Love Won (Winning at Love book 1) Read online

  “You better stay up there, dickhead,” I call out.

  “Thanks,” Eastlyn says quietly. “God, I hate him sometimes.” She mumbles a few other choice words as I wrap my arm around her.

  “Ignore him, Sprinkles. You’ll be fine. I’ll be right here with you the whole time.”

  “I know,” she says, looking up at me, a smile tipping up the corners of her mouth despite the uncertainty that’s flickering in her jade eyes.

  As the line moves closer to the entrance, I position myself in front of Eastlyn, forcing her to stop. She tilts her head up so her gaze meets mine. Christ, she’s stunning, with her hair tied into that messy bun thing on top of her head, a few wispy pieces falling down and framing her face… Her cheeks are pink from the cool night air, and the sweetest lips I’ve ever dreamt of tasting part in surprise.

  “I mean it, East. All kidding aside, you do not have to do this one. I’ll sit it out with you. Just say the word. We can go get a funnel cake instead,” I say, and raise my brows up and down suggestively, knowing how much she loves sugary treats. She beams up at me. Without realizing, I move even closer to her, eating up the last bit of space I’d initially left between us. “No one will care,” I offer, and she smiles.

  “You really can be the sweetest, Mr. Graves, when you choose. I want to try, though. I promise I’m okay,” she says, putting her hands on top of my forearms. It takes everything in me not to pull her the rest of the way in and kiss her like I’ve wanted to for so long. Instead, I simply nod, give her a smile, reach for her hand, and place it in mine as we walk up to the entrance where Keaton and Kam are waiting for us so we can go in together. I internally high-five myself like a teen over the fact that she didn’t pull her hand away. If anything, I think she might have held on tighter…

  Eastlyn’s voice starts to crack once we’re about ten steps inside the carnival tent. “It’s so dark. It’s too dark. Oh God. Pennywise isn’t really in here, is he?”

  “You’re okay.” I squeeze our clasped hands, as screaming and strange gabbling noises can be heard coming from around the corner.

  “Why did I think I could do this? I should have waited outsi—aughhh!” Eastlyn screams, as a clown jumps out at us. Instinctively, I release our hands and pull her close to my side, my arm now draped around her shoulders protectively.

  Her voice shakes. “Coy…” I feel her hand wrap around my waist as if trying to anchor herself to me. I try really damn hard to ignore how good it feels to have her this close and have her touching me. “…I’m really scared.”

  I lean my head down and whisper, “I’m here, baby. It’s okay. You can do it.”

  “Please, I don’t want to do this,” she says, clawing up my chest with her free hand while the other clenches in a death grip on my waistband. Somehow, we’ve managed to lose Keaton and Kami. It’s only the two of us tripping our way down a dark hallway potentially hiding an untold number of clowns, and I know I need to get her the fuck out of here. Her body is trembling against mine with fear, and I’m pissed at myself for letting her do this when I knew better. I’m pissed at the other two for egging her on, and myself for joining in.

  “Where are Kam and Keat?” she asks in a low whisper, as we steer ourselves through the maze-like set-up, the creepy calliope music getting louder. I’m on high alert, ready to brace and shield her from anything in a red wig that might come our way.

  “I’m pretty sure we lost them after that first room where it was all mirrors with clown faces.”

  “Oh shit, I hated that,” she says and it makes me laugh out loud. “Shhh, Coy! The clowns will hear you. Don’t laugh at me, I’m scared.”

  “Sorry.” I tuck her in close again when I hear a scratching sound getting closer. Luckily, Eastlyn had only had one clown appear in her mirror. I think she might have actually pissed her pants if she’d have seen some of the ones popping up over in Keaton’s and mine. The thought of her “commando” comment pops in my head for a second before her trembling voice reminds me this is definitely not the time to be thinking of that.

  “Do you hear that? Noooo, noooo! Go away, away! Gggoooo, please, don’t come near me!” she begs, letting out a sob, and I know she’s crying.

  I snap. The need to get her out of here increases tenfold.

