Learning Curve Read online

  Learning Curve

  By HJ Welch

  Learning Curve

  Copyright © 2018 by HJ Welch

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  1

  Myles

  Myles ran his hand down his face as he hurried through the front entrance of his daughter’s elementary school. A year. Jenny had made it almost a whole year through kindergarten. Now, with only one day left of the semester and her mom and stepdad out of town, Myles had received a call from the principal’s office.

  Oh god, he hoped everything was all right.

  Corinne was so much better at this kind of thing than Myles. He just always wanted to give his baby girl what she wanted and struggled with discipline. But Corinne and Rafael were out of state and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow afternoon, in time to pick up Jenny from her last day.

  If she made it that long.

  He took a deep breath as he entered the building. After running across the parking lot in the San Diego summer sunshine, the A/C was a relief. He fanned his button-down away from his chest and tried to work out which way to go.

  Jenny was a good kid. The best, in Myles’s opinion. He loved his little termite more than anything. She was smart and funny and normally never got into any trouble.

  This was probably nothing. However, Myles had still been asked to come in, even though the woman on the phone hadn’t fully explained why. Just that Jenny had gotten herself into an altercation with another kid. It was so not like her.

  Luckily, Myles’s office had let him work from home this week while Jenny had been staying over. This was the longest they had spent time together, just the two of them. Up until now, he would have said the week had been going great. Amazing, in fact.

  Now his mind was reeling, full of conflicting images of Jenny either sobbing with a broken arm at the hands of some brutish second grader, or stubbornly defending why she had put paint in a fellow classmate’s hair. He really couldn’t guess which way it was going to go.

  “Hi,” he said to the receptionist who glanced up at him. Then she did a double take and broke into a huge smile.

  “Hi, there,” she said enthusiastically, batting her lashes. “How can I help you, sir?”

  Myles swallowed and tried not to appear nervous. “Uh, my daughter, Jenny Slater? I got a call saying I needed to come fetch her. That there had been some kind of incident?”

  The altercation, whatever it might have been, had obviously happened at the end of the day. The school was now mostly empty of children, the hallways eerily quiet. Jenny had been kept back and not allowed on the bus when Myles had let the woman on the phone – perhaps this woman – know he was on his way.

  “Oh, sure,” said the receptionist with a warm smile, nodding her head. “Jenny’s fine. Don’t you worry. She’s in with her teacher, Mr. Combes. Do you know where the room is?”

  Myles was ashamed to say he didn’t. The truth was, he had endured a hell of a year at work, so while he’d never missed a single visitation weekend with Jenny, he’d not been able to make any of her parent/teacher nights. Thankfully, he’d landed the promotion he’d wanted and now things had calmed down, so he would be able to see Jenny even more. But he still felt sheepish as he admitted to the receptionist he needed directions.

  She didn’t appear to mind as she cheerfully pointed him toward the hall on Myles’s right. “Kindergarten is the most colorful classroom,” she said helpfully. “Just keep an eye out for the teddy bears.”

  Myles thanked her and tried not to run through the doors that led to the corridor she had indicated. The school wasn’t enormous, but Myles felt irrationally anxious that he was going to walk into the wrong room.

  Apparently, he could design buildings all day long, but all it took was one turn for him to get lost in one.

  By some small mercy, he managed to find a door decorated with rainbow streamers without incident. Attached around the glass window was the same teddy bear outline printed out several times. These had each obviously been colored in by different students. Myles recognized Jenny’s enthusiastic disregard for the lines and love of neon shades immediately. Sure enough, when he glanced inside the room, there was his little termite sitting at a desk at the front, happily coloring in another picture.

  The young man sitting opposite her looked up from typing on a battered old laptop, most likely sensing Myles’s presence. He broke into an open smile, his blue eyes sparkling behind rectangular glasses. Myles only got a second to take in his wavy, honey-blond hair curling behind his ears, lean frame and long fingers as he gave Myles a single wave, inviting him to come through the door.

