11. Mia
Mia
I needed to leave. I needed to walk out of South Bronx Classical and into oncoming traffic. Because whatever was happening here needed to not happen.
“It’s not real. It’s in my head. It’s. In. My. Head.”
I was muttering to myself–and to the universe, really–because despite what Lilly thought, something I had no control over was happening here.
I made it to the empty staffroom, grateful that the hot, stagnant air of the day had cooled down, and snatched my tote bag. It carried a week’s worth of essays, and though I was freaking out about the fact that I’d just felt Theo’s cock, I wasn’t about to forget them.
“Mia, that wasn’t–”
I screamed, jumped, and slapped a hand to my chest. My heart was racing under my palm, and why wouldn’t it? The scariest possible sight was right in front of me, standing in the staffroom doorway.
Theo’s brows were drawn tight over his blue eyes, and his honey-brown hair was tousled from rushing after me.
He looked miserable. Gorgeously desolate, if I wanted to wax Shakesperean about it. The perfect image of a man filled with regret–and it was horribly attractive.
Since we’d met at that godforsaken fundraiser, I’d worked hard to shove his physical appeal to one side. The man didn’t like me. Worse, he didn’t respect me. He’d just cornered me, for cripes’ sake. He’d forced me to touch him. I should be livid.
But now that I knew what he felt like, a switch had been flipped, and I didn’t know how to flip it back.
As he stepped into the room, his dark gray shirt strained against his thick shoulders, and–damn it if I didn’t love a good set of shoulders. Warmth pooled between my thighs, low and thick, and I clenched them tight as I backed up against the round wooden table behind me.
“This isn’t fair,” I grumbled, gritting my teeth.
Without any way of knowing what I meant, Theo agreed. “I know. You’re just trying to do your job, and I crossed a line.”
Was he about to apologize? I waited, but it didn’t seem like he was going to say anything else.
Instead, he stared at the ground. With his feet shoulder-width apart and his hands on his hips, this whole pensive thing was really working for him. Which didn’t work for me at all.
I felt hot and itchy then, and recognized it as something I almost never felt anymore. I was desperate. I needed to get out of here before I did or said something stupid.
“Can we just… forget it?” I asked, knowing I was speaking to myself as much as I was to him.
He lifted his eyes to meet mine, and my skin prickled all over.
Oh god, this is not happening.
“If that’s what you want.”
I inched closer, trying not to touch him as I made my way to the door. “You should go back to the amphitheater. I don’t want Kira worrying about you.”
Keeping my eyes on him, I turned and backed out of the room as if Theo were a spooked animal about to pounce.
But I didn’t need to worry.
All Theo did was swallow in this impossibly sexy, throat-bobby kind of way and nod. I ran out of there before the universe had any more bright and horrible ideas.
Mia’s Apartment
Friday Night
In my orange-walled apartment, couched between my one square window and dark blue kitchen, I sat on my mustard-brown sofa and stared at my phone.
Tonight was another clear sign that something was happening, and I was starting to think my horny-novel-obsessed best friend was right–even if she was only joking at the time.
But if I was trapped in an enemies-to-lovers plot, what did that even mean?
From what Lilly had explained, the two strangers often started off as enemies, then something happened, and they turned into lovers somehow. From there, they’d fall in love.
Utter revulsion twisted in my gut. I’d never felt anything close to a love like Lilly described before, and I wasn’t about to feel any of that for Theo.
But the lover part?
I had to admit, the man looked like he’d fuck me into his mattress and leave me limping afterward.
After over a year of being in an exclusive relationship with my vibrator, the thought of getting my clit licked by an actual tongue held more appeal than I wanted to admit.
And now my panties were getting all wet and tight just thinking about his head between my legs.
But he was the father of one of my students. And he was awful to me. Didn’t either of those facts count for anything?
Judging by the gentle throb pulsing in my lower half, apparently not. I sat on my heel and rocked against it to dull the ache.
Ugh. How did I get here? In this headspace where I was a breath away from gripping my trusty purple penis mold? I couldn’t believe I wanted to shove it into myself while fantasizing about Theo plowing me into the porch he’d made. Not ideal.
I sighed and unlocked my phone. Could I talk to Lilly about this?
Before, I was so sure that I’d never sleep with Theo. Now, I was genuinely afraid that somehow, the universe was forcing me into doing exactly that.
If I told her, how would she react?
A special brand of Lilly-related tunnel vision pressed itself into me, and all I could see was my best friend holding her stomach, fighting off a burst of chronic-anxiety-induced puking.
All because I’d told her I’d waltzed into a horny novel and had no choice but to lie there as Theo Hudson worked his big, thick, juicy cock in and out of me.
Nope. That wasn’t a conversation I could have.
“I can’t call her,” I muttered.
But I could check the handbook. Just for some clarity.
I dragged my laptop to rest on my folded knees, feeling my pulse slow as I clicked on the South Bronx Classical Teacher Handbook.
Words like duty of care and social media standards blurred past as I looked for something–anything–that would help me figure out how to handle this.
Finally, I paused on Section 11.3: Teacher-Parent Relations.
While all parents should be treated with professional distance and respect… a teacher can maintain her license and the relationship… biased grading with the student in question…
Okay, so this made sense.
Before one of our more experienced teachers retired, she’d been seeing a single father who had decided to send his son to our school.
To avoid biased grading, we managed some scheduling magic to make sure she didn’t teach her potential stepson, and in the end, it was fine. No license was lost, no one pointed any fingers, and I assumed the student wasn’t scarred for life.
It turned out okay in the end.
I blinked, then muttered, “Why am I even looking this up? I’m not going to sleep with him.”
I was being ridiculous.
So he’d tried to convince me to fake-kiss him. It wasn’t like he’d made an actual move on me. He was upset because he didn’t want his daughter kissing Miles in front of the entire school, and honestly, I felt the same.
But it was Gem’s play, not mine. I didn’t get the final say.
I shook my head and pushed my laptop to one side, deciding to channel all this energy into something productive. I settled into my cushions and dragged my tote bag full of assessments close.
Diving deep into my students’ written work would definitely pull my thoughts away from climbing Theo like a tree.
I pulled out a handful and twisted my lips to the side as I eyed Kira’s name on her typed-out essay.
What were the odds that I’d pick hers first?
I inhaled deep, then exhaled.
I was in control of my life, not the universe.
Based on Kira’s entrance report, she was a great student, and she deserved a fair grading. I wasn’t going to let the issues I had with her father overshadow the hard work she’d done.
But after I read over her garbled sentences, any concern I had over biased grading flew out of my mind.
Kira’s work was genuinely terrible.