  Stopping before we cross into the next room, I move in front of her, lean in and say, “Let’s get us out of here.” I grin, holding my arms open and I see her small nod in the dim light. The next thing I know, Eastlyn Hatfield climbs me like I’m a tree and she’s a bloody monkey clinging to my front for dear life. Ignoring once again how fucking good it feels to have her body moulded to mine, I make a break for it as best I can in the almost-black. We run into a few more clowns, including one who tried to follow us before I threatened to beat the shit out of him if he didn’t back the fuck off. We burst outside through an exit door, and I have never seen her look so grateful or relieved in all my life.

  “Thank you,” Eastlyn says, when I place her back on the ground, off to the side of the tent. I haven’t seen Keaton or Kami yet, and assume they’re still lost somewhere inside.

  “Anytime, Sprinkles. Told you I was with you,” I wink, and she smiles that beautiful fucking smile. “Let’s say we go sit for a bit. Maybe take a breather, get a drink?”

  “Sounds good, I could use a stiff one,” she says, then immediately places her finger over my lips, and I smile. She knows me way too well. “I mean a drink. A stiff drink.” She shakes her head and removes her finger.

  “I didn’t say a word, dirty girl, but come with me. I might just know where you could get both, if you wanted,” I say, then reach out my hand. She takes it, laughing.

  “There you are!” Kami shouts, spotting us as soon as they exit the tent. I drop Eastlyn’s hand when she moves to talk to her friend. “Well? How was it?”

  “Yeah, did you cry and take an early exit?” Keaton says, standing beside Kami.

  “It was—”

  I cut Eastlyn off. “It was awesome. You should have seen our girl, she did so well. Only broke two of my fingers, but made it through the whole thing.” I nudge her shoulder, and wrap my arms around her, muttering “Proud of you” into the top of her head.

  “Awesome job, East.” Kami beams at her.

  “Yeah, now we can all plan on seeing It together when it comes out,” Keaton says, and I laugh, seeing Eastlyn’s face pale at the thought.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, guys. I will never willingly subject myself to any more clown stuff ever, ever, ever again, especially that fucking Pennywise. This was a one-off, but feel free to go without me. I won’t be sad at all,” she says.

  We all laugh, deciding a celebratory drink is indeed in order.

  “Thanks for that,” Eastlyn whispers, stopping as the other two lead the way.

  “Like I said, anytime,” I reply, giving her my dimpled smile. ’Cause like I said, I know what she likes, and will continue to take full advantage of that shit.

  The rest of the night was perfect. Eastlyn gifted me with her sweet smiles and witty banter, and didn’t stray too far from her place at my side. Best of all, she fed me some of the funnel cake she let me buy her for being brave enough to try to conquer her fears.

  Yeah, I could get used to this.

  4

  Kahoot!’ing

  “Be present and be seen,” I recite to myself.

  It’s a motto every principal should live by, according to my mentor and Principals Qualifications Program instructor, Balraj Ghuman—who is also one of the most respected and well-liked administrators on the Upper Canada District School Board. It was good—no, great—advice, as I quickly learned last year during my first year as principal at Commonwealth Elementary school in Brockville. He said people are less likely to slack off when they know you might pop in at anytime. He’d often quote, “When the cat’s away, the children will play,” referring to the students—and some teachers—who would definitely take advantage when we
were away for meetings, or caught up in the office for the day. It was advice which turned out to be true, considering the shit show I dealt with last year, during my first assignment: between three teachers failing their teacher appraisals due to their assumptions that—being the new guy—I’d let things slide; and staff posting out, taking jobs elsewhere because they didn’t like the expectations I’d had, again assuming I wouldn’t have any high ones while I was finding my footing in my new role. Unfortunately for them, they were very wrong. I might be young, but I’m driven and always set high standards for myself, my students, and now, my staff.

  Wandering upstairs again during one of the many laps I do around the school each day, I know instinctively where my feet are taking me, even though the last thing I need is gossip to start where Eastlyn and I are concerned. Especially since I’ve already “popped in” four times this week and it’s only Wednesday. I guess you could say I’m really taking the whole notion of being present and being seen at face value. Especially where she’s concerned.

