Jacob's Tutor | Jacob Day

Chapter 10

Jacob woke up feeling more rested than he had in years. A good sleep with dreams, too. He remembered being in a sort of meadow. Was it a meadow, or a field...? The grass was tall, and there were flowers everywhere. But he wasn't surprised; flowers had been on his mind often lately. "Lily?" he mumbled through closed eyes, expecting her to be there still. "Bro, she's not here," a familiar voice said somewhat sardonically. It was Kristian, leaning arms crossed against the molding. Jacob sat up quickly and ran a hand through his hair, trying to reorient himself. "What's good with you two, bro?" Kristian pressed, plopping himself backwards onto the bed casually. "Bro," Jacob said back, initiating their usual banter. "Bro." "Tell me, bro." "Nah, we're just friends." Kristian stayed silent, unconvinced. "She would never go for someone like me anyway," Jacob added impulsively. "So, is that why you're not making a move? Because you think you'll get rejected?" "What? No, I'm just saying. Lily has her whole future mapped out, I guarantee you. She has real passions and goals. And she'll want someone who can match her drive." "Dude," Kristian grinned, intrigued. "You so like her." "No, I don't, bro." "You never talk about a girl like that unless she means something. You never invite them over to the house. And you definitely don't fall asleep on their laps," Kristian retorted, counting each of his points on his fingers. "I was tired, genius," Jacob quipped, heat rising in his ears now. "Hadn't slept in days." "Okay, so you hadn't slept in days for some unknown reason cause you never talk about your feelings. Lily comes to pick you up from the airport and suddenly you can sleep like a baby?" Jacob stood up sharply and started pacing around, suddenly wanting to get as far away from this conversation as possible. "Think I'm gonna hit legs," he said darkly.

It had been a few days since Lily came over, and the stares Jacob was getting from his friends was making him increasingly uncomfortable. Every time he turned a corner, they would immediately stop talking and ogle at him expectantly. Talk about Captain Obvious. Well, too bad, they were waiting for him to say something he was never going to say. That was the power of Kristian. If he had a theory, you could bet your last dollar he'd make everyone else believe it too. Jacob had to get out of the house. And who could he chill with when all of his friends were talking about him?

"Sup, Flower." "Hi, Jacob. What do you– Don't be touching that, miss ma'am." "Did you just call me miss ma'am?" "No," Lily laughed, "I'm at work right now with the kids. Do you need something?" "Oh. No, I, uh... I was wondering if we could hang awhile." "Oh, well, I'm tied up here for the day," she said quickly, secretly surprised at his answer. "I can help." "What?" "Miss Vine, Miss Vine, gonna catch a clementine!" "What the f—I mean—heck—is that?" "It's their song for me," Lily said jovially, and he could hear her singing along with the children in the background. It made him want to be there even more. "Lemme slide." Lily put her phone back up to her ear. "You want to come to the daycare?" "Yeah, why not? Send me the addy." She hesitated. "Uh, okay, but only because we're down a teacher today and we could use the help. You better be ready to work though."

When Jacob first entered the room, it took all Lily had not to stifle a laugh. Nothing about the image of Jacob in the kiddie classroom looked right. For one, he was way too tall to fit through the door, so he basically had to bend in half to walk in, eliciting a spawn of amused giggles from the kids. Secondly, Lily wasn't used to seeing men in the classroom; the entire staff was female. And Jacob, who radiated testosterone from a mile away, looked especially peculiar. Somehow, Lily held it together, and she bounced up from circle time to introduce their new guest. "Guess what, guys?" The class chimed in with a curious "What?" "We have a new helper. His name is Mr. Day." As Lily went over to stand next to Jacob, she fought to feel like a leader despite her comparatively diminutive stature. Jacob nudged her playfully to say hello, and Lily had to remember not to be too amiable back. "Mr. Day?" A few children echoed. "Hey, guys," Jacob chimed in. "Your voice is really low," one of the boys blurted out observantly. That was the thing about children, they had no filter. Jacob laughed. "And you're really tall," another child added. "Mind your manners and stop making observations about Mr. Day," Lily told the class sternly. "Don't worry, I've gotten the tall one a few times," Jacob muttered. For a second, Lily had forgotten about her coworker, who had been in the room the whole time. "Are we ready, Mrs. Kepps?" Lily asked, somewhat embarrassed. The middle-aged woman ruffled through one last paper and rose from her desk, peering down at the children. She had a short, sandy blonde bob and wore a pair of reading glasses with the chain attached. "Whenever you are, Miss V." "Okay, guys, it's time to go outside. Henry, you're our line leader. It's warm today, so no coats."

Jacob accompanied Lily, Mrs. Kepps, and the class outside, watching as the children broke out into a run to the playground. Lily followed in their footsteps eagerly, almost floating away before Jacob could catch her with a soft tug on the arm. "Yo, so what do I do?" he asked near her ear quietly. It was a beautiful Spring day, the kind that people described as "breezy" and not "windy." Lily was wearing a pale pink sundress, and the sun shone on her hair so that it glowed a vibrant golden. She looked up at him, her big green eyes shining with purpose. "Just watch them. You always have to be watching"—her eyes misted— "It only takes one second— and I mean one second— for someone to get hurt." Jacob nodded and released her, watching as Lily made her way towards a group of girls calling "Miss Vine!" in the distance.

Lily had been playing hide and seek with Reese, one of her favorite students, for a while. But in the past few minutes, she couldn't find her. What's even crazier is that Reese had bright red curly hair; everyone always said she looked like Merida from Brave. You'd think you could find her by now, Lily, she thought to herself. In the pit. On the swings. Behind the shed. Near the monkey bars. Gosh, she had checked everywhere. Her eyes scanned the playground, landing on the tallest thing in the vicinity– Jacob. To Lily's surprise, a group of kids were clamoring below him, waiting for something. With a sigh of relief, Lily spotted red curly hair. So that's where Reese is. Just then, her heart leapt into her throat. Hoisting one of the boys way high into the air, Jacob swiveled him around in a circle, making a gruff airplane noise. Lily's fear began to fade into amusement as he watched the boy's jubilation, as well as the other kids' as they giggled below. "Mr. Day is the best!" One of them screeched to Lily as she approached. "Why do you like him the best?" "Because he tosses us the highest ever." Lily moved her gaze to Jacob. "Mr. Day, could you stop reclaiming my students?" "Oh, you mean like this?" Wordlessly, he scooped up one of the girls this time and tossed her way up into the air, causing her to shriek in unbridled delight. Lily scoffed and shook her head, jealous that he could entertain them so effortlessly. "Is Mr. Day gonna be here next week?" Lily hesitated at the question, eyes flashing up to Jacob's. He strode towards the little girl and squatted down as low as he could get. "If Miss Vine will have me," he said coyly, cyan eyes trained on Lily. "Have him, have him!" the children squeaked in a circle around her, some of them tugging on her dress. Lily sighed, her heart telling her to do whatever would make the children happy. "You are welcome to join us, Mr. Day," Lily said finally, smiling vindictively down at him. Before she could step back, he rose, not minding her own personal space in the least. Lily gulped, catching the familiar whiff of sandalwood and trying to ignore the distracting awareness of his virility. "So generous of you, Miss Vine."

A/N: Hi, I'm so excited to get this chapter out for you guys! I also want to let you guys know that I've written multiple very steamy scenes for this story, but I've been saving them because I want this to be a slow burn story that develops well between the characters. It's more satisfying that way. Don't worry though, those scenes are coming, and they will not disappoint ;) Anyway, thank you guys for your continued kind comments and support, it means so much! Please remember to vote, comment, and share with a friend if you enjoyed <3