It was the best way to get over him, to resist the urge to call or text him back and tell him that I missed him too. That I wanted desperately to feel his arms around me again so I could just dissolve my stress, forget about Kelsey, about Ben and just melt into his body.
But for his sake, I couldn’t, so I needed the sun. It wouldn’t be around for long with the fall coming. I needed to enjoy it, to luxuriate in it for a little bit longer. However, today, the little peace it gave me was disrupted by shouting mothers as I turned onto First Avenue.
“Hey! Get back on the sidewalk!”
The block I always walked down to get to the restaurant was teeming with children. I blinked at the unfamiliar sight, realizing the date. September seventh. School had started. Another reminder of Aaron. With a small groan, I crossed the street again.
I walked for only a couple blocks or so before feeling someone trailing close behind me. I heard a snicker before the familiar voice said my name.
“Nina Decker.”
I turned slowly, stopping in my tracks as I stared at the familiar face — clean-shaven since the last time I saw him, his dark hair shorter too. I backed away when his hand reached out to me. “What are you doing here, Dane?”
He smirked. “Just happened to be in the neighborhood, but I was hoping I’d run into you. Ben said you moved back around here.” He let his eye linger on the Todos Santos logo on my chest. “Gotta say, you’re looking good.”
I swallowed hard, feeling my voice grow brittle at the sight of his smirk. “I’m late for work,” I muttered as my feet began walking me away from him. He followed.
“He blames me, you know.”
I narrowed my eyes but refused to look at him as I kept walking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Your boyfriend,” he laughed. “I’m the reason the poor guy’s in the doghouse with you.”
“He’s not my boyfriend and he’s not ‘in the doghouse.’ We’re broken up. Downplaying it won’t trick me into thinking that we’re still together,” I said, bitter with the stop light that forced me to stand idly at a corner with Dane, who raised his eyebrows at me with what appeared to be delight.
“Huh. And to think I didn’t believe him when he said you had a sharp tongue.” He stood closer to me as he gazed down my body. “Damn, now I want that vacation more than ever.”
“Don’t,” I warned through my teeth the moment I felt him touch my lower back. The couple beside us pretended not to stare as I flung his hand away from me, hard.
“Look at you.” He grinned, his eyes lighting up as if I’d done a trick for him. “Did Ben give you permission to be this feisty outside of the bedroom?”
“Screw you.” My body shook with fury but I tried not to show it, my legs doing their best to walk me away from him fast.
“So you’re saying you want to now?” Dane asked, pleased with himself. “Let’s call Ben and tell him it’s back on.”
“Stay away from me, Dane.” I picked up my speed, my heart racing. “Both you and Ben. You two can go ahead and walk around convinced that you own everything you see but leave me out of your delusions. I have my own life now and I’ll do what I want with it.”
Dane’s sneer was audible from behind me. “And whomever you want. Wherever you want, apparently. I mean your teacher in the Hamptons? In the kitchen, Nina? Christ.”
My stomach dropped as I felt my feet stop in their tracks, anchored down by what felt like fifty-pound weights. I turned. Unblinking, I stared at Dane, whose look was something of the smuggest satisfaction I’d ever seen.
“What did you say?”
He creased his brows, stroking his mouth with his hand as his gaze traveled across my collarbones and down one side of my shoulder. “You know, Ben always wondered about this. Said that for a good girl, you were always pretty fucking amazing in the sack. I mean, he knew you had a few boyfriends in high school, but come on, you can only learn so many tricks from a bunch of pimply seventeen-year-olds who can’t even piss straight yet.” Running his tongue over his lower lip, Dane’s eyes trailed down to the top of my shorts. “Makes sense that someone older was prepping you. I mean, Christ, I know you think I’m into some fucked up shit but… having sex with your underage student? That’s crossing the line to me.” Dane shook his head, his eyes traveling down and back up my thighs before gleaming at mine with amusement.
I could hardly breathe. “What did Kelsey tell him.”
“Everything you told her, sweetheart. Basically, your boy’s screwed.”
My mind raced so hard I felt lightheaded. Staggering backwards, my body found the side of a building to lean on. “We were never together when I was his student. I never said that.”
“Of course you wouldn’t flat out say it, babe, you’re not that much of an idiot.”
My lips flapped uselessly, unable to curse at Dane in my shock. All that came out were ragged breaths as my heart slammed mercilessly in my ribcage. I felt the sunlight flaring in my eyes as Dane made a sloppy, saliva-filled clucking noise with his tongue.
“Ben’s horrified by this, you know. He knows you must’ve been traumatized.” I could hear his mock concern. “We’re gonna make that asshole pay for what he did to you. People have to know about him. You can’t have these predators, these pieces of shit running classrooms, preying on girls so they can groom them into… sex servants or something.” Dane gave an exaggerated shudder. “It’s sick.”
Through the sun, I glowered at him, my words shaking when they finally choked from my lips. “Ben is the one who does that. You do that. Not Aaron. He never touched me once in high school and I know neither of you actually believe that he did. You guys cannot do this to him because of me. He never did anything to either of you. You can’t do this.”