Her Teacher's Temptation (18 page)

“Well, at least
you won’t underestimate me again.”

“You know dinner
is in like forty five minutes,” Luke told us nonchalantly.

My eyes
widened. “But I need a shower.”

“Me too. I’m
going in first.”

“What? No way.
I need to go in first so that I have time to dry my hair. Your stupid curls
will be fine either way.”

“Maybe we
should just shower together,” Ollie smirked.

I snorted
unattractively. “You wish.”

“You’re not
going to have much choice if I beat you there,” Ollie teased, finishing the
last of his cone, whilst I still had a few more mouthfuls left.

“I’ll just go
and ask Annabel if I can use hers. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” I retorted,
handing him the rest of my ice cream. “Please finish this. I’m too full.”

Luke laughed.
“You still have a three course meal to eat.”

I groaned. “Oh
my God.”

Ollie gobbled
down the last of my cone and grinned. “It’s okay. I’m sure I’ll be able to
finish off whatever you don’t want. But seriously, we should go and get ready.
I don’t want my mum to have an even worse impression of you.”

“Hey!” I
complained as we stood up and made our way inside. “I thought you said she
didn’t hate me!”

I could barely
hear the sound of Luke’s faded laughter as our bickering continued all the way
up to our room.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“I actually
feel a bit sorry for him.” Luke commented, whilst absentmindedly bouncing
Charlotte up and down on his knee. 

We both stared
over to where Ollie was talking to his parents, his face a perfect picture of
contained annoyance. It was fairly obvious what they were discussing. “I'm not
really sure what the problem is when we're just friends. I didn't want to make
this all rubbishy for him.” I’d managed to cause enough drama for Ollie as it
was, though part of me knew it’d been a victory getting him away from Jemma. 

Luke shook his
head. “It’s not your fault. It’s just the fact that Ollie isn’t with anyone,
not just because he’s brought you. He knew this was going to be what happened
anyway.” I guessed he wouldn’t have had a great time with his parents, whether
he’d brought me or no one, in that case. My lips quirked at that realisation.

I wasn’t
convinced. “Annabel is pretty good at making it worse,” I pointed out, watching
her pull completely tactless funny faces from where Ollie could see her but her
parents couldn’t. 

“You know
Annabel pretty well?” Luke inquired. “Or do you and Ollie know each other
through Annabel? You’re about the same age.” 

I tried not to
flinch at that. Age was going to be a sore topic all weekend. “I knew Annabel
after meeting Ollie. I’m not sure I’d say we’re close, but we get along well
enough. I met Ollie in a club in summer.” That wasn’t a lie, at least.

“I don’t think
mother would be impressed to hear that was how you met.” Luke told me with a
small chuckle. 

I grinned in
spite of everything. “I’m sure Ollie will come up with something more
acceptable, not that it’s likely to make any difference.” 

Luke’s
attention was drawn away from me when his wife, Emily, appeared beside us.
“Honey, would you just come and help me bring the second suitcase in from the
car?” She inquired, hands automatically cradling her swollen stomach. I
wondered how much older Luke was than Ollie, to already nearly have two
children. Ollie was almost old enough, really, though. Maybe not right now, but
in only a couple of years he’d be ready to settle down. I wouldn’t have even
finished uni by then.

Luke glanced at
me apologetically. “Would you mind just watching Charlotte whilst I go?” He
checked. 

I shook my head
and hoped I didn’t look too uncomfortable. Whilst I was fine with my sister, I
always got a little bit scared around other people’s kids that I’d do something
wrong. “Sure.” 

“You stay here
with Maddie for a moment,” Luke told his daughter in a gentle voice. “You can
read your book to her. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.” Then he placed her
in my lap with a grateful smile. 

I glanced down
slightly awkwardly at the very cute girl with natural curls, just like Ollie,
and hoped she’d just start reading to me. 

She didn’t, of
course. “Do you and Uncle Ollie love each other like mummy and daddy?” She
inquired, tapping fingers against the book about animals I had hoped she might
concentrate on. 

I found myself
chuckling, though. “No, we’re just friends,” I told her, trying to think just
how much a four year old could actually comprehend. 

