“Can I come have lunch with you today?”

She looked up from where she was stuffing her bag and smiled. “Sure, I’d love that.” Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “I wish I could stay home with you, but we are learning long division this week. My kiddos need me.”

Jordan kissed her nose. “We both know that you would never miss a day with the kids unless you really had to.”

With a grin, she admitted, “That’s true, but I did miss you.”

He put his mug down before gathering her in his arms and kissing her senseless. When he pulled away, he kissed her once more before smiling against her lips. She loved when he did that—it was so romantic and so sweet.

“I missed you too,” he said, sending the butterflies in her stomach into a frenzy. “Now, off you go. I’ll see you at lunch.”

Aynslee was having a great day. But, really, after amazing morning sex, teaching young minds, and now having lunch with Jordan, who wouldn’t? They were sitting on her classroom’s ABC carpet, and he handed her a sub from Jimmy John’s before opening his own. He looked delicious, and Aynslee would much rather have eaten him than the sub. Wearing a pair of fitted jeans, a black Assassins’ T-shirt, and a black ball cap, he made Aynslee’s heart skip a beat. He was incredible.

“Did you watch the game last night?”

Aynslee nodded. “Yup. Great interview, by the way.”

“I wish you could see me play, though.”

“I have seen you play, on YouTube, and you were hot then too,” she informed him with a wink.

“I mean in person.”

“I will,” she said confidently as he looked over at her. “And I will be the loudest girl in the arena, don’t you worry about that.”

He flashed her a grin, taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles. “I look forward to it.”

Aynslee was just about to reply when the door to her classroom opened.

“Hey,” Aynslee said when she saw her friend Sadie walk in.

“Hey. Oh, my God, I can’t hold anything down. I’m puking my brains out!” Sadie complained as she walked toward Aynslee’s desk, but she stopped abruptly when she saw Jordan. Her cheeks instantly turned red. “Could have told me you had a guest, Ayns.”

Aynslee laughed. “Jordan, this is my friend Sadie. Sadie, this is my … boyfriend, Jordan,” she said very slowly as she looked over at him, meeting his playful gaze. He didn’t seem affected by her putting labels on him, but Aynslee wasn’t sure what to think. “She is pregnant with her first child; hence the reason she is puking her brains out.”

Jordan grinned. “Congratulations, and it’s nice to meet you.”

“Thank you; it’s a pleasure to meet you too. Ayns, this is the work sheet you’ll need for first hour tomorrow. I’ll just put it on your desk.” Turning to Jordan, Sadie added, “Wish I could stay and get to know you, but I gotta go; my kids are coming back in a few. See y’all later.”

“Bye,” they said, and Aynslee added a quick thanks as Sadie hurried out, shutting the door behind her.

“She seems nice,” Jordan said as Aynslee looked over at him. He was watching her, chewing on the bite he had just taken.

“She’s great,” she said tentatively. “Sorry for throwing the whole boyfriend thing out there.”

A puzzled look came over his face as he asked, “Why are you sorry?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, we haven’t discussed it.”

“Aynslee, you’ve been my girlfriend since I slept with you.”

Aynslee could only blink as he held her gaze. “Wow—okay. You could have told me that.”

“I might be a little old school, but I thought you felt the same way.”

Aynslee scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I do, but it would have been nice for you to say it. So you’re mine? All mine?” Aynslee teased as she kissed the side of his smiling mouth.

“Yup. I know it’s only been three weeks, but I’m crazy about you. And I do think you are pretty amazing.”

Aynslee nuzzled her nose along the hair of his jaw and smiled before whispering, “I like you.”

“Good,” he said, dusting her lips with kisses. “Because I like you too.”

As Jordan began to kiss her in a way that wasn’t appropriate for school, all Aynslee could think about was how great things were going and that she wasn’t ready to let that go. She had no clue what would happen when the season was over, and that scared her, because her heart belonged to Jordan Ryan.

Chapter 8

“Surprise,” Jordan said with a grin.

Looking up at the sign he held, Aynslee laughed. She could tell that he had no clue if this was okay. Little did he know it was perfect.

“Annual Mud Run,” she read aloud.

“What do you think?”

She wrapped her arms around his middle. “You know the way to my heart.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jordan said, kissing the tip of her nose.

“I’ve always wanted to do this.”

“Really?”

“I mean, what girl doesn’t want to run through mud with her hunky boyfriend?”

Jordan laughed before saying, “I could name a few.”

“Ah,” she said, waving him off, “divas, I tell you.”