Read Online Breakaway by Kelly Jamieson - Free Book Online

she have any lipstick left on? Likely not.
Usually by the end of a school day she didn’t care.
    “That’s wonderful,” she choked out. “We really appreciate
it. It helps the kids get more involved when there are role models for them
participating.”
    They made small talk for a few more moments and then
Jennifer offered to show the three athletes out, their jackets having been left
in her office.
    Remi watched them leave, feeling a weight of disappointment
settling on her. She left the custodians in the now empty gymnasium dismantling
the sound system and putting the bleachers away, and walked slowly down the
hall to her classroom, also empty but much quieter.
    She sank onto the chair behind her desk.
    She’d felt his stiffness. The coolness of his greeting,
although he’d smiled at first. He was so freakin’ good-looking. She couldn’t
believe she’d done what she had with him. And had so much fun. Watching him
with the kids here had been a whole other side to him—boyish and charming and
fun. Yeah. He was all about fun.
    Which was the opposite of what she was all about. She was
all about serious responsibility. Boring.
    She sighed and picked up a folder of math quizzes she had to
mark that night. She bent to pick up her briefcase from under the desk.
    “Hey.”
    She straightened up so fast she cracked her head on the edge
of the desk.
    “Ow!” She rubbed her temple, blinded by the pain.
    “Jesus, Remi, are you okay?” Jason’s voice, heavy footsteps
and then his hands on her shoulders.
    “Yes, yes. I’m okay.” She blinked up at him. “Dammit.”
    “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
    “Th-that’s okay.” She tried to shake off the pain. “I’m
fine.”
    “I was surprised to see you here,” he said slowly, releasing
her and stepping back.
    “Have you really been involved in the Stars program before?”
    “Yeah. This is my fourth year.”
    “That’s…impressive.”
    “It’s important.”
    “I…it surprises me. To hear you say that.”
    “Why? Because I’m a big, stupid jock?”
    “No, of course not!”
    “I like kids,” he said, shrugging those big shoulders, now
wearing a black leather jacket. A buttery soft, thigh-length black leather
jacket.
    “I could tell that. They liked you too.”
    “I didn’t know you were a teacher.” The glower returned to
his face.
    “Well, I didn’t know you were a hockey player.”
    “Really?” His brow creased.
    She tightened her lips against a smile. “Sorry. I guess you’re
not that famous.”
    He looked at her, smiling wryly. “I guess not.”
    “What’s wrong with being a teacher?” she asked.
    He pressed his lips together. “Nothing, I guess.”
    A silence stretched between them.
    “Well,” he finally said. “It’ll be fun over the next few
weeks. So…I guess I’ll see you again next week.”
    “You don’t have to.” The words spilled out her mouth. “You
can work with a different group. It doesn’t have to be mine.”
    He frowned. “Why?”
    “I just thought…we had that one night….thing…and you might
be…”
    Lord help her, she was stammering like Joey Kupchuk, a boy
she’d once taught who had a painful stutter.
    “That’s okay,” he said. After a short pause, he said, “I was
going to call you.”
    She waved a hand, anxious to stop him before he said
something she didn’t want to hear. “That’s okay. It was just one night of fun.
Right?”
    “Right.” Relief lightened his scowl and he gave her a faint
smile. “That’s right. Okay, then. I’ll see you next week. Bye, Remi.”
    She watched him leave, then sank back onto her chair, her
legs soft as butter. Damn. She’d known it was only one night, and now knowing
who he was made it that much clearer—he’d never really intended to call her.
     
    “Wasn’t that the little blonde you picked up last weekend?”
    Jason stared out the passenger window of Dominic’s car as
they left the school parking lot. “Yeah.”
    “You didn’t know she