16. Liv

Chapter 16

Liv

I watch the kids file out of the classroom. A few of them are humming, one of them is playing air guitar, and all of them are smiling. They like me! They like my class! I glance over to the corner where the actual teacher has been observing and she smiles and nods approvingly.

Carlos also shoots me a confident, happy smile. “We did good, Garrison.”

I grin. “We did, didn’t we?”

I lift my hand and high-five him. The teacher heads toward her desk and we collect our own belongings, say goodbye, and walk out together. “She’s gotta give us five stars. The kids are totally engaged in our classes.”

“It’s not an Amazon review, Carlos," I laugh. "But yeah, I think she'll give us a glowing assessment. Now we have to talk about the quiz. Can you email me your half of the questions and I'll build the file for the kids. I want it to be interactive, with sound clips too, so I emailed the principal to see if I can have access to the school server to store the file so they can access it right from the classroom computers."

“You are the best partner in the world, Garrison.” He grins again and wraps a friendly arm around my shoulder.

I fight the urge to flinch and win. It's not Carlos. He's great. In fact for a while there, despite what I said to Tenley and my cousins, I had entertained the idea of maybe pursuing him after our work relationship was done. I'd run a scenario in my head about our end-of-term party and how I would make some smooth comment that we should stay in touch and then if he reacted well, I would invite him to a movie or something. But… I haven't run that scenario in my head since…. since I slept with Crew Westwood.

We round the corner of the outdoor hallway and I step out of his side hug casually and look up and smile. The building these kids get to go to school in is right out of a movie set, in my opinion. There are huge outdoor marble hallways with painted ceilings and their cafeteria seating is in the middle of a courtyard with colorful canopies to keep the sun off them while they munch on lunches that look like something Jamie Oliver made.

“You are enamored with California, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah, in general,” I reply as we start down the steps. “You have to understand Silver Bay, Maine, is lovely and quaint, like something out of a Hallmark movie, when it’s not sub-zero freezing and coated in ice. But it’s that about six to seven months of the year.”

“So no outdoor eating at lunchtime in your high school,” Carlos replies, and I shake my head. “It’s not all that, though. I mean I had outdoor eating in Arizona, but my friend got bit by a rattlesnake because of it.”

“What? Shit. Did he live?”

“Yeah. But it was nuts,” Carlos replies. “See, if you don’t live in the rich school districts and your cafeteria is outside, you have to live with pests because there’s no budget for pest control. And there’re drive-by shootings.”

“You’ve been in drive-by shootings?”

"Yeah. Once. Zero stars." He winks at me. "But I'm going back there to teach once I'm done next year because they need people to not give up on the area."

See. I should be making heart eyes at him right now. He’s handsome and noble and kind and driven. Instead, I’m thinking about Crew and wondering if he will be at Tate’s for the barbecue tonight. It’s been four very long, boring days since our third encounter and I haven’t seen him. I haven’t heard from him, but to be fair, I haven’t reached out either. Still, it feels like he’s avoiding me, which is stupid. It’s just… he knows where to find me and he doesn’t. But I don’t want him to, right? Right.

My phone dings as we get to the staff parking lot. I pluck it from my purse and read a text from Tenley.

TENLEY: Sorry! Can’t pick you up. There was a thing I couldn’t get out of & then Parentals showed up.

“God damnit Ten.”

“What has the number Ten done to you to deserve such blasphemy?” Carlos kids.

See. He’s charming too. What is wrong with me? Why did I flip the off switch on him and how do I turn it back on?

“Ten is Tenley. My cousin I live with.”

“The one who picks you up sometimes?”

I nod. “Only not today apparently. She just bailed.”

LIV: WTF am I supposed to do?

TENLEY: Uber? I’ll pay! In fact. I’ll order. Gimme the addy.

Uber. The idea spikes my anxiety instantly. I do not want to get into a car with a stranger right now, especially because every Uber driver I've ever had has been male. I know I'm overreacting to this attack, letting it affect my daily life, but… I can’t help it.

“I can drive you wherever you need to go.”

