Check Mate Pt 03

Sorry this section was slow and remains under-edited. I had some surgery but I wanted to post cause it's the holidays and it's also the holidays in this section :)

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"Sarcosuchus was the largest crocodile, weighing over four tonnes."

I was still putting grades into the computer. It was so repetitive, I had decided to watch a documentary at the same time.

Actually, I was multitasking - grades, bourbon, and learning about dinosaurs. Admittedly, I think I was drunk. I needed to stop grading and come back to it sober, but I couldn't. They were due tonight. What kind of sadist makes grades due on Christmas eve?

My phone beeped on the table. It was April.

Get your ass out here. Loads of single women!

It made me smile.

More for you. I sent back.

What the hell is wrong with you, you've been single for a year. She replied.

I haven't been single. I just haven't had a girlfriend. I replied.

Whatever you say to make yourself feel better, lol.

She was right though. I had been single for year. I'd been out with few women, but never made past three months. I always ended it. I took another sip from my drink.

Oh god, Emma was next on my list for grades. I didn't want to grade Emma. I had to grade Emma, I was her English teacher. It's not like she was bad student, it just felt so inappropriate. Cumulatively, she had a low B. But it was end of term so if I considered effort she put in... well she didn't put her effort into English, she put it in to chess club. But she came to class and she did her work on time and there was a lot to be said for that honestly.

I need some more bourbon. My glass was empty. I drank it right out of the bottle.

Being consistent and reliable should count for something. I typed 85% into her grade. Was I okay with that? Was I boosting her grade for the wrong reasons? I didn't think so.

I moved on to the next student.

I could hear my door bell going off. Oh god, was April going to drag me out regardless? Was she that worried about me being single? Did she think I couldn't find someone on my own?

I stood up and all the blood rushed out of my head. I was a little more drunk than I thought I was. The doorbell went off in another frantic burst of chimes.

"I'm coming!" I yelled.

I walked down hallway. I think I was really drunk. The doorbell went off again.

"Shut up, April!" I yelled.

I pulled the door open. It wasn't April. It was Emma.

"Hey David!" She smiled.

She was wearing a hat and a scarf and her hands were tucked into the pockets of her coat. Her curls stuck out in every direction.

"It's the 24th." I told her.

"I know!" She said. "I'm early! Surprise!"

"You said you would only use my contact info for professional reasons."

"Are you wearing your jammies?!" She laughed. She walked past me into my house. "This is cute. It's so colourful. I imagined you living in a place where everything was boring and beige."

"My sister likes to paint." I followed her into the living room. I was still holding my drinks bottle. I set it on the coffee table.

"Is that a Christmas tree?" She turned towards me. "Did you get me a Christmas tree?"

"Yes. I got you a Christmas tree."

"That's really sweet." She said. "I can't remember the last time we got a Christmas tree."

"You don't have a Christmas tree?"

"We celebrate when my mom has time off but it's never on the right day."

She was trying to keep smiling but she had tears in her eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand.

"Emma, what's wrong?" I asked.

"It's Christmas eve." She said.

"I know."

"It's Christmas eve and I'm all alone."

"You're not alone anymore." I took a step forwards and wrapped my arms around her.

She pushed me away. "You run away from me like I'm contagious!"

"What if I stopped?" I asked. "Hypothetically, what if I just stopped?"

"You would never!" She laughed again. It sounded cold and sad.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her down on to the couch. She landed on top of me, her hands on my chest. Her face was inches from mine.

"Whenever I push you away, it always because I want you to be closer." I told her.

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked. "Am I supposed to go all fuzzy just because you told me you like me? It just words!"

I sat up. Emma slid on to my lap, her legs on either side of me. Everything felt so warm. Her body felt hot. Her cheeks were pink, her hands were still on my chest. I reached up, pulling her hat off her head. Her hair was wet from the rain. I wanted to kiss her. I didn't know if she would have me right now.

"I like you." I told her. "And you know I'm not supposed to. But I don't think that's going to stop me right now."

"Prove it." She said.

I kissed her. I have to admit it still surprised me. I felt her hands on my neck, pulling me in. My hands were on her shoulders, too hesitant to go anywhere else. Her lips parted, I felt her tongue running along my lower lip. There was no hesitation her part, her lips were moving against mine, she was crushing herself against me, her hips were grinding on my leg. Fuck me, I wanted her so much, the heat from that alone was enough to make me hard.

