Nikki and her Teacher Read Free

pull his head back down to mine, but he resisted, and he was too strong.
     
    “No. I’m thinking a picnic in the park where we talk and get to know each other. Maybe going to dinner over in Wabedo or St. Cloud. No sex. Not until I know you’re ready.”
     
    I sighed. I wanted to grab his hand and press it inside my panties. He’d have known then I was ready. “Okay, Coach. When?”
     
    He shook his head. “Do you think you could quit calling me Coach, and maybe try to call me Bryan? It’s my name, you know.”
     
    I nodded. “I know. My family used to call me Nikki.” I hadn’t wanted anyone to call me Nikki since then. Now, I did. I wanted Bryan to call me that.
     
    “Okay, I’m Bryan and you’re Nikki,” he said. “Are you working tomorrow, Nikki?”
     
    I thought about my schedule for a second. “I go in at 4:00 tomorrow.” I hated trying to keep up with a rotating schedule.
     
    “How would you feel about a picnic at the lake before work?” he asked.
     
    I’m sure my whole face lit up. I loved the idea. I would rather have been rolling around in the sheets with him, but a picnic would work. “I’d really like that,” I told him. “I’d have to be home by 3:00 to get dressed for work.”
     
    “Where is home?” he asked.
     
    “I live with the Richardsons on Maple Street. It’s probably not good to pick me up there. I could meet you at the corner of Oak and Pine. You could drop me off there, too,” I offered. I didn’t want him to get in trouble by being seen with me, but I didn’t have a car. The good thing about the boarding house was that it was only a few blocks from both campus and work. I could ride my bike in the summer, and walk in the winter.
     
    “I can meet you there. I’ll pack a picnic,” he said. “Where should I drop you off now? Back at the store?”
     
    “Would you mind dropping me off at Oak and Pine? It’s just a couple of blocks from the Richardson’s. I can walk home from there in five minutes. Well, home for now,” I said.
     
    “What do you mean ‘for now’? Are you not staying there?” he asked, starting the truck and turning around in the gravel drive.
     
    “No. I have to move out at the end of the month.”
     
    He looked at me, stunned. “Where are you going?”
     
    I shrugged. “I found a boarding house between campus and the store. I can walk to either one in about ten minutes.”
     
    “The one on Main?” he asked.
     
    “Yeah. It’s not the best in the world, but it will work for my purposes. It’s furnished, which is good because I have nothing but my clothes.” I tried to sound like I didn’t care, but I did. I didn’t want to go to that depressing place, but I didn’t really have a choice. I swear, that place was so bad, it wouldn’t have hurt the atmosphere at all to have a corpse hanging from the ceiling.
     
    He nodded once, briefly. “I don’t like it, but I understand. I don’t know if this helps at all, but I ended up getting adopted by my foster parents when I was nine. They were elderly then, and died years ago. I know what it’s like to be totally alone in the world.”
     
    I looked at him, not knowing if he’d understand, but I had to say it anyway. “I haven’t been alone in the world since the first day I walked into your class.”
     
    His hands tightened on the steering wheel, and I saw his knuckles turn white. “I’m not sure if you’re looking for a lover or a father, Nikki. I can’t be both.”
     
    “I’m not looking for a daddy. I had one. I’m looking for a lover, Bryan. I’ve never had a lover, but I know you’re the only one I’ll ever want or need.” I watched his face as I said the words, and wasn’t surprised when he grimaced.
     
    “You’ve got to quit saying things like that. I’m just a man. You’ve put me on such a high pedestal that when I fall off, and I will fall off, you’re going to be incredibly disappointed.”
     
    I grinned. “You’ll never fall off. I’ll be