MACK
Her co-worker wantsto fuck her. I can smell it on him, and it makes me crazy. I flip the page of the hiring manual.
A set of knuckles strikes the wood next to my paper. “Is there an employee issue at the school?”
I look up from the desk to see my dad standing with a worried look on his face, his forehead creased with concern. The school is his pet.
“No.”
“Why are you looking at firing policies? What aren’t you telling me?” He spins the documents out of my hand and searches the text, which he helped write.
“I was just looking.” I shove away from the desk and stomp to the window, feeling annoyed and embarrassed. This Brad guy is a peach. Graduated top of his class, from a solid family, clean record. Even his students seem to like him. There’s nothing I can fire him for because wanting to screw your co-worker is not a fireable offense. It should be, but it’s not.
“You don’t sound convincing, but I’ll take your word for it. By the way, how’s Sunny? I haven’t seen her lately.”
Ever since The Night, Sunny has been busier than a presidential candidate on the eve of election. I haven’t seen much of her, either. I wish I remembered what happened that night. I have these flashbacks from time to time of kissing her sweet tits, molding that warm flesh in my palms, cupping her ass, and sliding deep inside her.
But I wouldn’t have done that drunk. That’s not how our first time would’ve played out. If she ever actually gave me the green light, it would have been candles, roses, expensive dinner, and molten lava cake for dessert since that’s her favorite. It would have been slow seduction with me mapping every inch of her body with my mouth and making memories in my mind. It would not be a drunken hook-up that she tried to forget.
“She’s fine. We’re watching Big Brother tonight. Having popcorn. Eating pizza.” Normal stuff like we always do.
Dad presses his lips together. “I don’t understand you kids. In my day, living with a woman meant I was marrying her not this cohabitating because you’re friends.”
“It’s a new world,” I reply tersely. Sunny once said she’d move out, but I put an end to that right quick. How else could I keep an eye—I mean watch over her, unless she lived with me?
“It’s strange. How are you going to meet someone if Sunny’s always with you? Living in your home? Another woman’s going to find that off-putting.”
“Good,” I mutter under my breath. I’m not interested in other women, and I hope me being around Sunny deters other men. Brad, though, he hasn’t seen me around enough, which I can see is a mistake.
After That Night, I needed some time to decompress and told Sunny I had a big work project. I just needed some breathing room so I wouldn’t attack her every time she came within ten feet of me, but I see spending too much time away from her has given other people ideas that shouldn’t exist. I grab my coat and give a chin nod to my dad.
“I’ll bring her over for dinner tomorrow night.”
“Good. Good. Your mom will be happy.”
At home, I find Sunny in the kitchen staring at her phone.
“What’s wrong?” I call from the mudroom as I pull off my leather bomber.
“Oh, you’re home.” She tucks her phone in her back pocket in a suspicious way. My brows come together. “I thought you might be busy tonight.”
“I told you I’d be home to watch TV and eat.”
“Sure, but you’ve missed the last couple of weeks because of work.”
Did she just say work funny or am I imagining things? “I’m here now. I ordered the pizza, and it should be on its way. Let me get the popcorn ready.”
“You know, you don’t have to watch the show with me.”
I put my coat on the hook and slowly turn toward Sunny. “You kicking me out?” I try to make it sound like a joke, but we both know I’m dead serious.
She makes a small smile that isn’t really happy either. “No, but I don’t want you to be doing things with me out of duty or because that’s how we’ve always done things. I’m a big girl. I can watch TV by myself.”
“The hell you can.” I stalk forward until my boots are touching the tips of her slippers. “Big Brother is our thing and has been since it first aired. Who else are you going to talk strategy with? Who else is going to have the right chocolate on hand when you’re getting frustrated with the contestants? It’s me.” I thump my chest. “That’s my job, and you better not be thinking of giving it to Brad—”
“Brian.”
“Whatever his name is or he’s going to be looking for a new job.” I’m practically yelling now. I know I sound ridiculous getting worked up over this small shit, but this small shit leads to bigger things. First it’s the TV show, and then it’s dinners out and then it’s her moving into Brad’s place, and that is not happening, not while I’m still alive.
“You can’t fire him for dating me,” she exclaims. “That’s asking for a lawsuit!”
“Then have the asshole sue me!” I bellow. The doorbell rings. “Fuck, our food is here.”
“Good because the show is about to start, but once it’s over, we’re talking about Brian because you seriously can’t fire him. The school would be hit with really bad publicity, and your dad would be so mad.”
I cannot believe she’s defending this prick. Tomorrow I’m going to figure out a way to fire him if that’s the last thing I do. Until then, I’ll pretend like all’s well so Sunny doesn’t try to warn him off. This will be a surprise attack from the side which she doesn’t see coming, and once I’ve gotten rid of him, she’ll forget his existence right quick. I bang over to the door, grab the pizza, shove a tip in the delivery guy’s chest, and slam the door shut. “Big Brother time,” I say between clenched teeth.