Page 76 of Mr. Naughty List
RJ nodded again, though the idea of anyone else blemishing Aaron’s skin pissed him off.
“We met up outside of school the first time. Recognized each other. Fucked anyway. And then at school…” He shrugged. “He enjoyed humiliating me. Fucking me over the desk in his office. Taunting me about what his football players would think if they saw him pounding their queer composition teacher.”
RJ swallowed the groan that rose up. “Did you like that?”
Aaron shrugged. “I couldn’t afford to be picky. He fucked like he meant it. That was enough to lure me back for another round. Again, in the coaching staff office. Coach Ingles came in late to make some copies for his class…” Aaron smiled bitterly. “I was fired the next day.”
“And McAllister?”
“Can’t lose a winning coach, you know.”
“He got to stay?”
Aaron nodded. “Everyone knew I’d been let go for violating the code of ethics. They all assumed I’d done something terrible. There were rumors of all sorts. I was told by the principals of other schools not to even bother applying in Knoxville. To move on. But I’d just bought the apartment and I know that fucking on school property was wrong, but…” His voice broke. “I swear I didn’t know he was married.”
“I know,” RJ said. Though it wouldn’t have mattered to him if Aaron had known. It fit his narrative about love anyway. It didn’t last. Of course, Coach McAllister was boning Aaron instead of his wife. That’s the way relationships worked in the end. He was just pissed that Aaron had been hurt.
“My mom was my only option. She took me on. Made me promise…all that stuff I told you about already. But this is why. The real reason. Because I’m not a good man and I’ve done bad things. I can’t be trusted.”
“That’s absurd.”
“You’d think so, but she as much as said today that she wouldn’t be able to defend me if people found out you were my former student. That they’d accuse me of being a pedophile and she—” Aaron’s voice broke off, his throat working. He shook his head and tears rose in his eyes again. “She said she couldn’t refute it.”
RJ breathed through the rush of red in his eyes. He wanted to find the woman and shake her, shout her down. But that was ridiculous. He couldn’t change a homophobe’s mind by screaming at them. He’d learned that years ago during his one and only bar fight in L.A.
“So Carter told your mother—the principal—that you and I were dating, and that you’d been my teacher.”
Aaron nodded.
“Okay. What happens now?”
“I don’t know. I suppose…” Aaron took in a shaky breath. “We should stop seeing each other.”
RJ scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
Aaron looked up at him, lashes wet with tears. “We have to. I’ll lose my job, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to find another one. I was thinking of leaving, looking for something else, but with two ethics strikes against me, no one will hire me. And what about Carter? What this could do to him?”
“You’re not going to lose your job, Aaron. And Carter needs to pull his head out of his ass.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m just saying that I don’t know what’s going on with Carter, but whatever it is, I refuse to let it cost you your job. If you still want to work with your mother, that is. I don’t see why you do, honestly.”
“I don’t want to work with her anymore? I don’t think so, anyway. I love working with Lauren, but everything else about the job is just so toxic.” Aaron frowned. “What do you know about Carter?”
“Not much. He’s not around me often. I don’t know if it’s because I’m gay or what, but he doesn’t seem comfortable with me.”
Aaron nodded slowly. “I think the first thing we need to do is have a meeting with your mom and Doug, and then maybe Carter, after they understand the situation.”
“Okay? But why?”
“I can’t say much because I don’t want to break anyone’s trust, but if Carter’s upset because I’m dating you—for any reason—then it needs to be sorted out, and the quicker we do that the better off for him.”
“And what about what’s best for you, baby?”
“I’m at a loss,” Aaron whispered. “My behavior was unprofessional, but I don’t regret it. So was hers, not that it excuses me. Like you say, I can’t keep on this way. I know you and I aren’t a forever thing, but I want to find that someday with someone. And I believe you when you say I deserve to have that.” He looked up shyly. “But so long as I work at the same school as my mom, there’s just no chance. I think, no matter what happens with Carter, it’s time I start looking for another job.”
“Is that really the solution? Maybe your mother’s the one who should leave. Think about the other teachers working under her. She must have others who are LGBT on staff.”