  It was enough for Myles’s skin to flurry with goose bumps as a rush of nervous heat washed over him.

  Mr. Combes was fucking gorgeous.

  And now Myles had to completely ignore that fact, just like he’d tried to ignore every other gorgeous man he’d met during his thirty-five years. But this one was a teacher at Jenny’s school, so he was completely off limits.

  Myles’s heart failed to get the message as he pushed the door inwards, judging by the way it was racing. But Myles could ignore it.

  He always had before.

  “Daddy!” Jenny shrieked at the sound and movement of him coming through the door. She jumped up from her chair and sprinted over to him, her light brown hair streaming behind her as she threw herself into his arms. “Mr. Combes said you were coming to get me!”

  She didn’t appear to be in any distress, so Myles tried to dial down his worst-case scenario options. “Hey, termite,” he said, crouching down and hugging her in return. Then he placed his hands on either side of her shoulders and glanced between her and Mr. Combes. “Is everything okay? Daddy got a call saying something was wrong.”

  Jenny’s lip wobbled and her eyes immediately filled with tears. Her emotions were always so close to the surface. It made Myles’s heart ache.

  “Elijah King said a bad word and I told him not to and he laughed and me so I told him ‘quit it!’ again but he said the bad word again and he was calling Mr. Combes the bad word and I love Mr. Combes and Mommy said it was never, ever okay for anyone to use that word but Elijah King wouldn’t stop laughing and saying it so I hit him with my Dora the Explorer backpack.”

  She hiccuped and sucked in a huge breath, blinking rapidly as her tears threatened to fall.

  “Oh, honey,” Myles said, rubbing her skinny arms.

  Mr. Combes had come over to stand beside them. But when Myles looked up, he saw Jenny’s teacher was hugging himself, trying his best not to laugh. He clearly wasn’t laughing at Jenny, Myles noted. He just evidently found the whole situation ridiculous.

  “It’s okay, really,” Combes said, trying to regain his composure. “Mr. Slater, I wouldn’t have had you called in, but Principal Victoria insisted. I already told Jenny she’s right. No one should ever use that word and I appreciate her sticking up for me. But maybe next time, try not to hit anyone, sweetheart.”

  Jenny looked owlishly at him as a smile tweaked her lips. “Okay,” she said in a small voice.

  Myles looked back down to his daughter and sighed. He couldn’t help be proud that she had stood up to an unpleasant child, but he agreed with Mr. Combes. Myles didn’t want to encourage or endorse violence.

  “Mr. Combes is right,” he said in his best sage-advice dad voice. �
�It’s good to stand up to bullies. But next time maybe you could try telling Mr. Combes instead of hitting anyone?”

  Unless they laid a hand on her first, Myles thought hotly. Then she had his total permission to defend herself.

  “Okay, Daddy,” she said. She gave him a full smile which made him beam back at her.

  “What was the word, anyway?” he asked as he wiped the tears from Jenny’s cheeks with his thumb. He directed the question to Mr. Combes, but Jenny tugged his shirt sleeve and pulled his ear to her mouth.

  She whispered the single, offensive word, then leaned back with a scowl to show how much she hated it.

  For the second time in five minutes, heat rushed through Myles’s body. But on this occasion, it was from a mixture of horror and panic.

  Jenny seemed unaware of her father’s reaction. “Can I go color more?” she asked happily, forgetting the word immediately. Myles nodded and watched her skip back over to her desk. Then he stood back up and glanced at Mr. Combes.

  Jenny’s teacher appeared unaffected by the word Myles’s daughter had just hissed in disgust at him. But that particular F-word had haunted Myles’s school and college days. Hearing his own daughter use it brought back a lot of that shame, like cold slime in his gut.

  But something occurred to Myles as Mr. Combes smiled back at him. As gross as the insult from the other child had been, was it accurate?

