Page 28 of Mr. Naughty List
“Save your pep talks for Joel,” RJ said, winking at Casey. “I’m a lost cause for them.”
Casey smirked. “If Mr. Danvers gave you a pep talk, I bet you’d listen.”
RJ snorted. “If Mr. Danvers gave me a blowjob, I’d do anything he asked of me.”
“Call him.” Casey’s phone buzzed and he glanced at it. “I’m sorry, man. I have to take this call. It’s a client.”
“No problem. I’ll just head out.”
Casey nodded and picked up. “Stevens Branding and Marketing, Casey speaking.”
While Casey began to lead a local business owner toward the concept of rebranding to appeal to a younger crowd, RJ found his jacket on the coat rack by the door, gave Casey a wave goodbye, and patted Bruno on the head in parting.
RJ stepped out front and took his phone out of his pocket to summon an Uber, startling when Casey opened the door behind him. Cell phone still pressed to his ear, Casey shoved a car key fob RJ’s way. “Take it. Don’t argue. You’d be helping me out if you just took it off my hands for the next few weeks until I can convince Joel he’s allowed to drive a Lexus. Or until I find a buyer. Probably the latter.”
“Stubborn Casey Stevens,” RJ said.
Casey smirked. “I’ve heard there’s no arguing with him.”
Chapter Nine
“You have tochaperone? Like, she didn’t even give you a choice?”
Aaron groaned. “My mother never gives me a choice. As far as she’s concerned, she’s the parent, I’m still the child, and I have to do what she tells me to do.”
The teacher’s lounge featured a small fiber-optic Christmas tree by the coffee maker, but otherwise was devoid of the charm of holiday décor. Aaron sat across from Lauren White, his colleague and best friend from graduate school. She’d followed him from grad school to teach at Taylor High, and then afterward she’d come with him to teach at Pineview Middle, and today she’d followed him to the circular wood laminate table in the faculty lounge. Talk about loyalty.
Both of them ate their lunches. Aaron’s was a bag he’d grabbed from the takeaway portion of the cafeteria before it closed, and Lauren’s was a preciously prepared lunch from home.
“She’d never treat another teacher the way she treats you.” Lauren patted Aaron’s shoulder sympathetically and heaved a sigh. Her shoulder-length brown hair was up in a bun, and she wore a candy-cane-striped, button-up shirt over a black skirt. Very strict-teacher in her look today. Aaron knew she was a softy with the kids, though.
“Tell me about it.”
“Plus, she’s making you dress up as an elf for Jack’s pep rally tomorrow, isn’t she?” Her golden-hazel eyes flashed.
Aaron shrugged. He wasn’t about to admit he’d volunteered for that humiliation himself. It was just that Coach Ramirez had been sweaty from running with the boys’ football team when he’d approached Aaron in the hallway to ask for his help. And the optimistic, horny slut in Aaron hadn’t been able to resist even the most hopeless of cases.
He wasn’t going to tell Lauren about that. No way. Let her think the humiliating elf costume tomorrow was all his mother’s fault too.
The teacher’s lounge was empty aside from them, but Aaron still spoke softly. No need for word to get back to the principal that he was bitching about her treatment of him. Sometimes he thought he really should have considered looking for a job outside of Knoxville after the scandal with Coach McAllister. At least he would have stayed out from under his mother’s thumb. But he’d just bought his apartment in the city, and he’d loved it dearly.
“Bring a date,” Lauren said with a smirk. “To the dance.”
“You know I can’t.”
“You realize they can’t really fire you for being gay, Aaron. The situation with McAllister was because he was married. The ‘affair’ is what violated the code of ethics.” She rolled her eyes. “Although why he got away with it and you didn’t…well, let’s just say I have thoughts about that. Still. To this damn day.”
“I know you do, and I know you’re right. They can’t fire me for being gay, but they can make my life harder.” He shoved aside his lunch, not feeling hungry now. “Besides, if I brought a date, Principal Shock would be so pissed she’d never ask me to chaperone again.”
Lauren lifted her mug. “Score.”
“You know I’d pay for it. She’d probably find a way to invoke the morality clauses in my contract.”
“Pfft. Aaron, no. No one would let that happen. And your mom might be pissed, but she wouldn’t take it that far.”
“I know, I know. But she’d find a way to make me sorry. I do have to spend Christmas with her, Lauren. She’d spend the whole day letting me know how disappointed she was in me, how I’d humiliated her, and after all she’d done for me, blah blah blah…”
“You actually don’t.”