.

The house is a cute ranch style. It’s painted a light tan with brick going halfway up.

Honestly, it doesn’t look too different than mine.

Even though Dane lives technically outside of Lilly Leaf Falls, a lot of the houses around here all have the same style.

He hops out of the truck and hurries over to help me out. As I walk to the front door with Dane holding onto me for support, I try not to think about how cold I am from the rain. Thankfully, the pain in my ankle has calmed down some.

When we get inside, he stops in the small entryway. “Wait here for just a second.”

As he leaves me alone, I take a moment to look around.

I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but it’s much cozier than I imagined.

While it’s clear a man lives here with the oversized recliner and the giant TV, it’s all very warm and inviting.

And clean. Everything seems to be neatly in its proper place.

While I wouldn’t consider my house messy, I know that it’s not this clean. Hell, it’s nowhere even close.

He returns with a massive towel that he wraps me in after taking off the other one. When it’s around my shoulders, he puts his arms around me.

“Jesus, Michelle, you’re shivering.”

“I’m alright,” I try to assure him, but apparently, I’m not very convincing.

“No, you’re not. Come on.” Taking me by the hand, he leads me through his bedroom and into the ensuite bathroom.

I try to get a feel of his bedroom, but I don’t get a good look.

Once we are inside the bathroom, he leans over the tub to start the water. “Let’s get you warmed up.”

I take a step closer to the bathtub and see that it’s way bigger than mine. That's just not fair.

“Do you take baths a lot?” I ask.

“No. Almost never.”

Definitely not fair.

“Sorry, I don’t really have bubbles or anything,” he says.

“Do you have body wash?”

He walks over to the standing shower and reaches inside to grab a bottle. When he hands it to me, I squeeze some under the running water. Immediately, bubbles begin to form.

“There,” I say. “Now, there’s bubbles.”

I watch him reach under the sink and grab yet another towel. My eyes move from the towel to the way his wet clothes cling to his body. I don’t know how I’m just now noticing, but damn, he looks good.

It occurs to me that I’m about to take my clothes off. Is Dane going to watch? Does he want to get in with me? Is it going to lead to other things?

I somehow want to answer to all of those questions to be yes.

But my hopes are a little crushed when he says, “Okay, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll set some clothes in on the bed for you while I stick yours in the dryer.”

“You don’t want to keep me company?” I ask. Realizing how it may have sounded, I add, “I’m mean, you have already seen me naked?”

Not sure that made it any better.

He takes a couple of steps toward me so that he’s inches from my face.

“Michelle, as excited as I am to see you naked again, the next time that it happens is going to be when I’m taking off your clothes, moments away from fucking you.”

He presses a soft kiss to my lips and then leaves the room.

And I try not to let my knees buckle beneath me.

Holy shit.