My hands started searching, down, over the thick fabric of her coat. I was looking for a zipper. I couldn't find it. Her fingers were pulling on my shirt. She lifted it up, over my head.

"How do I take your jacket off?" I laughed.

"It has buttons, are you stupid?!" She said. But she was smiling.

She reached up, pulling the buttons open by her neck, down over her chest, she dropped her jacket on the floor. She was wearing a short, red velvety dress. It was touch-ably soft. I ran my hand up over her thigh.

"Did you dress up?" I asked.

"Well it worked that one night." She shrugged. "I did my hair too but now I just have hat hair."

"I like your hat hair." I kissed her neck.

"Don't leave any marks!" She turned head. "I had so many hickeys last time. I got in trouble with my friends."

"No marks." I promised.

"But I can leave marks on you, right?" She asked.

"Do you want to leave marks on me?"

"There's no one who will see?"

"What are you getting at?" I asked. "I don't have girlfriend stashed away anywhere."

"You don't?"

"No!"

"When I talked to my friends they said it sounded like you had girlfriend. And that's why you kept pushing me away."

"You told your friends about me?"

"Well not about you specifically. About this older man I may have fooled around with."

"Is that what we did? Fooled around?"

She kissed me, shoving her tongue into my mouth. Her hands were moving over my back, her fingernails scratching my skin. She wrapped her legs around my waist, her heels were digging into me. I lifted her dress up, over her breasts. She was wearing a red satiny bra under it. I ran my tongue along the edge and pulled it down, out the way. Her nipples were pale, almost the same colour as her skin. And hard. I pinched it between my fingers. She gasped, her teeth bit down on my neck.

"Do you like that?" I asked. I caught her nipple between my fingers again, tugging on it gently.

She nodded. Her cheeks were turning red. I licked her nipple, then grabbed it between my teeth and sucked hard. I found the clasp on bra and unhooked it. She pulled her dress over her head, and tossed them both on the floor. I moved to her other breast, sucking on it too. I heard her breath coming faster. She was rubbing herself against my erection, I could feel the fabric of my pants shifting, making me harder. I was so sensitive to her every little touch.

I grabbed her ass, giving it a good squeeze. I lifted her up and over, so she was on her back, and I was leaning over her. She grabbed me with her legs, pulling me against her. I knew what she wanted. She wanted me to fuck her. I grabbed her panties, pulling them from her hips, over her feet. They joined the rest of our clothes on the floor. She reached forward between her legs. Her hand wrapped around my cock. I felt her hand moving over the fabric.

"Is that what you want?" I asked. "Do you want me to fuck you?"

She didn't answer. Instead she kissed me, holding me close. I kissed her lips, her neck. My tongue ran over her breasts. I licked her stomach. I moved down and wrapped my arms around her legs. I kissed her clit. My tongue flickered over it, then lower, over her slit, down to her ass, then back up. I flicked her clit with my tongue again, then dipped it into her hot pussy. She didn't have a strong taste, it was kind of muted and milky. I slid my finger inside her. My lips were sucking on her clit.

She covered her mouth with her hand.

"I want to hear you." I told her. I slid a second finger into her.

"I'm embarrassed." She said.

"Why?" I asked. My fingers kept moving inside her.

"Because it feels good."

"Is this the first time?"

"No." She shook her head, her hands still covering her mouth. "But it didn't feel like this."

She was so wet. From my mouth, from her pussy. My lips pulled at her clit, my tongue flicked over it and pushed on it. She let out a high-pitched squeak. She was a squeaker, not a moaner. It was so, so cute.

"This may feel a little strange." I told her.

"What?" she looked up at me.

"Relax." I told her.

While I was sucking on her clit, I slid a third finger into her ass.

"Ahhhh...!" She exhaled.

I kissed her lips, before sinking my tongue into silt her again. Her ass felt tight and I wanted to fuck her there too. Her legs were on my shoulders. Her hand reached down grabbing at my hair. She was pulling my face into her, and I kept sucking on her clit, fucking her with my finger. Her other hand started pulling at my hair too. Her squeaks were coming out faster. I felt her pussy start to tighten.

"David I'm..." her voice trailed off into a moan.

