Winter Jacket (18 page)

I wasn’t just learning about sea animals on this date, I was also learning about Hunter.  Hunter Fact #1.  She was amazing. 

“You wanna get out of here?” she asked me.  She stood up and brushed at the front of her skirt.  “I’ve got a craving for pancakes.”

+++++

Hunter Fact #2.  She made amazing pancakes. 

After being accosted by the woman at the aquarium, Hunter and I returned to my house.  Hunter made herself at home, first scratching behind Sylvia’s ears and murmuring a hello, and then setting up shop in my kitchen.  I offered my help, but after I showed her where the cooking materials and utensils were, she sat me down on a stool at the kitchen island and assured me she could handle the rest on her own.

I
was now getting to enjoy the fruits of her labor.  I grinned around my fork and made a quiet moaning noise of approval.  Hunter paused flipping pancakes on the griddle long enough to raise an eyebrow in my direction. “You okay over there?"

I swung my feet back and forth. Sitting on a stool at the kitchen is
land, eating warm pancakes covered in syrup made me feel like a kid again. "These may be the best pancakes I've ever had."

"Seriously?"

I nodded and enthusiastically tackled another bite. "Seriously,” I said around my mouthful. “I never joke about food. Are you this talented with all cooking? Because I don't know if my waistline can handle it."

Hunter
shook her head. "No. Just pancakes. I got really good making them for church-sponsored breakfasts."

I dropped my fork on the plate
and it clattered noisily. I covered my face with my hands and groaned. "I'm corrupting a church girl. I'm going to Hell."

“Whatever,” she scoffed, turning over a pancake
on the cast-iron griddle, “I haven’t been to Mass in a very long time – or at least not since I started crushing on my English professor.”

I looked up from my hands and my eyebrows rose to my hairline. "Is that so?"

Hunter nodded and smiled coyly. "I couldn't go to church in good conscience when I kept thinking about how good her legs looked in skirts."  Her voice had taken on an irresistible rasp.

"You are such trouble," I said, slowly shaking my head.

“Eat your pancakes.”

I took another bite, and just to get back at her,
I released another throaty moan.

She raised her spatula and waved it threateningly. "You know if you insist on holding out on me,” she said sharply, “you're not allowed to make those kinds of noises."

I batted my eyelashes. "I have no idea what you're talking about." I took another bite and groaned loudly around the food.  I rolled my eyes and dropped my fork so I could clench onto the countertop. "Oh, God," I panted.

I expected
another scolding, but when I reopened my eyes, Hunter was no longer by the gas range.  Distracted by my faux ecstasy, I hadn’t noticed she’d relocated to a spot right next to where I currently sat.  I was momentarily frozen, startled by her unexpected proximity.

Hunter
smiled. "You should share," she said breathily.  She took the fork from my rigid hand and stabbed a bite for herself. She slowly brought the fork to her lips, and I found myself entranced by the languid movement. Her lips parted and the tip of her pink tongue revealed itself. “Mm…that
is
good,” she purred.

I swallowed hard.
Apparently she had no intention of making this “getting to know you better,” and “going slow” plan easy on me.

+++++

CHAPTER
TEN

The weekend went by too quickly and soon enough it was Monday morning and I was back in my office.  I didn’t see Hunter on Sunday because we both had work to do – grading for me and studying for her – but I thought about her in her absence. I had spent a good portion of Sunday trying to figure out where I might take her on our next “getting to know you” date.  I hadn’t come up with anything definitive though, but I was anxious to see her again.  I took that as a very good sign.  We’d both agreed to the No Sex clause, and I was still excited to see her.

“So you haven’t been sexed to death, I see.” Troian breezed into my office, unannounced.

I set down my pen and grinned at my friend. 
“No, but what a way to go, right?”

“No arguing from me.” She plopped down in the seat on the other side of my desk
and crossed one leg over the other, getting comfortable.  “So how’s tricks?” she asked.  “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

Troian and I hadn’t really talked much since I’d told her about Hunter and me.  I could tell she wanted to talk about it though; the purpose of her unexpected visit was hovering just beneath her calm exterior.  Whenever she was this visibly stoical, there was usually something she wanted to talk about, but didn’t know how to approach the topic.

“Things are good,” I confirmed.  “It’s midterm week though so students are freaking out on schedule.”

My phone buzzed with an incoming text message
. 
I picked up my phone and read the screen:
Do I get to see you tonight?

“
That must be from Winter Jacket,” Troian remarked casually.

“What makes you say that?” I asked as I typed a reply:
How much of me do you want to see? 
Even though we’d agreed not to have sex again, that didn’t mean I couldn’t flirt.

