Claiming Carter (2 page)

“See you next week, Ms. Hayes,” little Rebecca Ford chirped as she turned the corner heading towards the buses.

“Okay, sweetie. Have a good weekend,” I replied with a wave. As Rebecca went around the corner, I noticed movement out of the corner my eye. I turned and looked into the classroom across from my own and noticed Timothy Bulger sitting at his desk as his students left. He wasn’t standing by the door wishing his students a good weekend as they departed. He was basically ignoring them. It didn’t surprise me, however, because I knew from experience that Tim Bulger was a gigantic asshole. I glanced at him as his last students filed into the hall, and when I saw him beginning to look up, I whirled around and walked back to my desk.
I didn’t want him to know that I had been looking at him. He didn’t need anything making his head any bigger.

I sat at my desk for the next thirty minutes grading papers from today’s lesson on adding fractions, trying not to look across the hall at Timothy. I was happy that most of my students seemed to be grasping the concepts of the math we’d been learning throughout the year. It was only my first year of teaching my own class after two years of being a teacher’s aide and a substitute while I finished getting my degree. Now, I had an aide of my own, and I was only just beginning, but from what I could tell, the class was actually learning and it seemed like I was doing a good job. Now all I needed to do was get my love life in order and everything would be great.

I placed the last quiz on top of the stack of graded papers on my desk and finally stood up from my seat to stretch out and get ready to leave. As I reached for my purse, I heard a shuffling sound coming from the doorway. I looked and found Timothy Bulger standing by the door with his arms folded and his mouth twisted into an arrogant grin. His tan slacks were pressed so well that the creases in them looked like they could cut you if you ran your finger across them. He was wearing a white button up shirt with tan buttons and a black tie, and just by looking at his stubbled face, you could tell just how awesome he thought he was.

“Getting ready to head out, huh?” Tim asked as he smiled at me. It was a dumb question, and I was in no mood for Timothy Bulger or his dumb questions.

“Pretty obvious, isn’t it?” I snipped in return. I slung my black purse over my shoulder and walked around my desk towards the door. I exhaled loudly at the thought of having to walk past him just to be able to get out of the room.

As I approached, I tried to walk a wide path around him, but he seemed to have figured out my plan and took a large side step and stopped right in front of me.

“Jeez, Tim, what is it? Why are you in here?” I demanded, placing my hand on my hip to add emphasis to my attitude.

“I’m sorry, Lily, I’m not trying to bug you or anything. There’s just something that I thought that you should know,” Tim said as he began smiling his arrogant smile again, revealing a crooked set of off-white, coffee-stained teeth.

I didn’t respond to Tim’s obvious bait. When we were dating he always did things like that. He loved to give me half of the information just so I would have to beg for the rest of it. It was something I found adorable in the beginning. Now, in the end, I found it unbelievably aggravating. So, instead of asking for the rest of the information, I simply looked down at my watch to let him know I was running out of patience.

“Okay, okay. Sorry,” Tim said. “I just wanted you to know that Angela and I broke up last night. I’ve been waiting to tell you all day.”

I stood in silence for a moment, taking in the information that I had refused to beg for. Timothy and I had broken up about a month ago, after I caught him getting his cock sucked by the school nurse in her office one day during lunch. It was probably the most embarrassing, disgusting thing that had ever happened in North Park Elementary School, mainly because I was bringing one of my students to visit the nurse after he’d fallen off of the swing and scraped both of his elbows. I was pretty sure little Derrick Fisher was scarred for life after seeing his nurse on her knees with a dick in her mouth. All I could do was try to close the door as fast as I could before Derrick put everything together, and surprisingly, the school never got a visit from Derrick’s parents to complain about their son being subjected to oral sex for the first time. Luckily, he hadn’t seen as much as I thought he had—or as much as I had.

“What do you want me to say, Tim?” I said. “We were together for almost six months, and you were getting blow jobs from the forty-eight year old nurse for two of them. So, what do you really want me to say?”

