Ross’s gasp was everything.
With every semblance of self-control I had, I smiled against his skin, whispering, “I’ll be right back,” before I edged away, picked up my bag I’d lost along the way, and headed to his bedroom.
It didn’t take long to clean up. When I left his room, my soft shorts hugging my backside just enough I hoped it was impossible for Ross’s eyes not to stray, I inhaled the heavenly scent of cooked dough and melted cheese.
“Good timing,” he said when I entered the kitchen. Knife in hand, Ross sliced the pizza, cutting it into haphazard triangles.
A quick glance around the space showed me drinks weren’t on the side yet. “Water, beer, or something else?”
“Beer, definitely.”
I quirked my brow at his tone as I headed to the fridge. “Not a good first day back?” While Ross had spent a lot of time at the school over the summer with the fires and later doing some reorganisation or something in the library, today was the first official start of term for staff.
He grunted and placed our plates on the small kitchen table. A bowl of salad already sat in the middle, along with some cutlery and cheesy garlic bread. “No, it was okay until Nick Smith rocked up.”
My eyes widened at the name I’d heard just a few short months ago; prior to that, it had been years. Needing to clarify, I asked, “From school, that Nick?”
“One and the same.” He didn’t look particularly pleased about it, and I immediately understood why.
Nick had been a cockhead at school. He was a year younger than Craig and me and a year older than Ross. He’d always had a reputation for being a mouthy shit, but when Ross had come out in my last year of school, there’d been a time or two Nick had started something.
Craig and I had shut down that pretty fast, but based on seeing Jamie at the Thai place, it was clear that Nick and his friends had started up again when we'd left school.
“As a teacher?” I struggled to get my head around the odds of Nick showing up not long after we’d seen Jamie.
“Yeah. Maths.”
Surprise rippled in my chest. “For real?”
He grunted a happy snort as he chewed a mouthful of pizza. “Surprised the hell out of me too.”
“So what was he like?” Ross could undoubtedly look after himself. He was probably the smartest guy I knew, and there wasn’t a chance he’d let anyone get away with talking shit these days, especially if they were a homophobic prick.
But saying that, even though he’d handled himself with Jamie at the restaurant, it had taken a few days for him to shake off the strange mood clinging to him. It had actually taken weeks after for us to venture out for dinner again, and while I hadn’t challenged him, I suspected it was something to do with fearing a repeat of last time.
“Fine, I guess. I don’t know, a bit wary maybe.”
I nodded. “Understandable.”
“You think?”
“Sure. I imagine the reality of what a shit he was in high school slapped him in the face pretty hard.”
Tilting his head, Ross dipped his brows. “I guess you’re right. If he’s turned into a half-decent guy, I hope he was mortified at seeing me.”
I snorted. “Don’t hold back there, Ross.”
A sly smile appeared. “My bitchiness is rare.”
I barked out a laugh. “But when it comes out, damn, best run for cover.”
He took another big bite of his pizza, the humour I was used to seeing evident in his eyes.
We settled down to eating, talking about the rest of our day. He told me about another new member of staff starting and that her wife worked at my place. The name registered immediately. I’d only briefly met the office manager this morning when I’d grabbed some paperwork.
She seemed nice enough and already appeared to know what she was doing, in as much as she knew the job I asked her about and where the paperwork was.
“I’m going for a beer with Alec after school tomorrow.”
