I shook away the thought and quickly left the hotel room. I needed to get back into that limo before my stupid friends got me sent to prison.
Chapter 2
Daphne
Before leaving the hotel, I tried to discretely look both ways. The limo was still sitting there, and there didn't appear to be any cops around. It seemed like the coast was clear. And if I didn't leave soon, the judgy girl at the check-in desk would surely call the police.
I opened the door and walked as quickly as I could toward the limo.
"Daphne?" a man said from behind me.
I'm too young to die! "Nope, wrong person." I picked up my pace.
"Daphne! Wait!"
I felt a hand land on my shoulder, and it nearly caused me to scream. Not that screaming at the cops would help anything.
"It's Rick. Justin's father. We met at that lacrosse game?"
Rick? I turned my head and looked up at him. "Oh." I laughed. "Rick, right. It's good to see you again." I did remember him. One of my coworkers had gotten sick and I had to work the food stand at the lacrosse game. I avoided school sports like the plague. Mostly because people usually assumed I was a student instead of a teacher. Which wasn't really a problem, but I wanted my students to respect me. Not flirt with me.
But during that lacrosse game, no students had flirted with me because Rick had been too busy monopolizing my time. I had made sure to tell him right away that I was a teacher. I remembered going through my mental checklist. He was intelligent, had a good job, and was definitely handsome. He had a few gray hairs that somehow made him look even sexier and more distinguished. But there were two red flags. One - he was quite a bit older than me. Two - he was one of my students' fathers. The first issue wouldn't have mattered so much if the second wasn't such a huge deal breaker. I would never date any of my students' parents. Ever. It was completely unprofessional.
He smiled. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to spook you."
"Oh, yeah, I'm great. I'm just...in a hurry." I looked over at the limo. I was sure my friends were all watching me. Except for Alina. Since she had a pillowcase on her head for some ridiculous reason.
"I see. Heading out of town?"
"Yup," I said lamely. It wasn't like I could tell him where I was going, because I had no idea. "How's Justin?"
"He's good. Studying for his SATs."
"That's great. It's such a shame when kids don't use their minds all summer." Well, I certainly sound like a boring grown up.
He smiled. "I couldn't agree more. Actually, I'm glad I ran into you. I know that you don't date your students' parents. But it is summer. Technically, Justin isn't your student right now."
I laughed awkwardly. So he wants a casual summer fling? There was red flag number three. "I'm sorry Rick, but I really don't think it would be a good idea for us to go out."
"Please don't tell me it's because Justin has a crush on you? You know kids, it's fleeting."
What the fuck? Red flag number four. I laughed awkwardly again. "No, it has nothing to do with that." Well, maybe it does a little now.
He grabbed his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a business card. "I'm just asking for one date, Daphne. Give me a chance to change your mind." He handed me the card.
Four red flags? I don't think so. "I'll think about it." I put the card into the front pouch of Alina's suitcase. I didn't need it. There was no way for me to rationalize why it would be okay for me to date him. Even though I hadn't been on a date in months. Just visualizing Justin calling me mommy was enough to make me forget about how sexy and distinguished Rick was. Things were on my checklist for a reason. If I just abandoned principles, there would be no reason for a list.
"I hope you have fun on your vacation."
"Thanks."
"And I hope to hear from you soon." He smiled. "Bye, Daphne."
"Bye, Rick." Hopefully I would never see him again. I pulled Alina's suitcase toward the limo.
Layla opened the door and poked her head out. "Ow ow!" she screamed.
My face probably turned bright red.
I turned around to see Rick smiling. He winked at me and I quickly climbed into the limo.
"What is wrong with you?" I said.
"Who's the silver fox?" Layla asked, ignoring my question.
"One of my students' fathers."
"He's sexy as hell."
I looked out the limo at Rick walking away. He might be sexy, but he wasn't what I was looking for. What am I looking for? "I guess," I said instead.
"You guess? I'd let him do terrible things to me," Kristen said. She stood up and hit her head on the ceiling of the limo. "Ow. Why do they design everything in the world for short people?"
I laughed. "They don't. You're just abnormally tall. You two have both had too much to drink." I grabbed the champagne bottle that had ended up in Layla's hand. "Layla, you're married to Ethan. Who, by the way, is such a catch. And Kristen, you're dating Tim. And apparently you like him for some reason. Kristen, sit down."
Kristen made a pouty face and sat back down in her seat. "You know Tim is a catch. Don't even, Daphne. Isn't Tim a catch, Alina?"
"Can you please take this thing off my fucking head?" Alina screamed through the pillowcase.
"Maybe we should gag her too," Layla said.
I wasn't sure why, but I started laughing really hard and I couldn't seem to stop. Which made Layla and Kristen start laughing too.
"If any of you touch me, I will punch you so hard in the boob," Alina said.
"That's why we tied her hands," Kristen said.
We all just started laughing harder.
"Oh my God, we should take that thing off her head," I said when I was able to breathe again. "We've already successfully kidnapped her."
"Not until we get to our destination," Kristen said.
Layla laughed. "There's no way she can get through security like that."
"Security?" Alina said. "Are we going to the airport? Where are you idiots taking me?!"
Kristen slapped Layla's arm. "Way to give it away. Fine, I guess we can let you see and untie you now that you know we're heading to the airport." She scooted over to Alina, pulled off the pillowcase, and untied her hands.
Alina immediately punched her in the boob.
"Shit that hurts!" Kristen grabbed her right breast.
"What is wrong with you guys?!" Alina yelled.
"What's wrong with us? You just titty punched me!"
"Yeah...I told you I was going to do that. I don't know why you didn't believe me." Alina started laughing. "Momma Bear! Why would you let them do this to me?" Alina collapsed on the seat beside me.
Momma Bear. I sighed. You would think being an accessory to kidnapping would rid you of the nickname Momma Bear. Maybe I needed to live on the edge more. Maybe I should date students' parents and drink champagne in the morning. Ugh. There was no way I'd change my mind about the first one. But champagne in the morning? Why the hell not? I took a sip from the bottle I had confiscated from Layla. Besides, I hated flying. Hopefully this would help calm me down before takeoff.