I knew she was coming, she has totally lost control. One hand was twisting in my hair, the other was scratching at my shoulder. Her feet were on my back. She was so hot inside. I felt her tighten again and again. She held my face against her, my lips pulling at her clit, my fingers trying to keep the pace, then she grabbed me, this time she didn't let go. With one last little moan she relaxed, her hand stopped at my hair.

I pulled my hand out of her slowly and she gasped. Her face was bright red. Her head turned to the side. I wiped my mouth on my arm.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Sorry nothing." I told her. "I wanted to do that."

She sat up, tugging my pants down. She started to move, guiding me towards her slit.

"Wait." I told her.

"I don't want to wait." She said.

"Emma, no." I shook my head.

"You don't want to do it?" She looked up at me.

"I do." I said. "Of course, I do."

"Don't." She said. She lay back, her legs were still wrapped around me. "Don't push me away this time."

I kissed her. I felt her hand reaching for me again, and I let her. I kicked my pyjama bottoms off. Her back arched as she slid herself closer to me, her heels dug into my back, trying to pull me in.

I slid over her clit, we were pressed together. I could feel her hot, wet slit on my cock. She was moving her hips, over me, I was so close to her entrance. All it would take was one small push, I would be inside her. She kept squirming underneath me, every movement of her hips trying to force me in. Her finger nails her scratching at my back again.

"Emma, I can't." I told her. "I'm drunk and I don't have any condoms."

"Just for a second." She said, her lips were against my ear.

She lifted her hips, pushing herself against me. I felt my cock sliding over her slit again. She was so wet. It would feel so good. I wanted to fuck her so much. Her hips came down, on to my cock. I pushed myself inside her.

"Ah!" She flinched.

I grabbed her hand. "I'm stopping there."

"Don't."

She lifted her hips up again. I slid another inch inside her. She was so tight. It felt so good. It was taking every bit of self-control I had not to start fucking her hard. God I was getting so caught up here.

I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her over and on top of me.

"You want me to be on top?" She asked.

"I told you, I'm stopping."

"I can do it, I promise!"

I started laughing. Honestly, this girl was just... I had no words.

"I know I'm not that good, but I can get better." She said.

"I told you already, I'm drunk and I don't have any condoms." I explained. "It's hard to relax. This isn't supposed to hurt you."

"It's not supposed to hurt?"

"Not unless you want it to."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you had sex before?" I asked.

"I've had boyfriends before you!" She answered defensively.

"Did it hurt?"

"Well... yes."

"Did it hurt every time?"

"Yes. Actually, it was never good."

"If I have sex with you, it won't hurt."

"If? What that hell did we just do then?!"

"Tried something?" I said.

"Do you think I could at least put my clothes on before you start being a dick to me?!" She shouted.

She slid off my lap and on to the floor. She started picking her clothes up off the carpet. She threw my pyjama bottoms at me. They hit me in the face.

I grabbed her hand. "Hey. I'm not trying to be a dick."

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like you like me." She told me. "I thought that...doesn't it mean anything to you?"

I pulled my pyjama pants on. I wanted to be honest but I knew she would throw a mouthful at me.

"I have sex with people without it meaning anything." I swallowed. "I have sex with people without liking them."

"Just thirty seconds!" She shouted. "Thirty fucking seconds. Would it kill you to be romantic for thirty seconds after we mess around?"

"I told you you wouldn't like me if we were dating." I shrugged. "There's a reason I'm still single."

"Because you come off super nice, but you're actually an asshole?"

"Well, that too."

"How are old you?" She asked.

"I'm thirty."

"If I was thirty, would I understand?"

"If you were thirty I think you would know that you could a lot better than the likes of me."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Emma, I don't think I'm ever going to be fuzzy or romantic the way that you might need me to be, but I do care about you. I do. When I said I liked you I meant it. And when I kiss you it means something."

"I don't think it means the same thing to you as it means to me." She pulled her dress over her head.

"I think you're probably right."

"What do you mean?!"

"I've been drinking since dinner time, this is a little much for me right now."

"So you're just spewing bullshit?"

"90% of what I say is bullshit."

"Stop agreeing with me!"

"I'll stop agreeing with you!"

She stared laughing.

"The last boyfriend I had told me I was a bitch." She said. "He said I was hot but I had bad attitude."

"You know what you want and you're not afraid to ask for it. I, personally, think those are good things."

"Are we dating?" She sat down on the couch next to me. "Like, are we together?"