“The smile on your face.”

I put my phone down so I could pay attention to my friend. “Well it was.”

Troian wrinkled her nose.
“Gross.  I don’t want to know about your sexting.”

“Whatever,” I scoffed,
putting my phone out of sight.  I saw I had another message from Hunter, but I didn’t want to be rude and ignore my friend for my phone. “We don’t do that.”

“Yet.”

I shook my head.  This is how Troian and I talked about anything serious.  We’d joke, we’d tease each other, and then we’d get serious.  "She has a name, you know."

Troian looked amused.  She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward in her chair. "Oh
really? You're going to let me use her real name now?"

I shrugged, trying to not make a big deal about it. "It just seems silly to keep calling her that."

“Why?  Because you’re dating her?”

“We went on
a
date,” I corrected.  It was premature to say we were “dating.”  I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but worried it was too late for that.

“And how was that?”

“Really great, actually.”  I smiled, remembering how much fun I’d had on Saturday.  “We went to the aquarium and then she made me pancakes for dinner.”

“Oh my God.  You two sound perfect for each other.  You’re both cornballs.”

  “Whatever,” I scoffed, “Miss-I-Get-My-Girlfriend-Elaborate-and-Thoughtful-Presents-For-Every-Anniversary.” My friend’s attitude irked me.  It’s not like she wasn’t guilty of being over-the-top cheesy with Nikole all the time.

"Did you tell her about the nickname?"

Her question made me pause. "No. I don't want to scare her off."

"But you at least told her you obsessed over her for nearly a year, right?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Not in so many words, no."

"Keeping your cards close to the vest." Troian steepled her fingers and nodded her head sagely. "I approve."

"I'm not trying to keep secrets," I defended myself. "I just think those are unnecessary details.  You’re not supposed to spill that kind of stuff on the first date.” 

Troian quirked her eyebrow at me. I knew she wanted to say more, but if she disagreed with my decision, she kept it to herself. "So when do I get to meet this girl?
” she asked. “You can't keep her chained to your bed forever."

"It's not like that."

"Uh huh,” she deadpanned. “I'm surprised you two stopped fucking long enough for you to come to work today."

Troian’s coarse language always made me cringe. 
"We decided to stop having sex after that first night." I cleared my throat. "We're taking things slow."

Troian rolled her eyes. "Jesus, Elle. You're the only person I know who
slams on the breaks
after
you crash the car."

I didn't quite know what to make of the analogy.
Did she think I was making a mistake? Did she think me sleeping with Hunter was a disaster? I tried not to overanalyze her word choice. I tried not to be me. "I know you think I rushed into it."

"No, I just know your
modus operandi
," she corrected. "You do this thing all the time with girls. Have sex with them the first night you meet them and then back peddle."

"It's not back peddling," I defended myself. "It's not like I think sleeping with her was a mistake; I just want to get to know her better before we think about doing that again."

"So what you're saying is, she was bad in bed."

"No. That's not it at all!" I was starting to get frustrated.
I couldn't tell if Troian was teasing me or was just being obtuse. "The sex was good. Like really, really good.  I mean, it was kind of one-sided, but I’m fine with that because she’d never been with a woman before.”

Troian held up her hands. "I don't nee
d a PowerPoint presentation."

I grit my back teeth and tried again.  “
I want to take things slow because I know how I am." I needed her to understand where I was coming from, but talking this over and actually saying the words out loud was also helping me. "I burn too hot in the beginning and my relationships all fizzle out. Nothing that intense can last forever. Besides," I added, "I don't want a relationship just based on sex."

Troian snorted. "You might be the only person on Earth."

I sighed deeply.  This conversation wasn’t going anywhere.  I’d just have to be satisfied that my best friend didn’t understand my worries. 

“Enough about me,” I deflected.  “What are you up to today?”

“Writing,” she sing-songed. “Staring at the Fall leaves and watching them change colors.  The glamorous life of a writer.  Do you have time to grab lunch with me?”

I shook my head. “Sorry. I’ve got class soon.” I pointed to the wrapped sandwich on my desk. “I have like half an hour to shove food down my throat before I have to go teach again.”

Troian nodded and stood up.  “Okay, but let’s hang out soon –with or without your Winter Jacket,” she noted.  “It’s up to you when and if you ever want to introduce her to us.”

“You guys will get to meet her,” I promised, getting a little ahead of myself.  “I just…it’s a little too much too soon, you know?”

Troian nodded.  “I get it.  You wanna keep her all to yourself.”

I laughed. “Right.  It’s not like you’re a big sharer, either.”

Troian shook her finger at me. “Stop drooling over my girlfriend, Bookworm,” she scolded.  “You’ve got one of your own now.”

