Chapter 2

2

LAYLA

M ath wasn’t my strong suit—which was part of why I enjoyed teaching kindergarteners instead of older elementary school students—but I figured there was maybe a 1 percent chance that this guy was actually interested in me. Not only was he a smoking hot biker who probably drew women like moths to the flame, but he also had to be at least ten years older than me. His age didn’t make him any less attractive, though.

With his square jaw, bulging muscles, and amber-brown eyes, Roman was drop-dead gorgeous. Add in the short dark hair along with his height and tan skin, and his picture could be added to the dictionary next to tall, dark, and handsome. Especially with the six o’clock shadow on his cheeks adding to his aura of danger. Meanwhile, I was his exact opposite—a boring teacher who couldn’t even intimidate her five-year-old students.

I always thought I wasn’t interested in dating because I’d been so focused on getting through school. But with how my body reacted to Roman, I realized it was just because I hadn’t met someone who brought my dormant libido roaring to life. It was just my luck that the first guy who had the power to make my panties spontaneously combust was a sexy biker who was far out of my league.

Before I did something to embarrass myself—like throw myself at Roman—I needed to get out of here. Jerking my thumb over my shoulder, I mumbled. “Umm, that’s not necessary. Sorry. I need to go. My brother is graduating, and our parents are waiting for me inside since they dropped him off earlier.”

I didn’t give him the chance to reply before I swiveled on my heel and darted toward the building, walking as quickly as my shoes would let me without falling flat on my face. Not that I had to worry about Roman chasing after me or anything like that…although a part of me deep down inside really wished he had. Then maybe I actually would’ve believed he was interested in me.

I shoved those thoughts out of my mind as I walked all the way up to the top of the stands to join my parents. Dropping onto the seat they saved for me, I fanned myself with the graduation program I’d been given as I came inside.

My mom’s brows drew together as she leaned forward to peer around my dad at me. “Why do you look so flushed? Is the air-conditioning in your car not working? You can’t let something like that go for too long, especially with the hottest days of summer right around the corner. Dad can take a look at it for you tonight.”

“My car is fine,” I replied, barely stopping myself from rolling my eyes at how quickly she jumped to that assumption. I was a twenty-two-year-old woman with a college degree, an apartment of my own, and was almost done with my first year of teaching. My car was practically brand new—my only indulgence after I graduated. Besides my shoe collection.

But that didn’t stop my mom from treating me like one of my kindergartners.

“Then why are you all red and sweaty?” She cocked her head to the side. “Oh, dear. Is it that time of the month?”

Her whisper was loud enough that people in the rows surrounding us heard her question, and their soft laughter made my cheeks heat even more. “Stop. Please. Seriously, Mom. I just got a little warm walking from the car all the way up here since you guys decided to pick seats as far away from the stage as you could possibly get.”

“Your father wanted to have a bird’s-eye view of everything.” She flashed my dad a smile when he shook his head. “And they’re live streaming the whole thing, so I don’t have to worry about getting good pictures. I’ll just pull up the recording later and get some great screenshots of Luther.”

“At least our voices will echo when we cheer for him as he walks across the stage,” my dad muttered. “Otherwise, the poor kid might wonder if we decided to bail after dropping him off.”

Mom jackknifed up and twisted in her seat to glare at him. “As if I’d ever do something like that.”

“You never know what wild ideas that boy is gonna get in his head.” He shrugged. “Next week, he might run off to join the circus for the summer.”

Picturing my brother dressed as a clown in the sweltering heat with paint dripping down his face, I snickered. “The funny thing is, I could actually see him doing something like that.”

“Luther will be heading off to college in August, and that’s that.” My mom folded her hands together in her lap. “He knows how important his education is, just like you did when you were his age.”

“I didn’t say he was going to skip out on college, honey,” he corrected. “Just that he could decide to spend the next three months traveling the country with the circus before he ended up there.”

“More like he’ll go work for an amusement park with how much he loves roller coasters,” I joked.

“Good point.” Dad nodded with a grin. “At least then he could maybe do some networking if he decides to stick with mechanical engineering as his major.”

“Hush, you two,” Mom chided before heaving a deep sigh. “Luther isn’t going to run off anywhere. He’s going to stay home for the summer, right where he belongs.”

“Of course, he will.” My dad patted her hand. “Our children always do what you want.”

As much as I wished he was wrong, I couldn’t argue the point when I’d come back to my home town to teach…just like my mom had urged me to do. Pressing my lips together, I hummed, “Mm-hmm.”

“Did you see where your brother is listed in the program?” She flipped it open with a huff. “There’s not a single mention of him until the second to last page.”

Luther was lucky to be participating in the ceremony at all, but I wasn’t going to say that out loud. At five years younger than me, my brother was the baby of the family, and my mom treated him that way. He was smart enough to earn an academic scholarship to a great college, but he tended to get himself into trouble when he had too much time on his hands.

Like covering his coach’s car in shaving cream for a senior prank, without thinking about the permanent damage it would do to the paint job. Or that getting caught would put his graduation at risk. Until our parents made some calls and wrote a hefty check to the school to pay for the new uniforms that they wanted for the football team next year.

Dad patted me on the back. “Only because he didn’t make salutatorian like our girl did.”

“And they barely even let her speak.” Mom sniffed and shook her head.

It’d been five years since my high school graduation, and she sounded just as upset by the fact that they only gave me five minutes when the valedictorian got ten now as she had back then. My mom wasn’t one to let things go easily…which was why it was probably for the best that Roman hadn’t truly been interested in me. Her head would most likely explode if my first boyfriend was a biker.