10. Theo
Theo
SOUTH brONX CLASSICAL
Friday
“It’s in my head. It has to be,” Mia muttered beside me, and I tried to ignore it as I put a hand on her shoulder and led her through the set design.
I’d spent this past week avoiding Mia, and it worked. I managed an entire ten days before I had to see her again.
I thought the distance would help. It didn’t. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I couldn’t get the feel of her out of my head.
And that damn spicy-sweet scent didn’t help. As we walked side by side along the stage, the smell of her wrapped itself around me, and my mouth watered. All I wanted to do was bury my face in her skin. Just for a minute, just enough to get a taste, and I was so fucking frustrated by it.
For the life of me, I just couldn’t figure out why.
Why was I attracted to this woman, of all people?
It didn’t make sense. I couldn’t understand it–or her. I couldn’t understand how this loud, unfiltered, vibrant person was the way she was, or why I was drawn to her.
She was infuriating, but she was also fascinating, and I just couldn’t push the two together into something I could explain.
She looked at me from the corner of her eye as she lifted my fingers from her shoulders. “You know, I’m pretty sure I can walk through this set without getting maimed. I don’t need you to lead me through it.”
My tongue tripped over itself, and it took me a minute to process that she was holding my hand.
Eventually, I managed, “Right. Sorry.”
She patted my knuckles and said, “It’s fine,” before letting go.
“You made this yourself?” she asked, stepping through the faux porch I’d been working on.
“It didn’t take much.”
She scoffed. “Must be nice to be ninety-eight percent muscle. I couldn’t even lift these boards, let alone nail them together.”
I flexed my fingers and fought the urge to do something with my hands. I was more relaxed around her when she was mocking me. This truce-based small talk was starting to get under my skin. “There are plenty of female carpenters out there.”
She tapped the edge of the wood with her toe. It didn’t budge. “And I bet every one of them could beat me to a pulp. It’s one of the cons of being a couch-sloth. I have the muscle density of a potato chip.”
I had this urge to reassure her and had to bite my tongue to stop it from happening.
“But this looks great. I bet you’re the kind of dad who builds their kid’s bed.”
I did, actually. I built all of Kira’s beds. And most of her furniture.
She sighed and turned to face me. “Are you like this with everyone, Theo? Or am I just special?”
Confusion hit me like a brick to the temple. “What do you mean?”
She folded her arms and stepped closer. There was a slight wrinkle between her brows. “I’m trying here. It might be easier for both of us if you tried too.”
I had no idea what she was talking about. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t trying.”
“Well, then maybe Gem should be the one doing this walkthrough with you.”
I frowned. “If that’s what you want.”
“I think it might be for the best. I mean, thank you for saving me from an almost-certain concussion and all that, but I’m just here to help the students, and you’re here to help your daughter. So maybe we shouldn’t force this?”
I wanted to ask her what the hell she was talking about, but my daughter and her co-star, some big kid named Miles, walked in.
They dropped their backpacks on the ground and made their way to the stage. Kira’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and that single look made the last week worth every ounce of effort.
“Dad, this is amazing,” she gushed. Pride was in her voice, and everything in me softened at the sound of it.
Miles looked nervously at my daughter. “Yeah, it’s great,” he murmured.
If silence had a chance of falling in the amphitheater, Mia wouldn’t let it. “It’s the perfect place for you two to pretend you want to stab each other.”
She brought a laugh out of Miles, and I assumed that wasn’t easy to do.
Based on what Kira told me, he reminded me of what I was like at that age.
Quiet and reserved, not sure of how to behave around people.
It was a little hard to believe that a kid like him would want to play the lead role opposite my daughter.
Then Kira glanced between me and her teacher as she started prodding and pulling at her nails. She was nervous. About what? My gut tightened as Mia stepped over the first stair.
“Have you started marking our practice essays, Miss?” Miles asked, and Kira’s eyes snapped straight to him.
Mia shook her head. “Nope. That’s what my weekend is for, love. Unlike you lot, I don’t get to play Ninspendo and watch NetFilms ‘til I fall asleep.”
Miles laughed again. “It’s Nintendo, Miss.”
She shrugged. “You can correct me all you like, and I still won’t remember.” She poked her temple. “I’ve got an entire love-hate affair with Shakespeare happening up here.”
While Miles laughed a third time, my daughter took a step back as Miss Gem flew through the door. Today, she was in a red and white flowy thing that made my eyes itch. Huge baubles dangled from her earlobes, and her bracelets jingled as she moved.
My attention swung to Mia in her skin-tight pencil skirt and button-down blouse. The two teachers couldn’t have looked more unalike if they tried.
“Oh good, good, you’re all here. Miss Walker and I have had a chat about your upcoming scenes, and we’ve made some changes. I’ll need you both to throw out everything from page twenty and read the play over.”
She handed them freshly printed scripts, and my daughter found her voice. “So… what changed?”
“The kissing scenes,” Mia answered, distracted as she climbed the porch steps.
Miles and Kira traded a look, and I watched Kira’s cheeks flush. She was uneasy. I could see it in the way she stared at her co-star. As Miss Gem said something about body language, my whole impulse system went into overdrive.
