Class Act: A Coach/Student Romance

WITH MANDY HELL-BENT ON finding out who I was seeing, I left the house when her shower was running. Until Emery and I talked more about our situation, I couldn’t tell Mandy about us. Not to mention it being the wrong time when we were all dealing with the divorce.

One thing at a time. We didn’t have to rush, since we were working out how to be together without all the backlash we would both face.

I arrived at my office half an hour earlier than I usually did. I looked at the whiteboard on the wall and smiled. All the i’s had whiskers made out of them. Emery was back to his mischievous self.

God, I loved that boy something awful. Just the thought of being without him left this Emery-sized hole in my heart. If I didn’t get to be with him the way we both wanted, it would drive me crazy.

I unlocked my door and pushed it open. The blinds I’d recently had installed to give us privacy when we were together were still closed. Usually, he’d drawn them back by the time I got there in the morning.

For the first time, I’d beaten him here. When he arrived, we would have more time to cuddle and talk about the future.

I clicked on the light and walked to my desk. What the hell? Emery lay on the floor in a sleeping bag. His clothes were draped over the desk, his backpack and shoes neatly put to the side. Everything sank in then.

How long has he been sleeping in my office?

My stomach churned, seeing him like this. Had he fought with his father again? Why hadn’t he come to me?

I closed my eyes and sucked in a painful breath, guilt clawing into me. I should take better care of him than this. Fear of discovery had kept me from doing anything that would out us, but this… was unacceptable.

I’m going to do right by him regardless of what happens. I can no longer bear his suffering.

To avoid waking him, I put my bag down gently on the desk and sat in the chair he’d moved aside so he could position his sleeping bag behind the desk. This way, anyone who came into the office wouldn’t readily see him. Was this the first time he was sleeping here?

Hunched over in the chair, I balanced my elbows on my knees and watched him. A fierce protectiveness unfurled inside my chest. For the first time, I realized I’d been holding back with Emery. I’d loved him cautiously, thinking so much about people discovering us that I hadn’t always done what was best for him.

I should have removed him from his father’s house weeks ago.

The sleeping bag twitched, and Emery stretched. A soft sigh escaped him, and he seemed to snuggle under the sleeping bag some more. A few seconds passed, and he gasped.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He scrambled up to a sitting position and felt around for his phone. He peered at the screen and groaned. “Shit. I overslept.”

“I’m glad you did, or I wouldn’t have known.”

Emery froze. If the situation wasn’t so serious, I would have laughed. He slowly turned to face me. “Abe?” Bright crimson blotches covered his cheeks. “Abe, I—” He swallowed hard, and whatever he’d meant to say never made it past his lips. He bowed his head and clenched a handful of the sleeping bag. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, sweetheart.”

“You seem upset.”

“I am. At myself.” My eyes burned, and my throat tightened. I got up from my chair and sat next to him on the floor, wrapped him up in my arms and pulled him into my chest. “I’m sorry.”

“What? Abe, what’s going on? I’m the one who slept in your office without your permission.”

I stroked his hair. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a coward, taking from you and giving you little in return.” Tears squeezed out of my eyes, and I let them fall. “I’m so ashamed, Emery.”

“No, no, Abe. What have I given you but sex?”

“What have you given me?” I pulled back and cupped his face between my hands. His beautiful face. “Emery, I know you. I know how hard it is for you to get close to people, to let others in. You’ve been hurt so much that you’ve put up walls to protect yourself, but you opened the gates for me. You can’t begin to imagine what you’ve brought into my life. Your love is worth way more than I’ve gotten from anyone in a long time, and I’ve taken that for granted.”

“Abe, please don’t cry.” He brushed the back of his hand over my cheeks, wiping my tears away. “You’re the strong one. I lean on you so much.”

“No, you’re wrong. After everything you’ve endured, baby, there’s no doubt in my mind you’re the strong one in this relationship, but I’m going to do right by you, Emery. By god, I’m going to deserve you and the happiness you’ve brought into my life.”

“Abe.”

This time, he was the one who wrapped his arms around me and held me while I silently let the tears fall along the graceful neck I’d kissed so many times. But I’d sat back and allowed all this misfortune to happen to him. What kind of man was I? I’d kissed him and fucked him last night, then went home to my cozy bed while he was sleeping on my office floor.

“I swear I didn’t mean to let it go on for this long,” I whispered. “I should’ve stood up for you sooner. Please forgive me, Emery.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, Abe, but I need you to stop crying so I can go wash up before people come in. I can’t leave you like this, blaming yourself for what’s happened. It’s my shitty father’s fault.”

I sucked in a deep breath and used the sleeve of his shirt to dry my eyes. They were gritty, but I also felt better, and my reserve was so much stronger.

“Go.” I took his hand and kissed the back of it. “But hurry back. We need to talk.”

He nodded, leaned forward to kiss me, but seemed to think better of it. “Oops, morning breath.”

I caught his face and kissed him. I wouldn’t have let him go anytime soon if time wasn’t working against us.

Emery grabbed his backpack and left the office. I rolled up his sleeping bag and found a pack of cigarettes. He must have gotten them after he’d dropped me off last night. But the package was unopened. I slipped the cigarettes into one of the containers in my drawer Emery had made for me. He’d looked after me so well, and what had I given him? A warm cock to fill his hole, but that was all.

