More to You ✔

Chapter 1 - Catfish Soup (Mitch)

"Asshole," Becca muttered as she stormed past Mitch in the staff room, her long black ponytail swishing in her wake.

She wasn't wrong, but he wasn't sure how he'd triggered her anger this time. Perhaps she'd just taught those wild primary three students who drove her up the wall.

Shawn, who stood at Mitch's side, crossed his arms across his chest. The fluorescent lighting washed out his sepia-brown skin. "Again?"

"Maybe it's her time of the month."

"You're proving her point."

Mitch placed his students' workbooks on his desk. "I don't know why she's upset about what happened. I am an asshole, and I've never hidden that. People understand when a dog pisses on a lawn, that's what dogs do. Why is it shocking when I break off a fling?"

"Because dogs are cute and loveable," Shawn said.

"I'm attractive and funny."

Shawn shook his head and walked around to his well-organized desk across from Mitch's. "I think you forgot modest."

After letting out a laugh, Mitch grabbed the toy basketball on his desk to toss in the air. "Seriously though, she's known me two years and expected what, that if we hooked up enough, she'd discover some secret key to making me a loving and compassionate partner?"

"You were on and off for almost three months. It was misleading."

Mitch tossed the ball at the homemade basket they hung on a nearby pillar. "You would have done the same. The sex was mind-blowing."

Shawn's shoulders tensed. "Don't say things like that here!"

As Mitch recovered the ball, he looked around the office at the two other foreign teachers far in the kindergarten section who either wore headphones or who were napping at their desks. The rest of the rows of desks were empty, overlooked by a few motivational posters and racks of teaching supplies. Only the hum of the overworked air-conditioner filled the room. Fridays weren't the most productive days at the international school. None of their Thai coworkers who'd be offended had this prep period, and Becca's desk was tucked around the corner with the junior high teachers and specialists so she wouldn't overhear.

Shawn ran a hand over his short black afro. "You're lucky Becca hasn't quit or taken it up with the administration."

"What would she say? I agreed to sleep with this guy, we slept together a lot, and now I'm pissed because I assumed he'd want a serious relationship even though he explicitly and repeatedly said he didn't."

"Whatever you do, don't pull this with Maria."

His eyes darted to her empty desk next to his. The image of the newer Filipina-Canadian teacher dancing in the rain at the beach last weekend fill his mind, the drenched yellow dress clinging to her curves. She'd pressed her body into his as they danced and their lips grew closer. Why did that memory keep replaying over the one where they'd actually made out? Probably because they'd left the night unfinished, her too freshly hurt by her ex and him respecting that she'd asked him for space and to just be friends. The future still held some promise.

"Did you hear me, Mitch?" Shawn's umber eyes were trained on Mitch. "You know Maria's not in a place to handle your hook-ups. If you hurt her and she quits, I'll tell the admin to send you back too. It was hard enough to find anyone to replace Sunshine and Dan in the first place."

The ball dropped from Mitch's hands and landed on the floor with a dull thud. Shawn couldn't mean that. He knew damn well why Mitch didn't plan to return to the US. They'd had each other's backs since they were in diapers, and despite everything that transpired at home, Shawn had stood by him and had done so the past three years in Bangkok.