A Fractured Lover (Student/Teacher)

Chapter 15

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't shake the wary feeling in the pit of my stomach as I took another generous sized bite out of my brownie. 

When Mr. McCoy and I came downstairs for desert, Travis had made it a point to ignore my presence for the rest of the night, which I was fine with. But deep in the back of my subconscious, I knew something had happened upstairs. Something went awry in whatever plan he had come here with today. The more and more that I tried to analyze him and where I'd seen him before, the more my efforts proved to be useless.

Things had been eerily silent and tense during desert. My mom and dad had retired to bed and Claire and Travis were having a silent battle on who could keep their eyes on Mr. McCoy the longest without getting caught.

Deciding that I had had enough of the pointless and annoying tension, I shoved the rest of my brownie in my mouth and stood up out of my chair.

"Well, I'm done. Anyone want anything from the kitchen?" I ask out of courtesy with brownie still rolling around in my mouth. Travis and Claire both shook their heads no without looking at me. Mr. McCoy placed his hand on mine that rested on the table.

"I'm fine but would you like any help cleaning up?"

Not prepared to deal with anymore affectionate moments from him, I simply shook my head.

"No, I'm good. Thanks though." I smiled tightly at him and grabbed everyone's plates and made my way into the kitchen. I heard Travis mumble a 'goodnight' to everyone and head upstairs to bed, far away from me thankfully.

I grabbed the lime green dawn dish soap and began the monotonous task of washing the dishes, something that had always seemed to have had a calming effect on me. As I let the warm water run through my fingers and over my hands, some of the tension brought about by the day's events began to release. Just as I reached out to grab another plate, I heard Claire's voice pipe up.

"So, are you and my sister serious?"

My hands froze in mid-wash at the question. The only sound audible to my ears was the rushing water from the sink as I eagerly awaited his response.

"Well, I'm not quite sure how to answer that since we haven't been dating all that long."

My eyes rolled on their own accord. What a cop out answer.

"But," he interjected. "I do know that she is by far the best woman I've ever dated."

A smug smile tugged at my lips. Now that's more like it!

"Yeah, she's great." Claire paused and I sensed a 'but' coming. "She can be quite the prude though, don't you think?" My mouth popped open in shock as her words hit my ears.

What the hell, Claire?

"No, not at all, in fact, she happens to be the sexiest woman I've ever dated as well."

I heard Claire's scoff from the other room.

"Sexiest woman you've ever dated maybe. But what about the sexiest woman you've ever seen."

I heard her chair slide against the hard wood flooring. "Who would that be?" she asked in a husky voice that I assumed she thought was alluring.

I abandoned the dishes but left the water running in the background and crept towards the edge of the kitchen so that I could hear them better.

"My answer stays the same and always will," he said defiantly, an edge of irritation clear in his voice.

Hot damn, this is a good night for my ego.