  Fighting my one-track libido, my brain finally catches up. Instead of heading directly to her room, I manage to stop at a few other classrooms along the way—where I chat with the teachers, check in with a few high fliers, and scope out the projects a couple of Grade Seven and Eight classes have been working on for the science fair coming up next month in December.

  But soon enough, I reach my intended destination. Room 212, Ms. E. Hatfield, the placard on the door reads. Pausing in front of the closed door, I take a deep breath, ensuring my self-control is in place.

  It’s been getting harder and harder to see her but not touch her. I’ve been back in Guelph for almost five months, during which time I’ve shown up unexpectedly in places I knew she’d be, thanks to Keaton. We’ve spent some one-on-one time together, did the whole Halloween Haunt thing with Keaton and Kami, and had a few dinners at her parents’ house where I’ve pushed my luck, teasing her with my body’s proximity. Each minute of our time together gives me the opportunity to further plant myself into her mind, at least I hope I am, anyway, seeing as she’s all I think about. We flirt, share a few wayward touches, talk, and best of all, laugh. I’m fairly confident that by now we’re both feeling the same way—so fucking itchy, itching for the next step—me buried balls deep inside her. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep my cock sated with my own fucking hand, when what we both want is right in front of us, so close.

  “Jesus, get a grip, you’re at work,” I scold, looking down the hallway before adjusting myself. Unbeknownst to her, I’ve been biding my time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and let my intentions and feelings finally be known. But I have a few more tricks up my sleeve before I pounce and persuade her to come clean, to admit to exactly what she wants.

  Me.

  “Yes! Rachel, thank goodness! We’re in second place now, Rach!”

  “What, what, the Nerd Herd in effect, yo! We got time to come back.”

  “Denis, how didn’t we know that?”

  I hear yelling and a bunch of whoopses and “ohhh’s” followed by a lot of laughter coming from inside Eastlyn’s classroom, breaking me from my thoughts.

  Opening the door and stepping in, I’m overwhelmed by the sight and sounds of twenty-six Grade Eight students all huddled in teams, playing some sort of quiz game. I see a question and four possible answers, along with a timer set for one hundred-and-twenty seconds, projected onto the screen at the front of the room.

  “Ooooohh, Team Braniacs takes the lead away from Team Clever!” I hear her voice call, and my eyes instantly hone in on Eastlyn where she’s standing at the back of the room, manning the game on the tech cart.

  “All right, here we go: Question Eight. Again, you’ll have one hundred-and-twenty seconds to lock in your answers,” she says, still not looking my way.

  Going unnoticed, I walk by the first two groups, listening to their discussions as they try to answer the question, “In the Prairies, the largest groups of people were…”, with the choices for the right answer being either:

  Diamond: Métis

  Triangle: Fur-trader Métis

  Circle: First Nations fur traders

  Square: First Nations and Métis

  “Hey, it’s Mr. Graves!” Benny calls out, noticing me when I approach his team. “What should we pick?” he asks, grinning.

  “We got this. Diamond,” Lacey says confidently.

  “Hi, guys. Looks like you’re having fun,” I observe.

  “Lots, sir. Ms. Hatfield has us addicted to this game,” Silvia tells me, and then the young man sitting next to her named Ivan chimes in.

  “No, Lace. It’s square,” he counters, then explains how he knows and, in the end, convinces the team to pick square.

  “Good job, guys.” I clasp Ivan’s shoulder, going to check on the next group.

  Feeling Eastlyn’s eyes on me, I look up. Sure enough, I find the real target of this visit checking me out. I mouth “Hey,” and give her my best dimpled smile, the one I know for a fact makes her putty in my hands. You can learn a lot from watching and observing someone over the years, and I’ve spent a lot of time with my eyes trained on her, even if I wasn’t blatant about it. I know what Ms. Hatfield likes, and my dimple is one of those things.

  “What the heck is this?” I ask, moving beside her after having watched a few more questions being played. I laugh, seeing how excited the students are, and also feel a sense of pride in Eastlyn’s ability to make learning fun, which is confirmed when I hear how much the kids know about Canada’s history with each passing question.