“My daughter isn’t kissing anyone,” I barked, glaring at Mia.
She looked up at me with surprise, and I almost wanted to kick myself for putting that look on her face.
But this was my daughter. My grieving, unsettled daughter. She was in no state to kiss some random teenage boy in front of a live audience.
Mia’s tone was measured, but I could hear the resentment behind it as she said, “She doesn’t have to if she doesn’t want to.”
I pointed at the papers in my daughter’s hands. “It’s in the script, isn’t it?”
Her gaze darted to the ceiling, but she stopped herself from completely rolling her eyes. “Oh, will you please calm down? They don’t have to actually kiss. They can make it look like they’re doing it by turning their heads.”
I flicked my glance to Miles; a mixture of disappointment and fear was all over his face.
“And you think that makes it okay? They’re kids,” I grumbled, gripping the railing in my fists. Mia stood just on the other side of it, three steps up, standing on the porch I’d built, but I was still close enough that I could count the individual lashes on her eyes.
Mia didn’t back off.
She held my glare as Miss Gem admitted, “I was actually the one who pushed for it. Kissing is vital for at least two scenes.”
Mia’s stare narrowed. “It’s fine, Gem. He already decided I’m unfit to teach. He might as well blame me for everything else.”
I muttered low, for her ears only, “I don’t think you’re unfit. I think you’re trouble, and I don’t want my daughter getting caught up in it.”
She scoffed. “Oh, so apparently, I’m trouble now?”
I rocked backward, clenching my jaw as Miss Gem nattered reassurances at me.
Kira was already in one of the amphitheater seats, head in her hands, groaning, “Daaaad,” and I knew I’d hear about this later, but I’d be damned if I let her kiss some kid she didn’t know.
I didn’t care if it was for a school play or not. She’d been through enough.
“Let’s forget about the kissing for now and have a look at the costume boards.” Miss Gem turned on her heel and clapped her hands. “Kira, Miles, follow me. Let’s see your designs.”
As they walked out of the room, Mia turned and waved her hand after them, muttering, “You’ve just scared them off. And you think I’m the one causing trouble?”
I turned to face her. “I know you think I’m some grumpy asshole, but I couldn’t give less of a fuck. That is my daughter. She just started here, and now she has to kiss some kid in front of the entire school?”
Mia put her hands on her hips. “I told you, she doesn’t have to kiss him if she doesn’t want to.”
I rounded the porch and climbed the steps. Her breath caught as I stood over her, and she looked at me like she wanted me gone. Well, it was fucking mutual. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt like this.
Did she think this was a joke?
“Right, she can just turn her head. Do you know how close they’d have to be to pull something like that off?”
She finally rolled her eyes. “They won’t have to be that close.”
Frustration ate me up from inside. She didn’t get it.
She didn’t fucking get it. I closed the distance between us.
Mia backed up against the rail, and I wrapped my fists around it.
Her glare left my face long enough to flicker over my biceps, and a flush crawled up her neck as she tightened her lips.
Outrage was in her tone as she asked, “What are you doing?”
I lifted a hand and cupped her chin. Her lips parted, surprised, as I ground out, “You think they won’t have to be closer than this? You think he won’t have to touch her?”
She jerked back, her head meeting the wood behind her. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“Am I?” I leaned closer, and she exhaled sharply, her breath warm against my jaw. “Then show me.”
As she gripped the rail behind her, her flush spread across her cheeks. “I’m not showing you anything.”
I put my hand over hers, plucked her fingers from the porch, and listened to the strained noises she made as I flattened her palm on my shoulder.
Heat dripped into my veins, irritation mixed with pure want, and for a split second, the only thought I had was: This is a mistake.
But as my muscles tensed under her touch, she let out the sexiest, breathiest sigh, and my mind went blank.
I dropped my mouth to her ear. My voice was low and rough. “Show me.”
Her fingers pressed into my shirt, and the gentle scrape of her nails stole my focus. I could picture them dragging across my skin, clawing at me, pulling me closer. My pulse thudded in my ears. Her scent was everywhere, and the tension between us shifted into something thick and electric.
“That’s not…” she murmured. “I can’t.”
She bit her bottom lip, her teeth sinking into it hard enough to leave a mark. The air was charged, heavy, and fuck me, I knew I should’ve fought it, but I didn’t want to.
“You can’t show me–”
She gasped as I gripped her waist and pulled her to me.
“–because you’d have to touch me. Like this.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she pulled back. Her hands slid from my chest down my abdomen until her fingertips brushed me just below my belt. My gut tightened as she met my stare, her mouth forming a slight ‘o’ before she clapped her hands to it.
She mumbled, “Oh god, you’re–” through her fingers, then cut herself off. She didn’t waste any time. She pushed past me, her hair brushing across her back as she hurried out of the room.
The door slammed behind her, and it echoed in the large space. It should’ve snapped me out of it, but I just stood and stared. Running a hand over my face, I caught a faint trace of Mia’s scent, and let out a groan.
Shit. What the fuck did I just do?
I took a breath, shut my eyes, and waited for it to calm me down. But it was like every one of my fucking nerves was set on edge. When I heard Miss Gem rumbling through the stage door, I cursed and went after Mia.