I look up into Carlos’ friendly brown eyes. My gaze shifts to the minivan he drives, which he inherited from his grandma. “Where do you live again? I don’t want to put you out. I’m not going home. I’m headed to Venice to my cousins.”

“I live in Manhattan Beach so I’m heading that way anyway,” he replies. “If you were heading back to West Hollywood it would be out of the way, but I would insist on driving you anyway.”

I am an idiot for not being attracted to him anymore. I total brain-dead idiot. "Thanks, Carlos. I owe you."

The drive is painless. Comfortable even. We laugh a lot and even get a chance to talk through the quiz we’re planning so we’re both on the same page and have gotten a ton of work done by the time he pulls onto Tate and Mallory’s street. “Whoa. Someone is having a party.”

Carlos eyes all the cars lining the side of the road and the catering truck in Tate’s driveway. “My cousin. He is hosting his teammates before the start of the season.”

“He plays hockey, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry. I know nothing about hockey. I’m a football fan,” Carlos explains. “The American and British kind.”

There’s a tap on the glass of the passenger window beside my head and I not only jump but squeak. Carlos puts a hand on my knee, meant as a friendly comfort, I’m sure, but judging by the look in Crew’s eyes he’s taking it as something much more.

Carlos rolls down the window from the controls on his door. “Hey.”

Crew doesn’t even glance at Carlos. His eyes are glued to me. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I saw you and thought you were with Tenley or one of your other hundred relatives.”

“I… no this is Carlos. I work with him. And go to school with him.” I turn to Carlos and try to smile but it feels wrong. Tight. “Carlos this is Crew Westwood. He plays with my cousin Tate.”

“Hockey. Plays hockey,” Crew adds, and I laugh too loudly.

Carlos moves his hand from my knee to reach across me toward the open window to shake Crew’s hand. Crew shakes like it’s not a big deal but his expression is tense and dark. Like he’s… jealous? No. No way. Couldn’t be.

“Nice to meet you,” Carlos says. “I was just delivering Liv to her party.”

“Thank you. I’ll email you when I have the quiz ready for proofing,” I say and scramble like a feral raccoon to get my seatbelt off, grab my shoulder bag, and open the car door. I do it all so fast that I actually smack Crew in the forehead with the door because he was still leaning into the window. He falls backward onto the grass between the road and the sidewalk, swearing.

I leap from the car and stare down at him while he rubs his forehead. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry!”

“Yeah. Fine,” he grumbles.

Carlos must have been worried about him too because he's turned off the engine and got out of the car. He's standing right beside me. "Dude. That looked brutal. Are you sure you're okay?"

“Yeah. I’ve been concussed before and this ain’t it,” Crew replies and ignores Carlos’ outstretched hand. He gives me a quick glare as he hauls himself to his feet.

“Sorry,” I say again and then turn to Carlos. “Thanks again. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

“Why rush off, Carlos?” Crew asks and my head ricochets back in his direction. “Wanna grab a bite before you go?”

“I mean…”

Okay, clearly Crew is concussed. What the hell is he doing?

“You can meet the rest of the local NHL team. It’s an invite a lot of people would kill for.” Crew smiles. “Not enough though, in this town. LA isn’t exactly a big hockey town, but maybe we can woo you and you’ll spread the word.”

“I…” Carlos looks at me.

I smile. “Sure. Yeah. Join!”

I mean, what the hell else am I supposed to say? And obviously, Crew isn't jealous. He doesn't care if this leads to something unprofessional with Carlos or else why would he be encouraging us to hang out? Clearly, Crew hasn't been thinking about me the way I've been thinking of him.

I might not still be attracted to Carlos but maybe with some effort, I can change that. Because being attracted to Crew is a dead end now. Clearly.

So I blink and channel my mom. Her courage. Her passion. Her wild side. I hook my arm through Carlos’ and give him what I hope is a flirty smile. “Come have some barbecue with me.”

“I’d love to.”

I lead Carlos toward the backyard. I don’t bother to turn and see if Crew is following but I’m sure he is. And I hope he’s happy about this.