"We're not not together."

"I need to know. Because... someone from class asked me if I wanted to hang to out over break."

"If you want to hang out with them then you should."

"You're not jealous at all?"

I shrugged. "I would be happy for you if you found someone you liked."

Yes, I would be jealous. I would be very, very jealous.

"I'm going to go home now." She told me. "Don't walk me out!"

"Emma, are you okay?"

"Don't walk me out!" She shouted. She ran down the hall. A moment later the door slammed shut.

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"You got stood up on Christmas?!" April laughed.

"I didn't get stood up." I insisted. "Her mother took off work. Doesn't family come first on Christmas?"

"Fuck if I know. I don't celebrate Christmas."

"You celebrate Christmas with any woman who's willing." I scoffed.

"Hey, so do you!" She laughed.

"It's freezing, what time to the fireworks start?"

"Midnight, dumbass."

We were standing in the town square, along with everyone else in the city. If there was one thing people got right here it was New Year's Eve. Ever since we moved to this town April and I had spent new year's drinking mulled wine, building snow men and counting down till midnight. It was quaint as fuck, and always a good laugh.

"I'm out of wine." I told her.

"Don't make me share." She said.

I tossed my empty cup in the trash can. In front of us were a group of middle schoolers making a snow man.

"I getting some more wine." I told her.

"Come on, it's almost time for the fireworks. Just wait till after."

"You're overly excited about fireworks."

"What can I say, I just love watching things explode."

"Fine." I laughed. "We'll wait till after the fireworks."

"Good!" She wrapped her arm around my waist. "I mean this is best night of the whole year! There's so much optimism for the future! Nothing's gone to shit yet!"

"No, everything already went to shit at the end of last year."

"Well, you can always try again in September."

I suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"What do you mean try again in September?" I asked.

"The other New Year's we celebrate?" She explained.

"Oh. Right."

"Are you ever going to tell me what's been up with you lately?" She asked.

"Yes." I laughed. "At some point I am absolutely sure I will tell you."

"Seriously. You've been all twitchy for months."

"Maybe I need to some reflecting and repenting."

"Alright, alright. Come on, let's find a better spot. The bon fire isn't so bright over there."

She started pulling away from crowd, over towards the row of bushes near the street.

"It's very couple-y over here." I grumbled.

"You only hate couples right now because you're on some abstinence kick." She laughed.

"I'm really not."

"I haven't seen you with a woman since October."

"Doesn't mean it hasn't happened."

"So why wouldn't you tell me?"

"I'm doing things differently this time."

"Wow. Are you really still stuck on that woman?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I just..." My voice trailed off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw long legs, a short skirt, and blonde curls. She was unmistakeable.

"Emma?" I called out.

She turned to face me. Even in the dim firelight I could see her cheeks turning red. Next to her was a tall boy with dark hair. He had his arm around her waist.

Oh no. Was I crashing her date? She headed towards me. I wished I hadn't instinctively called out her name.

"Hi David." She blushed. "Mr Wilson. Hi Mr Wilson."

"Hi Emma." I said.

"Are these your students?" April gushed. "Aren't they so cute!"

"Emma, this April, my sister. Emma is in Chess Club."

"Umm this is Jake." She mumbled. She wouldn't meet my eyes.

I recognised him from the hallway, but I'd never spoken to him before.

"Hi Jake." I said.

"Hi." He said.

Fuck this was awkward.

"I was just going to get some more apple cider." Emma said.

"What if we miss the fireworks?" Jake said.

"We can't miss the fireworks." Emma told him. "They're in the sky!"

"Why doesn't David get you more cider?" April suggested. "He wanted more mulled wine anyways."

April don't you fucking dare, just send them on their fucking way!

"Um, yeah...I can get cider." I mumbled.

"I'll come with you." Emma said. "You get your wine. I get my cider. And they don't miss the fireworks."

She started towards the concession booth.

"Okay then." I followed her. This wasn't just awkward, she was in a bad mood.

"How was Christmas?" I asked.

"It was good." She grumbled. "No, it was really good. I don't think mom and I have spent Christmas together since I was ten."

"Are you okay?"

We turned the corner on to the next block. She grabbed me by the sleeve and pulled me into the row of bushes.

"We're going to miss the fireworks." I told her.

"Why is everyone obsessed with the damn fireworks?!"