Troian didn’t give me the opportunity to respond.  She was out of my office and out of sight, leaving me to fret over her parting words.  Did sex and a date constitute a relationship?  Did I have a new girlfriend now?

Luckily, I didn’t have much time to stress out over these questions.  I had to eat my lunch and I had another class very soon.  But before I could dive too deeply into my food, I had another unexpected visitor.  Hunter.

“Hi, P
rofessor Graft,” she chirped pleasantly as she appeared in my doorway.

I dropped my sandwich on my desk.  “
Hunter, hi,” I greeted, hastily wiping any crumbs from my face.  I hated when people watched me eat.  It made me feel vulnerable. “What are you doing here? I thought you were at the hospital all day.”  I stood from my desk and moved to close the office door.  It occurred to me that Troian and Hunter had probably passed each other in the hallway or had just missed each other on the elevator.

“Well when you send me suggestive
texts like that,”
she said, waving her cell phone, “how can you expect me to stay away?”  She smirked and leaned dangerously close to me as I shut my office door.  Her light perfume invaded my senses.  “So how much of you
do
I get to see later?”

Ever since we'd slept toget
her, Hunter’s confidence seemed to have grown exponentially. She was no longer the reticent student sitting in the back corner of the classroom.  I wondered if anyone else had noticed the change. "You're teasing me on purpose," I complained.

"You did it to yourself,"
Hunter grinned. "You're the masochist who wanted to take things slow." She spun on her heels and away from me before I lost it completely.

She sat down in the chair meant for students.
Well, technically she was a student, just not one of mine anymore. "How are your classes this semester?" she asked conversationally. She crossed her long, long legs.  Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and her makeup was lightly applied. How anyone looked sexy in salmon-colored scrubs was beyond me.

I gla
nced at my closed office door.  I wondered if I should re-open it to make sure I behaved. Instead, I steadied myself before going back to my chair. "They're good," I confirmed. "I'm teaching a creative writing course this semester which is a nice change of pace from the standard writing seminar."

Bob Birken, the Chair of my Department, had handed over the reins of t
he Creative Writing class to me.  Normally Bob, with his poetry background, taught the course, but he was cutting back on classes as he'd just accepted the position as Assistant Dean of Faculty for the university.  He would still be chairing the English Department, but with the extra administrative role as Assistant Dean, he'd had to drop one of his usual courses.  With my interest in contemporary fiction and writing short stories I was the obvious choice to teach the course instead. Typically I was always stuck teaching multiple sections of the General Education writing seminar as low-woman on the tenure-totem pole, so it was exciting to have the opportunity to teach a class I’d never taught before.

“Sounds fun.”  Hunter
licked her lips. "Any cute students?"

"I don't…
I don't..." I stuttered. I wasn't expecting that question from her. From Troian, sure. She always asked me about each new crop of students; it's how I first told her about Hunter and her winter jacket.

Hunter’s
grin grew, but it didn’t reach her eyes in that same playful manner. "I'm just curious, that's all. It's not like I have a claim on you."

Her statement made me frown. So much for the self-confidence. "
Hunter, I don't do that. I can appreciate when someone is objectively attractive, but as soon as I grade their first papers and read all of those sentence fragments..." I shook my head. "Ruined."

"But I wasn't a perfect student," she pointed out, frowning. "I had run-on sentences and
a weak thesis statement."

"Because you're different!" I jumped t
o my feet, no longer comfortable with the distance my office desk put between us. She was still sitting though, so I didn't know what to do with myself. I could keep standing and feel like I was towering over her, I could dramatically fall to my knees beside her, I could sit on the floor awkwardly in my pencil skirt. Instead, I perched on the corner of my desk closest to her.

"
Hunter." So many endearments came to my mouth – sweetie, darling, baby – but it felt forced and too soon. Just calling her Hunter seemed intimate. "You don't have to worry about me crushing on some other student,” I stressed. “I'm not going anywhere."

"Really?"
Her voice lilted hopefully.

I nodded.
  “Really.”

Her shoulders sagged as if she'd been holding herself erect for an exhaustive amount of time. "I'm sorry I'm such a worrier.
This is just still really new for me, and I'm afraid you're going to get tired of me."

"I'm
a boring English professor.” I slowly shook my head at her anxieties.  It was strangely reassuring to know that she had worries as well. “Don't you think I worry that exact thing? That you'd rather be out with your friends, having fun, and being young?"

"You're not boring."

"Tell that to the freshmen who fall asleep in my classes," I snorted.

She looked properly offended on my behalf. "Give me their names and I'll knock some sense into them.
They should never insult the hottest professor on campus like that."