Hardwood - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,57

the hallway with a conspiratorial grin. He pulls open a door labeled janitor’s closet, and excitement skitters over my skin. I glance around quickly again and then follow him inside, pulling the door closed quickly behind us.

The space is as cramped as one would expect for a closet filled with cleaning supplies and a mop bucket. It’s so tight, in fact, that I’m forced to stand pressed up against Watson, so close our noses are nearly touching.

“Hi,” he says again, slipping a finger through the belt loop on my jeans.

“Hi,” I reply with a low rumble of a laugh that turns into a quiet moan when he presses his lips against mine.

My cock swells as his tongue teases mine. I can feel the answering bulge in the front of his pants, and my whole body heats. I loop my arms around his neck and run my fingers through the short hairs at the base of his neck, pressing my body more firmly against his, letting myself get lost in him.

Someone could stumble on us at any moment, pull open the door and catch me with my tongue down Watson’s throat. That thought is equal parts terrifying and thrilling and somehow hot as hell.

“God, I can’t get enough of you,” he murmurs against my lips.

“I know. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I can’t think of anything except you,” I confess in a whisper.

Watson groans quietly, tugging on my belt loop and nipping at my bottom lip before soothing it with his tongue.

“How long until our second date?” he asks.

“Twenty-three hours.” I press chaste kisses all along his jaw and down his throat, telling myself I need to stop and go back to find Val before she gets suspicious, but unable to actually pull away from him.

“That’s too fucking long,” he complains.

“Tell me about it.”

My lips find his again, and we sink into another kiss.

I’m not sure how long I’m lost in the feeling of Watson’s mouth against mine when my pocket starts to vibrate.

“Oh,” Watson gasps and then giggles. “There’s an interesting feeling.”

“What that…Oh shit, it’s a text from Val.” Unsurprisingly, she’s wondering where the hell I disappeared to. “I’d better go.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Twenty-three hours.”

I grin and nod. Less than one day. I can wait that long. I reach for the door handle and start to open the door when a voice reaches my ears.

“Olivia is always so helpful with the other students,” someone says.

“That’s good to hear. I know we’ve had a bit of a problem with her language, but we’re working on it.” Val’s voice makes my heart clench and ice fill my veins. I pull the door closed as quickly and quietly as I can manage.

“What—”

“Val’s out there,” I whisper frantically. “It sounds like she’s talking to a teacher.”

Watson

“Shit,” I curse under my breath. “Not to add to the situation, but I really have to pee.”

“Dammit, what are we going to do?” he asks, his eyes pleading as he starts to chew on his bottom lip. During our make-out session, one of my hands seems to have made it onto his chest, and I can feel his heart pounding now as panic starts to set in.

“Take a deep breath. We can figure a way out of this.”

“I can’t very well come stumbling out of the closet with my daughter’s music teacher. No matter how perfect that metaphor would be,” Everett points out sounding a bit frantic.

“Okay, calm down. Give me a second to think.” We don’t exactly have a lot of options here. I can still hear both muffled voices right outside the door.

“Of all the ways I could end up coming out to Val,” he mutters. “And, fuck, are you going to get in trouble for fooling around with a parent in the janitor’s closet?”

“Ev,” I say firmly but quietly. “Listen to me, this isn’t how you’re coming out to Val. And I’m not going to get in trouble, although of all the reasons I could lose a job, making out with a hot dad in the janitor’s closet would be my preferred way to go.”

“Sorry. If I have a meltdown, it’s not going to help anything,” he says.

“Exactly. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” I check over his appearance quickly to make sure he doesn’t look like he’s been in here getting ravaged. “You go out there, and I’ll stay here.”

“What?”

“Play dumb, act like you got turned around while looking for the bathroom, and then lead Val away from here so I