Tim rubbed his chin and tried to look as suave as he could. He put his head down and looked up at me while he played with the whiskers on his chin. I knew that look. He was trying to seduce me. In the beginning of our relationship, Tim was great. He was always pulling out chairs for me and opening doors for me, and when he gave me that look—the one he was giving me right now—he knew I was his. The day before we broke up he had given me that look, and we ended up fucking right there on the desk in my classroom. The thought of him getting his dick sucked only hours before that sent anger coursing through me all over again.

“I want you to say that you miss me, Lily,” Tim said, still rubbing his chin. “I want you to say that you miss the fun we used to have before things went bad. I want you to say that you want me.”

Tim had me right where he wanted me—well, almost, because he apparently wanted me on the desk again. The last month of my life had been so boring and sex-free that I was almost willing to forgive Tim’s indiscretions. My life wasn’t full of passion and excitement. I’d gone through four years of college and had only had one orgasm before I met Tim. In every category, he was the best that I had ever had, and it was difficult for me to say no to him, even after all he’d done. I wanted someone to swing in and sweep me off my feet. I just didn’t want it to be Tim.

“She doesn’t want you, Tim,” a voice said from the door. I glanced around Tim’s body and spotted my best friend, Lexy Farrington, leaning against the door with her arms folded, scowling.

“Nice of you to join us, Mrs. Farrington,” Tim replied, rolling his eyes.

Lexy whisked into the room, her black dress flowing with each step she took. At age thirty-five, Lexy was beautiful and full of confidence. Her makeup was perfectly applied on her pale face, and her curly red hair spilled down her back, stopping just past her shoulders. She’d befriended me as soon as I’d began working at NPES, and we seemed to hit it off right from the beginning. If there was one thing I knew about Lexy, it was that you didn’t want to get on her bad side.

“Good thing I walked in. Who knows what kind of slick shit you would have tried to pull on the woman whose heart you broke just last month. You didn’t think she was going to forget that shit, did you? Sorry, but, the image of your dick going in and out of Angela’s mouth isn’t just going to fall out of her head after, like, thirty days,” Lexy barked as she came and stood next to me, placing her arm around my shoulder.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Tim replied.

“Oh please! You didn’t mean to get caught! You bastards always say the same thing when you get caught with your dick inside of some girl. ‘I didn’t mean it.’ We ladies are tired of hearing that same lame old excuse. Go find someone else to play your stupid games with. This one here is ready to move on from your BS.”

Timothy stood there a moment without saying a word, choosing to stare at the floor instead. After about ten seconds he finally looked up.

“I really am sorry about that, Lily. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me someday,” he mumbled.

I was about to reply, but Lexy cut me off before I could finish my first word. “She won’t. Now go on about your business.”

Tim scratched is chin, gave me an insecure smile, and then turned around and walked out.

“Jeez, Lex, you really stuck it to him,” I said with a smile.

Lexy lightly punched me in the shoulder and shot me a dirty look. “Why the hell were you even talking to that asshole? I mean, seriously, how much crap are you going to take from that guy?”

“What do you want me to do, punch him in the face every time he tries to come talk to me?” I growled, rubbing the spot on my shoulder where Lexy punched me.

“Yes! That’s exactly what I want you to do. That’s exactly what that bastard deserves. He got his dick sucked by Angela Bronson. If he’d fuck her, there’s no telling what else he would do. You can’t keep letting them walk all over you.”

“I’m not letting him walk all over me,” I said as we walked out of my classroom and I closed the door behind us.

“I’m serious, Lil,” Lexy continued. “You have to be tougher with these boys. If Michael ever cheated on me I would cut off his dick and put it in the oven on three-fifty!”

I let out a loud laugh that echoed through the narrow halls as Lexy and I pushed open the doors leading into the staff parking lot.

“I’m not kidding,” Lexy went on, “If Mike cheated I would burn his pecker, then I’d divorce his ass and take half his salary. Yeah, that’s it. Give him a hot pecker, then take half of his shit. Teach him to cheat on me.”

I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face, smearing my makeup. It didn’t bother me because I knew I wasn’t going to be going home to anyone anyway.

