Page 44 of Tangled
“Fine,” she huffs and rolls her eyes, making me grin at her reaction. I sit up tall against my side of the swing as my foot on the ground pushes off the deck, propelling us back before we rock forward in a slow, rhythmic glide. “But if you ask me a question, you have to answer it too.”
“That seems fair. Okay, here goes. Let’s start with an easy one. What is your favorite thing about your career?”
She doesn’t pause to think at all before she declares, “The kids.” Only a teacher who truly understands the meaning of the job would offer that answer. Not summers off, not paid vacation. Nope. An irreplaceable teacher is the one who shows up every day for their students, despite the bullshit that goes along with the job.
“I wholeheartedly agree.”
“I should hope so, and that you aren’t just copying my answer to score brownie points with me,” she teases.
“No, I really do agree. I knew I wanted to teach since high school, and the Army helped me pay for my degree. Knowing when I was out I would finally get to make a difference in the classroom was the only thing that kept me going some days. Well, that and…” I stop myself before I utter her name. Because after what she did to me, it doesn’t matter that she was who I would dream about at night to remind me of the sacrifice I made for our future. She burned that dream up in flames as soon as she touched T.J.
“And what?” She asks curiously.
“Never mind. It’s not important,” I shake it off and glance back down at my phone for my next question. “Okay, I’ll answer this one first so you know I’m not just copying you this time. Sound good?”
Her smile says it all. “Learning to compromise already. I’m impressed.”
“I’m not a stubborn, spoiled brat, Olivia. I know how to play fair… well, most of the time,” I say, feigning innocence but sending her a vibe that I hope she picks up on. By the narrow pinch in her eyes, I can tell she senses where I’m going with this.
I can’t wait to get her beneath me again so I can tease her and bring her to the brink of an orgasm before working her back down and up all over again. Yeah, I can play fair… or I can make her question her sanity as I edge her up to an orgasm repeatedly before she explodes. Usually, I win either way.
“Okay,” I clear my throat while trying to discretely reposition myself on the swing to ease the friction on my growing dick in my pants. “What celebrity would you like to meet at Starbucks for a cup of coffee?” I tilt my head in thought, even bringing my hand to my chin to accentuate my deep reasoning. “I’d have to say… Ryan Reynolds.”
“Oh! Interesting... Do explain…” she says as she pulls her jacket tighter around her body.
“I hate to admit this, but you’ll find out, eventually. I have a bit of a man crush on him.”
She laughs at me, the sound like music to my ears. Olivia should laugh more, the full-bodied, natural, mesmerizing laugh that sounds like pure joy. Why haven’t I heard that sound before? Oh, probably because I was too busy acting like an ass which didn’t warrant her laughter. I do know what she sounds like when she comes though, if that’s any consolation.
“Please elaborate,” she says as her laughter winds down.
“Well, for starters, the man is just good-looking. He’s got the hot nerd thing going for him, and his body is fit. I’m not gay, I swear. I can just appreciate the dedication it takes to look like that.”
She giggles and then waves her hand in front of me to continue.
“Second, he’s funny as hell and wickedly charming. And, he’s a great dad. He worships his wife, and you can tell the relationship they have is built on the fact that they are best friends. The way they troll each other on social media has me dying of laughter all the time. And she’s gorgeous too. He has it all, and I would love to know what his secret is.”
Oliva stares with this childish smirk on her face. “That’s a really great answer. I agree, Ryan Reynolds is hot as hell, but everything else you said is also dead-on.”
I welcome her appreciation of my answer, but now it’s her turn. “Okay, okay… who’s your person?”
“Hands down, Ellen DeGeneres.”
“Oh, yeah… great choice.”
“She is my human crush. It has nothing to do with male versus female. I just think she’s one of the best people to walk the planet. I mean, her show brings so much joy and positivity in this world. I just want to be her, or at least be surrounded by her so I can absorb some of her awesomeness. She preaches kindness over everything. Her bravery is admirable, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind.”
“That’s a fine answer, Olivia,” I reply in a weird British accent.Where the hell did that come from?
“Excuse me?” She giggles again and fuck, if it doesn’t make my dick twitch.
“Just pretend that didn’t happen. Okay, last one for now…”
“What? Last one? This is fun,” she pouts, making me want to suck that bottom lip in my mouth and worship her tongue with my own.
“Oh, look who likes the questions now?” I tease. “We need to save some for next time.”
“Next time?” Her voice sounds surprised, but seriously—did she not think I’d want to take her out?