Last Love | Book 3

Chapter 3

(Josh)

I park in the parking lot, right next to the big sign that says, Mill Creek Elementary School. I grab my keys, and my phone, and hop out of the car, closing the door behind me. I jog up to the school and run inside, hoping I make it on time. I woke up a little distracted, and now I'm running late. Five minutes late, to be exact. I walk to the athletic office and set my things down on my desk as quickly as I can. I've still got a little bit of time before the first gym class starts. I sit down at my desk and check my phone. I start to text Jennifer when a figure moves into view right in front of my desk. I lock my phone right in the middle of my text and glance up to see who it is. Annoyance runs through me at the sight of her. It's Naomi, one of my co-workers I met a few months ago. "Hey. How was your morning?" She asks. I can't tell for sure, but it looks like she leans up against my desk a little. I try not to look at her for too long, but it's hard not to. "It was okay. I'm running a little late actually." I say, hoping she'll leave me alone. Talking to her is the last thing I wanted to do today. It's not that there's anything wrong with her, she just doesn't seem to know how to take a hint. She's constantly flirting with me and I try to make it very clear that I'm not interested but some times, on days like this, I slip up. I don't mean to lead her on but if I'm being honest with myself I like the attention and I can't deny that she's attractive. And as much as I try not to, every time I look at her I end up comparing her to Jen. They're almost complete opposites. Her eyes are dark brown instead of blue. Her hair is straight, long, and brown, unlike Jen's curly blonde hair. She's shy yet confident. Jen's outgoing and funny. She's small and slight, Jen's bigger. They're so many differences between them, but maybe these are good differences. "Oh? I'll leave you alone then. Wouldn't want you to be late." She smiles at me, brushing her hand over my arm and for a second I think of grabbing her hand and making her stay. Instead I look down at my phone in my hands. She's attractive, but she's not Jennifer. I know Jen's the one that I really want, not this random girl, but I still stop to watch her leave before I start texting Jennifer again.

The gym is loud even before class starts. Kids are running around everywhere playing with their friends, dribbling balls, moving the mats around. "Hey coach!" The gym teacher says, as he passes by me walking into the gym. "Hey." I follow him into the gym and he quiets down the kids. They're starting their basketball lesson so I'm acting as an assistant teacher to help out. Once he gets the kids quiet and takes attendance we sort them out into groups. He takes one half and I take the other and we help them work on their free throws.

I collect all my things from my desk and get ready to leave for the day. As I'm walking out to the car Naomi stops me. "How was your day?" She asks, matching my pace as we walk towards my car. "It was alright. Yours?" I grab my keys out of my pocket. "Mine was good. Thanks for asking." We stop next to my car. "I'll see you Monday I guess, right?" I unlock my car and set my stuff down in the passenger seat. "Yeah. I'll see you then." I get in and start the car. "Bye, Josh." She smiles at me and walks to her car. I wait until everyone clears out of the parking lot and drive home.

I walk back downstairs to the kitchen after putting the kids in bed. Jen's sitting on the counter eating something when I walk into the kitchen. Whatever she's eating has icing on it, because she got it on her face. When I get closer I realize that it's a cupcake. "You got some icing on your face." I take my finger, lick it, and wipe the icing off the corner of her mouth. Then I lick the icing off my finger, making her smile. "Got it." I say. Then I lean in and kiss her. I wrap one arm around her, pressing my hand into her hip while we kiss. We kiss for a long time, longer than I expected, both of us hesitant to pull away. I keep my hand on her hip and stay leaned in towards her. "I was thinking maybe we could....." I give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Go upstairs and you know..." I stop, looking up at her to see her reaction. Instead of looking happy she looks conflicted. "I'm just not in the mood right now, okay?" She mumbles. "Please." I lean in to kiss her again but she stops me. "Josh, I said I don't want to." I stop trying and move my hand off her. "Okay, okay." I don't know what else to say, so I just walk upstairs.

I start the shower and get in, hoping the warm water will help me relax, but it doesn't. I try not to be hurt by her rejection, it happens all the time, but it still bothers me. Naomi's face comes into my mind, unwanted, and I quickly think about Jen again. This is so frustrating. I lean up against the shower wall. This isn't how I thought our lives would be. It didn't used to be this hard. We're always fighting over stupid things or ignoring each other. Sometimes I wonder if we should get a divorce. That maybe we weren't meant to be together forever. I've been thinking about it for months even though I try not to. I rub my eyes and try to clear my head. That's stupid. I know I don't really want that. All that love and passion we had before is still there. At least for me. I felt it when we kissed and I feel it every time I look at her. Maybe we just need to fight harder for it. I just don't know how to do that yet.

I climb into bed with Jen, who's already changed into her pajamas. I slide under the covers and try to fall asleep, but it's not working. I move closer to her and snuggle up close to her arm, breathing in her scent. I close my eyes and finally allow myself to fall asleep.

A/N: I have no idea if this is good or not but it took me forever to update and I've known what I wanted to write for a while but didn't feel motivated and now I'm very tired and don't feel like reading over what I just wrote so have fun reading my trash fanfic and also please comment because it makes me feel nice