“Uncle Ollie
looks sad,” she lamented. I followed her gaze and had to agree. He looked just
about at his wit’s end with the conversation, though his parents apparently
didn’t seem to notice. 

“Do you want to
know how you can cheer him up?” I asked her, my tone automatically taking on
the soft voice I used with Lily. 

Charlotte
nodded eagerly. "Yes.”   

I watched the
situation carefully to make sure I wasn’t going to annoy anyone too much. I
figured that Charlotte was cute enough that she’d get away with anything,
though. I whispered something in her ear and gave a demonstration before
allowing her to hop off my knee and scamper over to Ollie. 

Biting my lip,
I couldn’t help but put my hand to my face to conceal a chuckle as Ollie bent
down with the intention of picking up his niece. He certainly wasn’t expecting
the small fingers that reached up and pinched his nose, though. Whilst he was
still in a state of slight shock, Charlotte leapt away from him and scampered
back to me as fast as she could with her tiny legs. 

Ollie’s face
had transformed so that his lips quirked upwards and Annabel was shaking her
head at me with amusement. I was more than relieved when neither of his parents
turned around to give me an accusing look. 

“I hope you’re
not being a bad influence,” Luke chuckled from beside me. I hadn’t even
realised he was there.

“We were just
cheering Uncle Ollie up.” Charlotte instantly defended. 

“I believe you,”
he held his hands up defensively, “but it really is time for bed now.”  

Charlotte
widened her eyes at me hopefully, but I could only give her a sympathetic look.
After a long sigh and a pout, she allowed Luke to pick her up. "Night,"
I called after him with a chuckle. 

Now that they
were gone, I figured it was a good time to go for a smoke. Maybe if I wasn't
here anymore Ollie's parents might forget to rant about me, too. 

Outside it was
bitterly cold, but I couldn't be bothered to go all the way back to my room.
I'd only be out here for five minutes anyway. Lighting up, I reflected on
tonight's possible activities. Though we'd of course agreed that no more sex
was the only real option, I got the feeling that probably didn't apply to
romantic getaways in posh hotels in the countryside. Not that I was
complaining, of course. 

It didn't
really help with my whole "being filled with false hope only to be let
down" issue, though. I knew that my thoughts' constant occupation with
Ollie and the sometimes unmanageable mix of emotions that brought me was only
going to get worse after this weekend. 

"There a
bit left for me?" Ollie inquired, appearing beside in me and looking
absolutely exhausted. 

Still, I shook
my head with a small frown. "You've quit," I reminded him.

Ollie's puppy
dog eyes almost made me cave. "Please? Just one drag?" 

When I found
the willpower to shake my head again, Ollie grimaced and decided the easiest
way to solve this was to just try and snatch the lit cigarette from me. I held
it away from him as best as I could, trying to not let any of the ash drip on
me as I held it over my head. 

Ollie wasted no
time in pinning me against the wall smugly, still reaching towards the burning
object. "Please, Maddie, you know how mean my parents are being. I didn't
realise your age would be this much of a problem." Despite my best
efforts, I couldn't help the way my breathing hitched slightly as one of
Ollie's hands slid around my waist to give him further leverage. Not that he
really needed any, with how much taller than me he was. I was positive he was enjoying
this as much as me. "I wish I'd never introduced them to Jemma." 

I laughed.
"Imagine how much of a field day they'd have if they knew how old I really
was." 

"How old
really are you?" Luke's voice spoke with slight surprise from the side of
us.

In my lapse in
concentration, Ollie grabbed my cigarette and took a long drag.
"Seventeen," Ollie spoke for me. I knew it wasn't my place to answer
the question myself. 

Luke raised an
eyebrow before shaking his head disbelievingly. "And you really met in a
club?" 

Ollie scowled
at me. He'd clearly been planning on giving one story to everyone, but I just
wasn't as good at coming up with things like that on the spot as him.
"You'd be surprised how good fake ID's are," I laughed awkwardly,
running a hand through my hair and gesturing to Ollie to give me the cigarette
back. I'd never been able to handle tense situations. I normally managed to say
something horribly embarrassing that just made everything worse. 