“That’s what I’ve always loved about you, Lex. You can always make me laugh,” I said as I wiped the tears from my face. “But, you know Mike would never do that to you, anyway. You guys are, like, the ultimate couple. Twelve years of marriage and you’re still happy. You guys are amazing.”

“That doesn’t mean that it’s not hard work, just because it looks easy from the outside. Mike and I love each other, and he makes it easy because he knows how to treat a lady—which basically means he does whatever I say. Plus, having our eight-year old daughter helps, too. But we have our moments when we want to kill each other. It’s not easy staying committed for so long, but the foundation is the commitment. Tim wasn’t committed, so you guys didn’t work. It takes two committed adults, not one,” Lexy said.

“Yeah, I know that’s how it is
supposed
to go. But I seem to only be capable of finding the assholes in Chicago. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t getting old. Being alone really sucks.”

“I know that it sucks, but that doesn’t mean that you should settle for a douche bag like Timothy Bulger. You’re only twenty-two years old, and you are absolutely stunning to look at with that cute little nose ring and that sexy, jet black, hair. Plus, I’m sure you’re a firecracker in between the sheets. You just have to be patient and let the right guy come to you. The more you hunt for a good guy, the more assholes you’re going to find. You need to let them chase
you
.”

“Well, that’s a lot easier said than done,” I muttered.

“Just be patient, honey. The right guy will come along. You’ll see. He’ll sweep you off your feet.”

Lexy and I reached our cars, which were parked side by side, and I couldn’t help but wonder if what Lexy was saying was true. Was I really trying too hard to find a good man? Was that really the reason all of my boyfriends turned out to be dickheads? Was I one of those women who was in love with the idea of falling in love? The last thing that I wanted to be was one of those women who spread her legs for every man that showed me some attention just to end up unsatisfied, with a broken heart.

But how was I supposed to just sit around and wait when I went home to an empty house every night? I’d had the same routine since I graduated from college. I went to the gym after school let out and worked out for an hour every day, and then drove home and cooked myself a small meal—one that never took more than ten minutes to make—and ate on my little blue couch in my living room while watching MTV to get caught up on the daily reality TV drama. Then after a couple of hours going over important “work things” and texting Lexy, I got a very small snack and climbed into bed, and was asleep by nine-thirty.

The only time the routine changed was when I was dating someone. At least then I had a night or two a week that I could go out and spend time with another human being. I didn’t have to tag along on Lexy’s date nights with her husband and totally ruin the happy couple’s romantic setting. I was tired of my monotonous routine and I wanted nothing more than to spend my days with someone who didn’t annoy me. Someone who didn’t cheat on me with hideous school nurses. Someone who loved me.

“I really should have known better, you know,” I said as I unlocked the door to my ‘08 Honda Accord, which was still in my father’s name. “I never should have dated someone who was so much older than me anyway. Especially someone who has already been divorced.”

Lexy threw her purse into the passenger seat of her Toyota Tundra and then started the truck so she could turn on the air conditioner before closing the door. “Yeah, well, I can’t argue with you there,” she joked. “Dating a guy fourteen years your senior probably wasn’t the best idea, but I understand the allure. I mean, he is handsome. He’s just a bastard. A handsome bastard. But you also dated Paul the P.E. teacher and he’s the same age as you.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Maybe I just need to stop trying to date people who work in the school with us. I’m zero for three with co-workers now. I think we may have found the problem.”

“Yeah, that seems to be the cause, I’d say. Like I said, honey, you just need to slow down, and let a man come to you. Maybe you should just focus on you for a while, or maybe even date casually and don’t look for anything serious. Explore a little. Find out what you like and what you don’t like. Sow your wild oats. It’s okay if you suck a few dicks before you settle down.”

I couldn’t even say anything. All I could do was hold my stomach as I laughed my ass off.

“What? I’m serious! The more dicks you suck, the better you’ll be at it when it’s time to get married and keep your husband happy. A little experience never hurt anybody.”

“Well, I haven’t experienced very much. Nothing very good, that’s for sure,” I said once I finally was able to control my laughter. “Well, I guess I better get out of here. I have a Stairmaster with my name on it.”