  “It’s called Kahoot! We’re Kahoot!’ing!” She turns her face to mine, her green eyes sparkling with glee as she gives me a smile that steals my breath before turning away, leaving me to stare at her stunning profile. My eyes make a leisurely trek from the tip of her button nose down to her full chest. I feel myself salivating as my gaze continues to drop lower, my breath hitching when my eyes land on her plump ass, before lingering on those damn fine, toned legs. Ones I want pinning my head tightly in place while I feast on her pussy.

  “‘Kahoot!’ing?” I repeat, her response finally registering after the silent eye-fuck I just performed. She gives me the “one sec” finger, completely unaware of my onslaught.

  “Okay, teams. Let’s see who got that one,” she says, and taps her iPad. “Nice job, Team Vader. Way to make a comeback.”

  “Thanks to Ivan!” Silvia whoops, as her team slides into second.

  “All right, next question coming at you in 3, 2, 1…” Eastlyn taps the “Next” button and a new question appears.

  “This is pretty cool, East,” I whisper, shifting to eat up some of the physical space my original positioning had left, so we now stand side by side.

  “Yeah, they love it. And it’s a great way to review key concepts.”

  “I can tell. Do all the classes play this?” I ask, curious.

  “I know Kami’s does, not sure about the others. Last question in this round, guys,” she calls, pulling up another question.

  “Well, if they don’t, maybe you two could share this at our next staff meeting? From what I’ve seen, it’s great,” I say, dipping my eyes down to her bee-stung lips as her gaze meets mine again.

  “Sure,” she says, sounding a little breathy, before turning her head back to the screen at the sound of the timer. Each team keys their answers into their iPads, and Eastlyn makes a quick calculation.

  “And that’s game. Congrats to Team Brainiacs! Nice job, everyone,” she says, clapping along with the students.

  “Hey, Mr. Graves?” Bianca, a member of the winning Brainiacs, calls.

  “Yes, Bianca.”

  “Think you can beat us in a round?” she asks, a hint of challenge in her voice. The class goes crazy, yelling “yesss” and telling me how I have to try it, how it’s so much fun.

  Laughing, I tell her it depends on the subject.

  “Next up is a math review. Geometry,” Eastlyn says, coc
king her head, her brow raised in a silent challenge of her own, waiting to see if I’ll be a willing participant.

  “You guys are on.” I nod.

  “Okay, teams.” She taps her iPad again. “Enter the code, and your team info.”

  Leaning in close, I ask, “What the hell do I do here?” causing her to tip her head back and laugh out loud. Seeing her neck exposed, all I can think about is how good she probably tastes and smells, and what I wouldn’t give to touch her right now, just so I could find out how sweet she really fucking is.

  “Grab an iPad,” she says, nodding to the pile on the other side of her desk. “Click the Kahoot! app, enter the game code, then choose a team name. It’s that easy,” she instructs.

  “I can do that,” I smirk, moving behind her to get to her other side for the iPad. Ensuring no one is looking at us, I move my hand down and brush it slowly across her ass where it’s all snug and looking fine, nestled in a tight black pencil skirt. As I shift past her, I hear her sharp intake of breath, exactly the reaction I was hoping for.

  “Coy,” she whispers.

  “Sorry. Accident.” I clear my throat and grab the device before once again slipping behind her. This time I allow my hardness to brush up against her, as my free hand grips her waist, giving it a gentle squeeze. Thankfully, the class is too busy chit-chatting to hear their teacher let out a soft sigh, reacting to having my hands on her.

  Fuck, baby.

  “Co—Mr. Gr—Graves. Are you ready?” she stutters, and I try to hide my grin.

  “More than,” I smile, knowing I’ve just made her affect on me clear. Her voice wavers, and if looks could kill, the one she’s giving me would definitely slay.

  “Teams ready?” she perks up, giving her head a little shake, and I chuckle.

  “Yes!” they call in unison.

  “Let’s Kahoot!” she says, starting the round. She picks up her iPad, and moves to the opposite side of the class to facilitate the game—away from me.