Luke shook his
head once more. "You're really nothing more than friends? You just seem...
really close I guess." 

"We're not
together." Well, that wasn't a lie, at least. I was almost sure that Luke
understood the implication there, but Ollie didn't seem to care. Lying to his
family clearly wasn't an enjoyable thing for him. "We're just friends,
okay?" He settled on after a long sigh. "It's not a problem. I just
didn't want mum and dad to unnecessarily completely hate her, you know." 

Luke chuckled.
"I know. They can be pretty overbearing. I think I was just lucky that my
life panned out how they wanted. I didn't get married and have kids young
because they wanted me to, not that they seem to realise that." 

"I know,"
Ollie agreed, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my box to light up
another. "It's just annoying sometimes. It's pressure that I really don't
want." 

But we both
knew Ollie was much closer to the point in his life where having kids and
settling down would be his goal, whereas I hadn't even left school yet, never
mind started university. Our relationship was an impossibility. That was what
my head told me, anyway. It didn't stop me going through delusional stages of
convincing myself that the impossible could happen.

"It's
pretty rubbish a lot of the time. I know you and Annabel have had it
worst." 

I almost felt
like I shouldn't be here whilst they were discussing these things, but neither
brother seemed to mind. Or at least they weren't rude enough to tell me to get
lost. I just attempted to disappear into the wall as effectively as possible.
Ollie grunted in agreement. "It's normally easier to avoid than
this." 

Luke chuckled.
"Have you not actually quit, then?" He moved the conversation away,
apparently to the relief of both brothers. 

Ollie chuckled.
"Pretty much. It's only a stress thing now. I'm much more responsible now,"
Luke glanced at me pointedly and Ollie smirked. "I said more responsible,
not completely responsible." 

"I'd
expect nothing less," he teased back. "I really have to go and find
Emily, though. She'll be wondering where I've got to." 

"Sure
thing," Ollie agreed lazily. "I think we'll head in too. It's
freezing out here." 

"Going to
bed?" Annabel teased with a wiggle of the eyebrows as we entered the
hotel's lobby. The dull stench of smoke that clung to me seemed particularly
out of place in such an extravagant area. 

The cheeky grin
slid easily onto my face around Annabel. Our common interest to embarrass Ollie
was too strong. "Well, I don't know about him, but I'm having a shower
first." 

Annabel
whistled. "I guess at least there won't be any banging for me to hear that
way." 

Ollie flamed
and Luke only chuckled and disappeared whilst Annabel and I shared a grin.
"I'm sorry," I apologised, patting him on the arm, but also beginning
to feel the tension of the outcome of this weekend as we joked about mine and
Ollie's all too complicated ‘relationship’. "I just can't help
myself."

Annabel pushed
the button to call the lift that we'd migrated towards. "I don't think I
forgive you."

When we were
back in the room, I tried not to show my sudden nerves as my hands
automatically went to wring together. "Are you actually having a
shower?" Ollie inquired, collapsing onto the bed fully clothed and
snuggling into his pillow.

I chuckled.
"Nah, I'll have one in the morning."

I found myself
lying down beside Ollie, revelling in our closeness. We weren't touching, other
than our elbows brushing, but somehow that was just enough for this moment.

"I'm glad
that you came," Ollie told me softly, wiping away all the guilt I'd had
about the hard time from his parents with that genuine tone.

When Ollie
shifted onto his side, it was my automatic reaction to mimic his actions.
"I'm glad I came too," I agreed, cheeks slightly flushed at our
proximity and the genuine admission.

There was a
slight rumble in the bed as Ollie chuckled. "Just so you know, I didn't
only ask you to come so that we'd find ourselves in this situation again,
though it was a motivator." His hand caressed the side of my face during
this statement and I was thankful my arms were covered as the goose bumps broke
out on them. His dark smile gave me shivers.

"I'm perfectly
aware of your motivation, don't worry," I teased back, allowing my own
fingers to wind their way into Ollie's hair, losing them in his curls.

I was afraid
that we might well have kept Annabel awake in the worst way for far longer than
we'd meant to.