The Teacher's Beta

Chapter 4

A few days had passed since "the incident" as I had begun calling it. My ankle was still a hot mess and I could barely walk on it so I hadn't left my house.

Or called Finn.

Which pissed off Penny.

But that didn't mean I wasn't thinking about him. Oh no. Of course not. I'm not sure how in such a brief encounter he managed to burrow himself so deep into my subconscious but, there he was. It seemed like every other thought in my head was of the mysterious, kind stranger I found in the woods.

And the dreams. Oh sweet Jesus the dreams. His eyes, his hands, his MOUTH. Everywhere. I've never had such vivid sex dreams in my life. The way he holds me down, whispers dirty things in my ear. Let's  just say I had to pay for express shipping on Amazon for batteries. I could not wait two days.

I mean I'm not a nun or anything. I've dated before, had sex. But this all consuming obsession with a man, one I had just met even? Well, this is new.

And slightly concerning.

So I decide to call the one person I trust. Penny. Hopefully I can hide the crazy I've been noticing lately.

"Hello?"

"WHY CAN'T I STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM PENNY?!"

Eh, apparently not.

"Um because he's gorgeous and he saved you and he's perfect and he has abs and he carried you and he was sweet and he's beautiful."

"Well, when you say it like that...."

"Oh my God Calli just call him! What's the worst that could happen?"

"Um have you forgotten about Paul?"

"Honey the chances of something like that happening again are nearly non existent. No one can be that unlucky."

"Unless those are just the kind of men that I attract."

And there it was. The crux of my reluctance to date. What if the only kind of men that could be interested in me are the psychotic, abusive, possessive kind. What if that is all I deserve?

"Uh uh. No way. Knock that shit out right now. You are beautiful, smart, kind and funny. Do not think for one minute that you won't attract a good man because that is just insane. Seriously, call the guy. I'll give him "the talk" so he knows not to fuck with you but honestly, he gave me good vibes."

Wow. Penny getting good vibes from a human being over the age of eight? That almost never happens.

"OK. I'll call him. But if he's an ass your buying me ice cream for a month. And the good shit. Ben and Jerry's none of that low carb crap that tastes like burnt dog shit."

"Oh my God you're so dramatic. Deal. Now do it. Do it now. And call me after! Actually record it. I want to hear his voice again. It was luscious."

"Pretty sure that's against the law. Bye Penny!"

I hobbled around my little house for awhile, staring at his number trying to summon the courage to hit the call button. I meandered into the kitchen, took a shot of tequila, wandered around for a few more minutes waiting for my liquid courage to take effect and finally sat down on the couch and hit the little green button.

It rang. And rang. And rang. Well shit. Do I leave an awkward message? Hang up and text him? Take this as a sign from the universe and let it go? Finally, I heard a gruff 'hello' from the other end. I sat stunned for a second then somehow managed to access the part of my brain that isn't a total idiot.

"Finn?"

"Yeah, who is this?"

"It's Calli."

"Calli!" He exclaimed then I heard a thud on his end and he cursed. It sounded like he fell out of bed and I couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm sorry did I wake you up?"

"No, that's ok I needed to get up anyway. I worked late last night. What's up? How's your ankle?"

"It's a little better but still sore."

"Ah I'm sorry. But I'm glad you called."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I'm assuming this means you're taking me up on the date offer?"

"Yes. I am."

"Great!" He really did sound excited which was incredibly endearing.

"How about tonight?" He was an eager beaver apparently.

"As long as the date doesn't involve a lot of walking."

"No problem. Text me your address and I'll pick you up at six."

"OK but tell me where we're going so I know how to dress."

"I was thinking dinner. Maybe a movie. Normally I'd say a carnival or go kart racing but I think we'll need to save those for when you can walk." He chuckled and the sound made warmth spread through my body.

"OK. See you later."

"I'm looking forward to it sweetheart."

Honestly, I am too. The excitement of talking to him quickly wore off and allowed the panic to set him. I called Penny and forced her to come to my house and help me get ready. Luckily between our two wardrobes I found a navy blue sundress with delicate white flowers, a white jean jacket and a pair of silver flats. Heels were out of the question.

Penny gave me a generous pep talk and we made sure the GPS was on my phone so she could track me. Safety first, ladies. I peed about four times in the hour before he was supposed to pick me up because I was so nervous.

As soon as the time read 5:59 I heard my doorbell ring. Points for punctuality. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would give out at any moment. I wiped the sweat off my palms as I walked towards the door and tried to even my breathing.

I opened the door and there stood the most beautiful man I had seen in all my life. Yeah, even hotter than Zac Efron. He was wearing dark wash jeans, a light blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and his hair was styled. Not that I didn't like the messy look in the forest, but this was just to die for. I met his eyes and it seemed like the rest of the world faded away.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart." His voice was the only thing that pulled me out of my catatonic state.

"You look quite handsome yourself." I could have sworn I saw a little pink on his cheeks and the idea of me making him blush was extremely pleasurable to me.

"Shall we go?" He asked as he offered me his arm. I took it and he helped me towards his car. He opened the door for me and even buckled the seat belt. Which normally I would think is weird, but for some reason it was sweet with him. I was still nervous, but his car was engulfed in his cologne, a delicious mixture of pine and man, and it seemed to put me at ease. I couldn't wait to see where the night took us.