Fuck. I'm frozen at the counter and I feel all of the blood rush to my feet. This can't be happening. This girl cannot be here telling me she's another one of Michael's 'girls'. I want her gone, like yesterday.
"If you aren't going to order something, you need to leave." I keep my voice very quiet, and try to tell her with my eyes to shut the fuck up.
When she just continues standing there, staring at me I quickly turn around to make sure Manny isn't hearing this. He glances up from Hector and gives me a lopsided smile. I give him a little smile back and then turn back to Kaitlynn.
"Please." My lips are pulled back from my teeth in a tight grimace.
She nods, glancing at Manny then back at me. "Okay," she says softly. "I just wanted to see your face. To see what you looked like. You're pretty. I knew you would be."
With that she turns and walks away, her head down and her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides.
I slowly let the breath out from my lungs and squeeze my eyes shut.
"You okay, babe?"
Manny is behind me, his hand on my hip, his brow furrowed.
I open my eyes and give him a bright smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a weird customer is all."
Manny looks out towards the food quart. "What'd she want?"
I shrug. "Dunno. She told me I was pretty." I laugh and start scrubbing at some invisible stain.
He chuckles, brushing his hand over my ass. "Well she's right about that." He clears his throat and nods towards the back. "Could I see you in the office, Bishop?"
I nod, keeping my smile on the professional side. "Yes, of course."
I follow my boss into the office and he locks the door and closes the blinds and then we're all over each other.
We devour one another with our mouths and he cops a feel or two and we both crack up.
"You better behave, Mr. Boss man!" I tell him, sliding my hands up his chest.
Manny pulls me against his middle and I feel him, hard, next to my belly. "Behaving is boring," he says, massaging my behind with both hands.
"I love you." I trace my finger over his lower lip.
He brushes the tip of his nose on mine. "I love you too." Suddenly he steps back, his eyes bright. "Hey, where are you going to college?"
"Um, Stanford." I laugh at the sudden change of subject. "Why?"
Manny puts his arms back around my waist, smiling down at me. "Well, I'm going to Cal Tech, but I was thinking, maybe I could try to get into where you're going, so we can be together."
I stare at him, surprised. "Wow, gosh, Manny, Cal Tech is awesome!"
He shrugs. "Yeah, but so is Stanford, and they were actually my first choice. I only went with Cal Tech because my uncle lives down there and said I could stay at his place, rent free."
I rub his arms up and down. "Manny, I don't know if you can still get in though. I mean, if you already turned them down, if they made you an offer-"
He shakes his head. "No, I never really turned them down. They offered me nearly a full ride scholarship, but so did Cal Tech. Because of my heritage and all that." He rolls his eyes. "I still haven't formally accepted either of them. So, I've got time."
My lips fall into another smile and I throw my arms around his neck and squeeze.
"Are you sure?" I pull back again, gazing up at him. He looks so young and hopeful; his eyes are shining. "You would do that so we could be together?"
"Damn straight I would! I love you, Taryn. We've already spent too much time being idiots to each other. Time that we've wasted. I don't want to waste any more time. I want to be with you. Shit, I wanna marry you, but I know that's a little premature." He grins sheepishly. "But if we could just spend our college time together, maybe live together. And then if it all works out the way I hope it does, we can get married. Have kids and all that."
Holy Moses! I start laughing and cover his face with kisses.
"Does that mean you're okay with it?"
"What do you think, dummy?" I tease.
Manny grabs me again and we melt into one another, kissing before we reluctantly go back to work.
College, with Manny. Living together, marriage, kids. It's like the most wonderful dream come true.
My mind vaguely, naggingly thinks about Kaitlynn. One of Michael's 'girls'. Like me.
No, not like me. I'm not Michael's girl, I belong to Manny. And I won't let that twisted teacher stop me from being happy.
I shove the bad thoughts away and go back to wiping the front counter.
◆◆◆
I wake up and smile and stretch, remembering the day before with Manny in this very bed. I turn over and bury my face in my sheets, I can still smell his sexy scent. Oh. My. God. Will I ever be able to get enough of that beautiful boy?
"And I get to spend forever with him," I whisper to my ceiling.
A knock sounds on my door and Mom pops her head in. "Hey, sleepy head. Look who got a post card from her dad in the mail." She smiles and walks over, handing me my card.
I sit up and smile at the picture on the front, the changing of the guard in front of Buckingham Palace.
"Cool!"
Mom picks up a pair of my underwear from the floor and tosses them into my hamper. The same underwear Manny peeled off of me yesterday.
"So, what does he have to say?" She's got that wry look on her face, like she wants to know what he says but at the same time doesn't.
I flip the card over and read it aloud for Mom.
"Dear Tar, Steve and
