Page 352 of Summer Heat
She thought about it for a second. “No, I guess not. I only see the man every few years or so.”
And he evidently only remembers me every ten.
The pity party from that depressing fact was quickly broken up by the blaring school bell over the phone line. She checked the time. “Is that the end of lunch for you?”
“Yeah, but I have a prep period next.”
“Nice. So, how’s the first day going so far?”
“Great if you don’t count how many rabid alpha students I have again this year,” he grumbled, though affectionately. “I swear, some of these kids think they’re getting their MBAs. If their term projects weren’t coincidentally due right before winter ball and prom, I’m pretty sure they’d turn in fifty-page papers.”
Coincidence. Sure.
If she had a penny for every time she’d had to help him grade papers at the last minute, she’d be loaded. Though a brilliant teacher, Brian had astonishingly little regard for assessments.
“Oh hey, speaking of school dances,” Abby grinned finkishly, “I hear Skylar can look forward to her first one in the spring. You freaking out yet?”
Brian groaned. “Don’t remind me. My blood pressure is not ready for a preteen daughter going to a dance with boys. Did she call you specifically to complain about my lack of joy in all this?”
“Actually she told me when I was over there yesterday.”
“You came over?”
“During the four hours you slept off your hangover, yes.”
“Ah, that solves the case of the missing dirty dishes.”
“Guilty. Oh, and I tasted the culinary genius you made her before you went back to bed by the way. I thought the Cajun flavored eggs had a superb crunch.”
“Why, thanks. Charred shell bits give it an extra zing, I think.”
“Not to mention added protein, too…which went well with the waffles I made her.”
He sighed. “Have I mentioned how much I love you?”
“Often. Why just the other night, I recall at least a dozen instances. The fact that they were all localized to my chest area as I dragged your drunk butt into your house didn’t diminish the heartfelt sentiment behind the words one bit.”
“Shit.” The horror returned to his voice. “Okay, that’s it, no more of the devil’s juice for me. I clearly can’t handle the stuff.”
She gasped in mock alarm. “You mean our MMA fight nights will be limited to pizza and soda?”
He paused. “Good point. I guess I’ll have to keep beer on the list of acceptable beverages. Just for you.”
“Aw, you’re so good to me,” she chuckled as she checked the time again. “Shoot, I better get going. I’m meeting with a few teachers about expanding my tutoring roster this year.”
“I thought you weren’t going to start volunteering until September,” he admonished sternly. “Abby, you can’t keep putting off your dissertation. Those kids can get by without you.”
“Just setting things up, I promise. Fear not, I’m sticking to my plan. Just me and my laptop ‘til I go back to work next month.”
“Good. I already instructed Skylar to gather her friends and chase you out of school if you show up over the next three weeks. We also blacked out every day on the calendar until ASU is back in session to remind us to leave you alone.”
“No need to go that far. I won’t be writing the entire time. And since my teaching line is straight freshman comp again this semester,
I’m all set with my syllabus and lesson plans already. I’m sure I’ll have pockets of time to hang out here and there.”
“Well, then you can go get reacquainted with your colleagues and the other equally brainy candidates in your program. Go get all academic again. Skylar and I have been monopolizing your time way too much lately. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself in front of your doctoral defense panel dropping Skylar’s OMGs and my far more delightful f-bombs.”
Oy, her professors would think she was having a seizure and send her back to pre-dissertation comp exams for sure.