  Was the gorgeous Mr. Combes also gay?

  If so, Myles was perhaps in more trouble than he had previously anticipated.

  2

  Dillon

  Jenny Slater’s dad was a certified DILF.

  Naturally, Dillon did his best to keep a professional air, but Jenny was one of his favorite kids in the class that was about to graduate. He was going to miss her. He had met her mom and stepdad a couple of times, but this was the first time Mr. Slater had made an appearance.

  Of course, Dillon was on the verge of getting the nervous giggles. For fuck’s sake. He fidgeted on his feet and rubbed the back of his head, resisting the urge to say something utterly dumb like ‘So – you come here often?’ But Slater was a classic tall, dark and handsome guy with a great body under the shirt that was clinging slightly to his nicely toned muscles.

  Focus, Combes, Dillon snapped at himself. The man was also clearly disturbed by the word that little hellion had used. Dillon didn’t care, not anymore. Obviously, it was awful to hear a child use such a vile word, but Elijah King’s whole family was rotten. However, Dillon was practically done with the little mouth-breather now. He could sigh with relief. As much as he’d miss all his other little scamps, it was good riddance to say goodbye to bullies like that.

  It was sweet Mr. Slater was concerned on his behalf, though.

  Dillon needed to slow his heart down. Yes, the guy was stunning and evidently caring, but he was also about ten years older than Dillon and the fact he had a daughter didn’t swing in Dillon’s favor. Nor did the fact that said daughter was a student. But she was essentially no longer Dillon’s pupil, so he couldn’t help but let his heart run away just a little.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mr. Slater said, shaking his head and widening his dark brown eyes at Dillon. “That’s…not a great word for a kid to call you.”

  Dillon guessed Mr. Slater was avoiding cussing, even though he’d lowered his voice and Jenny was engrossed in her artwork. Dillon loved how that kid would begin drawing and coloring on anything if she sat still for more than two seconds.

  “Ah,” Dillon scoffed waving his hand. “It’s not like I haven’t been called it before,” he said, deliberately dropping a hint about his sexuality. “The kid in question is no doubt currently in Principal Victoria’s office having the riot act read to him. But I appreciate it…”

  He raised his eyebrows, fishing for a name. He was rewarded with Mr. Slater relaxing his features slightly and offering out his hand. “Myles,” he supplied.

  “Dillon,” Dillon told him, shaking the proffered hand and trying but failing to rein in his grin. Myles’s grip was strong but smooth, his nails neatly trimmed. It wasn’t that straight guys couldn’t be well manicured. But it didn’t dissuade Dillon from his interest. “You know, you’ve got a great kid, there,” he said as they let go of each other, then glanced at Jenny before looking back at Myles.

  Myles completely relaxed at that, looking over at his daughter with pure pride and love. “Yeah,” said Myles, a smile softening his chiseled jaw. “I mean, I know I officially shouldn’t endorse her beating on another kid-”

  “It was barely a tap with her bag,” Dillon assured him truthfully. “But yeah, I get what you mean. I can’t tell her it was kind of kick-ass, but…”

  “But it was kind of kick-ass,” Myles agreed with a chuckle.

  There was a moment between the two men that Dillon was sure he didn’t imagine. Myles looked directly at him and a shiver ran down the entire length of Dillon’s spine.

  Damn it. It wasn’t like there were rules about teachers and parents being friends or even dating. And Jenny was only going to be his student for another day. He had no idea when he might see Myles again, so why not give it his all here and now?

  If that was what Myles even wanted. But he licked his lips and shifted his gaze deliberately away from Dillon to stare fondly at his daughter, a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. Surely it might be worth a shot?

  “I feel bad keeping you late,” Myles said, breaking Dillon’s train of thought.

  They looked at each other again, but the crackle of tension seemed to have dissipated. Crap. Dillon realized he should probably answer and mentally shook himself.