God, I was a horrible person. I’d taken advantage of his touch-starved nature. It didn’t sit right with me.

Emery returned to the office, looking more like his old self. I couldn’t help staring. Not because he looked stunning as usual in a long-sleeved black-and-red-knitted cropped sweater and a pair of distressed jeans with black stockings underneath. But because he was strong enough to put himself together in such a way that no one would know of his home situation.

My stomach clenched. What if his situation was even worse than he’d told me?

“I thought you’d be mad I lied to you,” he said.

I patted my thighs, and he dropped his bag and sank his ass onto my lap. “I promise you I’m not mad at you. A little disappointed, yeah, but I blame myself for all that.”

“But you’re not to blame.”

“Tell me what happened. The whole truth. Leave nothing out.”

He licked his lips, his eyes darting away from me. “I haven’t been back home since my last fight with Dad. If the woman he’d brought home for the night hadn’t been there, he might have seriously hurt me that day. I knew I couldn’t go back, that if I did, he would attack me, so I never went back.”

“Have you been staying here all this time?”

He shook his head and leaned into me to place his head on my shoulder. I tightened my hold on him.

Last night I’d told him he was mine. This was the best I could do for him?

“I stayed at a shelter. If I miss intake, then I sleep here.”

“Wait a minute.” I frowned. “You didn’t miss intake last night because of me, did you?”

When he fell silent, I knew he had. I clamped my eyes shut. “Baby.”

“I missed you. I wanted to be with you, Abe, and I didn’t mind sleeping on the floor.”

“But I do. I mind very much, so we’re going to fix it today.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we’re going to find you a place to stay.”

“But I don’t want you to—”

“Enough, Emery,” I said gently. “I’ve always taken your assurances that you’re fine at face value, and I finally know why. To avoid having to handle your situation and risk people asking questions about why I’m so invested in you. I don’t care anymore.”

“But, Abe, your job. And Mandy.”

“I’m not saying we out ourselves. We still have to keep us a secret until you finish high school, but please don’t ask me not to interfere anymore. You’re mine to care for, and dammit, I swear I’ll make you happy.”

“I’m already happy.”

“Happier.”

He chuckled softly. “I can’t do anything to stop. Can I?”

“No. It’s too late.”

“All right, then.” He ran his tongue along my neck. “Want to plow me like virgin soil before class starts?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not in the mood.” Everything was still too raw—seeing him sleeping on the floor. I needed to fix things. “Can I take a rain check?”

Emery pulled back and scanned my face. “You never turn down sex with me.”

I thumbed his pouty bottom lip. “Don’t sulk. I don’t deserve to touch you until I make up for all my wrongs, starting with getting you somewhere to stay. Get up for a bit, will you, sweetheart?”

“Why? What are you doing?” He slid off my lap, and I stood, removed my wallet, and thumbed through it for my credit card.

“No! Abe, I don’t want your money.”

I took his hand and placed the card in the middle of his palm. “You need it, Emery,” I said gently. “There’s no shame in that. I want you to be comfortable coming to me with your problems and not hiding them from me. I want to take care of you as best I can. You’re going to take it and buy yourself some pretty clothes and anything you need. Don’t think of arguing, or I’ll bend you over this desk and slap your ass with that ruler.”

Emery frowned. “Now, I’m torn. Being bent over your desk and being spanked with a ruler sounds so hot, Abe. How can you give me a choice like this?”

“How about this? You take this credit card and get all the things you need, and later, when you show me all you bought, if I’m satisfied, I’ll spank you.”

A slow smile spread across his lips. Then it dropped. “Abe.”

The bell rang through the halls. Shit. We were out of time.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to stay at your house. That’s why I didn’t tell you. Because I don’t want to go back there and sneak around behind your wife’s back. It’ll be harder for Mandy to forgive me for sleeping with her dad if I do that.”

“I know.” I cupped his face and kissed his forehead. “Don’t worry about it. You’re not going back there, I promise.”

If I couldn’t find him an apartment in short order, then I’d book him a hotel room until I did. Nothing but the best for him from now on. As long as I could afford it, he would have his heart’s desire.

Emery threw his arms around my neck and hugged me. I let my arms surround him with my love, caressing his slender back.

“Stay out of trouble,” I whispered in his ear. “And let me know if that Priest kid still picks on you.”

“I think being suspended the last time set him right. He hasn’t bothered me again.” He poked my stomach. “Besides, if he bothered me, what would you do? Make him run extra laps?”

I caught his hand, brought his finger to my lips, and nibbled on it. His eyes went dark, and his mouth fell open. Chuckling, I released his hand. “Calm down, love. Can’t send you off to class with a hard-on.”

“You know there’s a way you can take care of it.”

It was tempting, but I turned him around and swatted his ass. “Go. By the way, what about food?”

He grabbed his backpack. “I got some stuff from the vending machine when I used the locker rooms to shower.”

“Come back here to have lunch. I’ll be in a meeting, but I’ll leave something nice for you, okay?”

He nodded, looking almost shy, then went up on the tips of his toes and raised his head. I lowered mine and kissed him softly. “I love you.”

He didn’t wait for me to say it back. He never had. The door closed behind him, and I stared at the spot on the floor where he’d been sleeping.