good of a place to sneak away and make out in.
I stuffed the keys in my clutch and cut through the auditorium and headed toward the dance I’d missed all those years ago. Toward the man I’d fallen hard for twice now.
I pushed through the heavy doors of the senior hallway and stepped into the cafeteria. We’d eaten French bread pizza and green beans here earlier today. But since then, it had been transformed into a blue and silver crepe paper wonderland. There was a DJ, the same old-ass throne that they’d used for Homecoming back in the day, and dozens and dozens of students awkwardly masquerading as confident people in nicer clothing.
I spotted Jake near the refreshments laughing at something Amie Jo said to him.
Past experience had my stomach tying itself in knots. She was wearing a pink cocktail dress six shades too fancy for a simple chaperoning gig. It said, “I don’t want the students to get all the attention.”
I hated myself for looking at them and remembering twenty years ago. We were all different. We’d all grown and changed, I reminded myself. Well, maybe not Amie Jo. But Jake and I were different. He wasn’t passing me over for Amie Jo a second time.
I swallowed hard and slapped a smile on my face.
He’d run home to shower and change after getting caught in the celebratory ice water deluge on the field. He was sexy as hell in a dark pair of trousers and a dark gray jacket. His shirt was unbuttoned at the neck, and I wanted to taste him there.
I walked in, surprised and embarrassed by the spontaneous applause from the students. I knew what to do with failure and losses. But recognitions for victory were new to me and made me feel vaguely uncomfortable. I thought I’d be able to bask in the glow of admiration. But I felt more comfortable in the shadows.
Jake stopped in what looked like mid-sentence with Amie Jo and crossed to me, rescuing me from the spotlight. I breathed a small sigh of relief. He was always showing up for me.
“You look incredible,” he said, a wolfish glint in his eyes.
“Thank you,” I said. “The girls helped with my hair.”
“I really want to mess up your hair and makeup and find out what you’re wearing under that dress,” he confessed.
“You’re the worst chaperone in the history of chaperones,” I teased.
“I feel like celebrating tonight. What do you say we pop a bottle of bubbly when we get home, and I’ll pour it on you and lick it off?”
“If you get a hard-on in those pants, every student will be talking about it for the rest of the school year,” I warned him.
“Nice game, Coach,” one of my students said as he shimmied past me with a pretty junior on his arm.
“Thanks, Calvin.”
“Look at you knowing their names,” Jake said. He took my hand and spun me away from him before pulling me back in.
I did know their names. And who was unhealthily attached to their phone. Whose parents were going through a divorce. Who was going to whine about being forced to do yoga for forty-five minutes instead of an endless winter of volleyball. I’d learned as much as I’d taught. If not more.
“I’m beyond proud of you, Mars,” Jake said, his voice low.
I was proud of myself.
I put my hands on his shoulders and swayed to the beat. It wasn’t a slow song, but I didn’t feel too weird slow dancing in the shadows with him. I’d been waiting for this moment for a very long time.
My cheeks flushed. “Thank you. Now can we please talk about something else?”
“I want to make sure you savor this moment. Think back to August. And look at yourself now. Look at your players now. Hell, look at your students now.”
He jerked his chin toward the dance floor. Milton Hostetter called out to the skinny, gawky Marvin Holtzapple and high-fived him.
“That never would have happened without your beer pong lessons.”
“Trick shot lessons,” I corrected him with a laugh.
“You’ve done a lot of good for a lot of people, Marley. Feel good about it.”
“I can’t believe you asked me to Homecoming again and we’re finally here,” I sighed.
“Again?” he asked.
Our conversation was cut short by the festive entrance of the Homecoming Queen. Ruby gave me a regal wink as she settled onto her throne in her purple, sparkly dress. We laughed as my team requested “We Are the Champions” and then sang and danced