  “Oh, no,” he assured Myles. “I stay a couple of hours every evening to prepare for the next day, tidy the room and all that. I’m sorry you had to drive here over something so small.”

  Myles shrugged. “Jenny is never an inconvenience,” he said. Good answer, Dillon thought. He hated seeing parents who treated their kids like they were a burden. “Still, if there’s anything I can do to help you finish off your day?” he asked.

  Dillon’s mind immediately went to sinful places. But he knew full well that Myles was not asking him out on a date.

  However, he did have a sudden, completely stupid idea.

  “Uh,” he said before he could talk himself out of it. “Well, you know Jenny’s got a field trip tomorrow, to the zoo? Of course you do. You signed the permission slip,” Dillon added with a nervous laugh. Pull it together! “Well, I mean, we have enough parent chaperones, but we can always do with more. If you felt like a day out, that…you know, might be nice?”

  What the fuck? Could he be more awkward? In his head he thought that was going to sound like a fun invitation for Myles’s sake. Not a fumbled attempt at asking him out on a date.

  Myles raised his eyebrows. “Oh, if it would help you out?”

  “I know it’s a lot to ask,” Dillon said hurriedly, holding up his hands. “But just in case you haven’t got work tomorrow and felt like herding cats – I mean – kids for a few hours, it might be fun?” He winced at Myles. “You know what, that’s dumb. You really don’t owe me anything. It was no trouble to have Jenny here a little longer and you don’t want the inconvenience.”

  Unbelievably, Myles shook his head and smiled. “I haven’t been to the zoo since I was a kid,” he said cheerfully. “I’d love to tag along with Jenny, and if it helps you out to have another pair of eyes on the other children, I’d be honored.”

  Dillon forgot how to use his words. He just grinned and tried to lean his hand on his desk, only to slip off it and almost stumble. He cleared his throat and folded his arms across his body again to try and keep them out of trouble.

  “Only if you’re sure?” Dillon asked.

  Myles tilted his head and looked back at Jenny. She had her tongue poking between her teeth as she furiously worked on her drawing.

  Myles shook his head. “What the hell,” he said cheerfully. “I’ve hardly tak
en any vacation time this year. I don’t have any burning deadlines. The office can do without me for one Friday.” He turned back to Dillon, his happy smile making Dillon weak at the knees. “You just tell me where and when, and Jenny and I will be there.”

  Dillon congratulated himself on not punching the air in joy. This was not a date, after all. This was going to be a noisy, messy school trip and he would be lucky to speak two words to Myles Slater. But he still couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of hope that they might see one another just a little. It was better than nothing.

  “Yay,” he said and immediately cringed. “I mean, you know, great, awesome, thanks,” he said. “We’re meeting at the school at eight o’clock to get the bus. It’s going to pretty full with everyone, though,” he said, thinking out loud. “If you’d prefer, you and Jenny can meet us in front of the zoo at nine? I can get us coffee!” he blurted.

  “Oh, you don’t have to,” said Myles in concern. But before Dillon could feel even more embarrassed, Myles smiled again. “But you know, I wouldn’t say no to a caffeine shot if we’re going to be looking after thirty hyper kids.”

  Dillon laughed in relief and Myles joined him. He hadn’t meant to make it seem more like a date by offering to buy him a drink, but it seemed like it was okay. He got a thrill out of the idea of getting something for Myles.

  Dillon swore he felt that spark again. Just a little flicker of something exciting passing between the two of them.

  It was interrupted by an exuberant Jenny running up to her dad, brandishing a sheet of paper drenched in color. “Look, Daddy!” Jenny gleefully proclaimed. “It’s us at the zoo tomorrow!”

  Myles nodded. “Oh, yes,” he said, nodding. “I can see that it’s the zoo. Are those the crocodiles?” he asked, pointing at some green triangles.

  “And these are the spiders,” she said, tapping a couple of black figure eights.

  “And there’s the unicorn!” Dillon added excitedly.