The Math Teacher ~ Chapter Six

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Alyssa/Nikki

"Are you cold, Nikki?"

"I—no. Yes, well…" He wrapped his warm arms around me completely, holding me against himself, but carefully as if I were as delicate as the orchids over there on the table. He bent his head to my shoulder and kissed me at the sweet spot where my neck and shoulder met. I turned my head to look back at him. He said, "Nikki? Okay?" and he kissed me.

... ... ...

Later, much later, Anthony tucked a cashmere throw around me and pulled on a pair of flowered board shorts that he dug out of the magical tote bag. He got up and restoked the fire, sending warm flames towards the starry sky.

He said, "Another drink, Nikki?"

"Maybe not," I said, "I…."

He reached out and pulled me to my feet. He wrapped something gauzy around me, a pareo or something, a sarong. I couldn't see the color in the dim light, but it was soft cotton and delicately perfumed. He said, "Maybe I should get you home, babe."

I said, "Oh, let's not. It's such a beautiful night. Let's walk on the beach and cool off in the ocean. The water is probably warmer than the air." I looked around."Where is my swimsuit?

"You won't need it," he whispered.

... ... ..

Anthony

She was as sweet and as perfect as I could ever have imagined. We walked to the edge of the surf and I carefully unwrapped the sarong. She was like a beautiful present, waiting to be opened in the moonlight.

Get a grip, dude, I told myself.

She kissed me and said, "You have a swimsuit, why not me?"

Because I need someplace to put my knife and my trusty waterproof Glock, babe.

I don't answer, just pick her up and she squeals, maybe she's not used to being carried. I wade out into the light surf and instead of dropping her into the water, I relax backwards into its bathtub warmth with Alyssa in my arms. We sink under the waves, locked together, come up laughing and sputtering. Then I draw her into my arms and kiss her wet salty face.

Nikki wraps her bare legs around my waist. She is hot against me….

She whispers, "Again, please. Again..."

Afterward we kiss like friends and laugh, I dive down in the moonlit water for my surf shorts that were efficiently anchored by my foot and the weight of my weapons. Thankfully Alyssa had not noticed the gun or knife when she deftly untied the shorts' waist cord and pushed them down off my ass in the water.

"We better go, Nikki. It's getting late." We splash into the shallows, arms around each other. We are kissing and joking and laughing.

Then, "Hi, Ms Nichols!"

Shit! We both duck down into the dark ocean, Nikki goes in all the way to her neck and I pull my gun. The water draining from the barrel looks absurd to me but I hope no one else is noticing. The dark figures on the beach turn out to be four teenagers, slightly drunk or stoned, two in bikinis—one blond, one brunette; two in flowered board shorts like my own—one lanky and tall, one pimply and short. Both pudgy, they could do with a few weeks of Ranger bootcamp to harden up.

I put the Glock back in my waistband and tie the shorts snugly.

"Stay here," I order Nikki, then I find her sarong in the sand. I use my body to hide her from the kids and wrap it around her. The wet fabric is almost as revealing as if she wore nothing but she looks relieved and thanks me. We step up to the kids who are grinning and giggling.

"Hi, guys," says Nikki in her teacher voice."Having fun?"

"Oh yeah." They all laugh again. One of the boys brandishes a white bottle of Malibu rum. The girls say, "Yum!" and giggle some more. I think, barf city.

I say, "This is a private beach, what are you doing here?"

The taller of the boys says, "We're visiting my grandma." He names one of Ranger's way down the beach neighbors.

"And we saw the fire and stuff and it looks so amazing," adds the blonde girl. She blatantly eyes me up and down and licks her lips. I glance at the brunette and she runs a languid hand along the edge of her bikini bra, thrusts out her little teenage tits.

Eeeuuuuw. Jail bait. And so skinny.

I say, "The owner of this beach expects you to respect his privacy. I'll have to ask you to head home now, please." I strive to keep my voice quiet and polite.

They all nod amiably and said, "Okay! Like, see you Monday, Ms Nichols!"

She watches them depart and says, "See you Monday…." She turns to me and says, "Will I ever live this down?"

I kiss her forehead. "Sure, they thought it was awesome. And it's too dark to see anything anyway," I lie. In a louder—but not loud!—voice I say sternly, "What the fuck happened?"

Two typically black-clad Rangeman guys materialize out of the shadows. Nikki squeaks and hides behind me. I note with approval that here in Miami Ranger dresses his personal guards in nice black short-sleeved golf shirts, with Rangeman in black on the chest instead of a little horse guy. The one with the rifle holds it to the side to keep it out of Nikki's sight.

I repeat, "What the hell happened?"

"They were just kids, sir."

"So?"

"We don't shoot kids, boss."

I stare and they cringe. They back away saying, "Maybe next time, sir."

And they run off.

Behind me Alyssa says, "Will there be a next time?"

I turn and take her in my arms, holding her lightly. I say, "Do you want there to be?"

"Yes."

I say, "Then there will be a next time, Nikki."

Someday.

Maybe…

... ... ...

Nikki

Anthony efficiently cleared up the remains of our picnic and dowsed the fire while I dried my hair and put my dress back on.

We drove home in thoughtful but companionable silence. After a while an amusing thought struck me and I asked, "Did you really ask your mother for date advice?" I giggled.

Anthony shot me a look then shrugged a little. "Well yeah, her and Ella. My mom is really creative and Ella is good at making things be—well, whatever they need to be, homey, elegant, classy, romantic, whatever. God knows Ranger wouldn't have a clue." He laughed.

"Ranger?"

""My friend with the beach house where we were…."

"Oh."

"And then, you know, you didn't want to go to Paris, so I was…stumped. All I could think of was middle school and miniature golf or something. A boardwalk and cotton candy and beer. Shooting games and teddy bears."

"That all sounds fun…." I yawned.

"But not exciting."

"I like fun, Anthony. I had a really nice time tonight."

He reached out and took my hand. "Me too, Alyssa."

"I had just one other question…."

Who are you? Where do you live? What do you do for a living really? Who were those armed men in black? Why were they there? Why did you have a gun and a knife in your swim shorts? Did you really think I wouldn't notice them? Was that you on that CNN tape with Julie's daddy? I looked it up after Julie told me who her father is—it's on You Tube, did you know you're on YouTube? What about tonight? Did you like it? Us? You know…was it good, was I? Will I ever see you again? What if I'm falling in love with you…huh? What if?

Anthony

A psychic barrage. Suddenly she has more questions than Steph at her nosiest!

But I say, "Shoot, babe." So to speak… "Tell me."

"Your website. I couldn't get in. It was weird. It said eyes only and some letters, I forget…?"

Oh shit again. "Just a joke. The NTK means Need to Know. And Eyes Only-it's like a Spy vs Spy joke. Click on the eyes only banner, there a hidden button, lets you into the site." My voice trails off….

What the fuck am I saying?

"But only if you—whoever—need to know, " I add fast.

She smiles and the wind ruffles her pretty hair. She pushes the curls out of her face and says, "Do I need to know?"

I say, "Naw, it's just a gag, a joke."

"Mmmm. Okay." Her voice is sleepy and agreeable.

I think, Just a joke….if you're not lookin' to hire a hitman or a black ops agent or a small but deadly mercenary army, that is.

I hold Nikki's hand and whisper to her sleeping profile, "Someday—maybe."

…. …. ….

tbc

a/n the change in tenses when Anthony narrates this chapter is deliberate; pls don't complain. :-)