Chapter 7- Pre-Season Jitters

"Good evening." Her voice was naturally husky and melodic. Pedro wondered if she could sing, from the way she spoke he would be willing to buy tickets to the concert, just in case. "May I offer either of you gentlemen something to drink?"

Ron chuckled to himself as his immediate supervisor and his co-worker tried to impress his wife. He could tell she found them charming but was clueless to the fact that they were competing for her favor. After they'd placed their drink requests Ron laughed out loud when they both ogled at her shapely calves and firm thighs that were revealed to be underneath the apron she was wearing as she walked to the bar to pour their drinks. She excused herself after serving their drinks announcing dinner would be ready in 15 minutes.

Ron led the other two men to the dining room which was furnished entirely in oak. Pedro sat to Ron's left and Jack sat to his right. "Sorry Boss, the seat on my left is always reserved for the misses. I'm sure Jack could do with the company though." Ron smiled at his boss.

As his wife walked in wearing a wrapper around her hips that kissed the wooden floors of the dining room he breathed a sigh of relief. She walked with a grace that reminded him of how beautiful she looked undressed as she carried a serving dish in hand. It was one thing knowing he had a hot wife and another thing for his boss and workmate to think they could ogle all night.

Glancing at the two men he saw Jack's disappointment at his wife's new adornment and put a hand on his wife's waist. She turned to him after placing the serving dishes on the table. Ron pointed to a spot next to his mouth. His wife smiled and kissed him on the lips before swatting him with a dishtowel.

Dinner went extremely well with Thoko occasionally joining into the men's conversation while playing the hostess extremely well. Ron found himself wondering how he got so lucky to have an intelligent wife who wasn't trouble. As he walked his co-worker and boss to their cars they both lauded his wife for her grace and hospitality. Both men praised her cooking and openly admitted they hoped would be invited back for another meal.

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It was the first day of school and Thokozani was nervous. She walked down the hall smiling. While Principal Smith was indeed a strange man, she was grateful he had taken her for the job.

The last few months had been grueling. Now to find this Billy child & keep an eye on him; Principal Smith was worried about him & for some reason, he thought Thoko could help him out. That was fine by her, as long as she could find him.

A few feet away William Parker's nose caught wind of a new scent on school grounds. Definitely female, he thought with a grin. His grin slipped when he realized it was her, the mystery girl he'd been catching a whiff of during pre-season training.

His heart rate went up as he listened to her footsteps. He could hear her heels make contact with the granite floors. Her movements were precise, smooth, & graceful.

He grinned to himself, maybe that assessment was merely hopeful. Then he saw her round the corner as he sat in the courtyard waiting for the bell. His vision cleared almost instantly.

It was as if he'd been watching 2D and suddenly everything was 3D & in high definition. Without calculating, he knew the exact distance between her eyes, the layering of her 3 shades of eye shadow, the exact length of her eyelashes, her measurement- he paused and looked at her again. As she walked past him, she smiled & he confirmed her measurements as his eyes followed the sway of her hips.

A slap on the shoulder snapped him out of his reverie. "Hey man, you look like you just found out you're pregnant!"

Snapping his attention to his friend Bryan Jameson, he smiled sheepishly & ran his hand through his wavy black hair. "She is hot".

Bryan frowned, "She's black."

William looked up at his friend with a frown, "Dude, so are you! I have never seen measurements like that!"

Realizing what he said, a light blush covered his cheeks. To his relief, his friend merely laughed, slapped him on the shoulder again & sat down at the concrete table. Bryan's bulky but toned body was relaxed as he sat down to look into his friend's blue eyes. A slight crease appeared on his forehead.

"Are you okay Will? That was a teacher or at least a staff member and she's black, not just black but dark. Man, she is fine but undeniably off-limits. You would get expelled for even trying to get with her."

Scowling for a second before smiling, Will put a hand on his friend's uniformed shoulder, "Don't worry, my uncle will kill me if I don't finish somewhere near the top of the class. Besides she's married."

"How do you know?"

"I could see the sun playing in the carats of her diamonds. Her husband went all out on those rings."

Bryan narrowed his eyes at Will. His handsome face indicating he did not believe a word Will had said. The first bell for the first period rang & Will stood up, grateful for the first time that his class was on the far end of the school and he needed every minute until the next bell to get to class on time.

Saying goodbye to Bryan and heading for class he couldn't ignore the fact that he felt disappointed that she was married. Scowling at himself for even thinking that he increased his speed careful to ensure it was well within a reasonable speed. The grand architecture of the building with its castle-like structure went by him as he tried to sort out his feelings.

Did he have a crush on the new staff member? Hoping that wasn't true he slid into his seat in the lab & hoped class would be interesting today. Who was he kidding, he'd been fantasizing about her throughout pre-season…this was going to be tough.

*********

"You guys should have seen him," Bryan was laughing as he sat with the rest of the football team after school. "Man, he was practically drooling. I hear she's from Africa."

"Who?" Will asked sitting between Bryan & Rob Holstead, the wing-back. Rob was blond-haired with hazel-colored eyes that seemed to be able to tell when you were lying.

"The new English teacher, the one you were catching a boner staring at today." Mickey Dangerside snickered at Will.

Will smiled, "Uh-hunh, is she the blond-haired pixie, or the brunette with the big boobs or-"

"The hot black one." Bryan cut in while giving Will a pointed look. His light green eyes dared Will to deny it. The harsh light from the fluorescent bulbs made Bryan look like a green-eyed, caramel candy, spooky.

"Ah, yes. The Nubian Goddess. I can't wait for English." Will smiled as he dug into the food on his lunch tray. The table went silent. He looked up from his club sandwich to raise a brow. "What?"

"Wow man, if you're saying she's hot then she must be. I didn't know you were into other races." Riley Petersen said finally breaking the silence as he ran his hand through his spiky black hair. His almost black almond-shaped eyes sparkled. "Damn, I'm so not skipping English tomorrow."

"I don't think she's into Asian or Caucasians Rile. She's from Africa." Bryan smirked.

The other African-American guys laughed and everything went back to normal. Bryan glanced at Will & found him frowning. Placing a hand on Will's shoulder, he gave his friend a questioning look.

"I'm good. Just thoughtful," Will gulped the rest of his sandwich & stood as some of the girls of the cheer squad came to the table. "Don't catch anything while I'm gone." He whispered into Bryan's ear. Bryan grinned and gave Will a short nod.

*********

"Milton, I miss Nathan, he must come back soon. He would know what to do about William's situation." Samantha Woodcombe looked at her brother-in-law hoping to see him agree as she turned away from the view of the vast garden that was her backyard.

Miles Cartwright-Woodcombe snorted and shook his head. Sammie was a wily creature; she was still fishing for information on why Nate was gone. His brother had had his hands full when he was alive.

As for Billy's situation, Miles had a fair idea of what was happening. Bloody exciting, it was about damn time. The boy was falling in love by scent.

'Always a good sign, always a good sign,' he thought to himself. He looked up from his hunting magazine and found Sammie still looking at him expectantly. He sighed.

"Sammie, he will be home when his mission is done. You know how these things work." He gave her a stern look that reminded her of her late husband and she pouted.