13. Mia
Mia
SOUTH brONX CLASSICAL
Monday
“It isn’t just me, is it?” I asked Lilly, glancing over her shoulder.
She looked up from Kira’s paper and made a face. “It’s not just you. This isn’t great.”
She fell back in her chair, and I settled on the desk behind her.
“What do you think is going on with her?” I asked, staring at the staffroom notice board across from me.
“I don’t know, but something’s affecting her work. Her transfer came with samples of her past essays, and none of them read like this.”
Lilly turned and held my eye as she asked, “Are you okay to talk to her?”
I knew her well enough to know what she was really asking.
“I think I can handle a calm conversation with a student about their work, Lilly.”
She gave me a look, and I slapped my hands against my thighs. “Gem told you, didn’t she?”
“He seems to have a pretty persistent problem with you.”
“Well, I can’t control every parent who does, can I?”
“No, but maybe I should be the one to talk to Kira about her work. That way, if Theo gets on the offensive, he can deal with me.”
I shook my head, though the idea did hold some appeal. My one concern with bringing this up with Kira did have to do with how her father might react.
“I can handle him.”
She stared at me with those unblinking green eyes, and I thought she might try to argue. But instead, she sighed and said, “Well, if you’re sure. But keep me in the loop.”
I nodded as the bell rang, and we both gathered our things for class.
Chairs scraped back as I reminded my small class of this week’s essay topic and finished summarizing the lesson.
Diago griped on his way out. “I don’t know why my dad’s making me do this. I don’t even need advanced placement.”
Kira looked at him from her end of the classroom as Amber snapped, “Then drop out of it. He only wants you to get a place so he can brag about it.”
Amber didn’t know how right she was.
“Some of us actually need a spot, you know,” Natasha grumbled.
“I like the work,” he admitted, daring a glance at me. “But there’s so much of it.”
I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “You’ll get used to it.”
The three of them trudged out, leaving Miles and Kira behind. The poor boy was looking at her as if nothing else in the world existed, and she was quickly packing her things, trying to keep some space between them.
“Maybe you could come to my place after rehearsals? Mom’s working late, and I could make us something to eat.”
My heart almost cracked in two as I watched panic cross Kira’s features. “Uh, my dad would kill me, Miles. Um. Yesterday was nice, but I don’t think I can get away like that again.”
Oh, the poor sweet, big, lovely boy. He was crushed. I could see it in the slump of his shoulders, in the slope of his mouth. I had to put a stop to this.
“Kira, can I have a chat with you?”
She gave me a look of disappointment, almost as if she knew this talk was coming. Then someone knocked on my classroom door and cleared their throat. I didn’t have to turn my head to know who it was.
I sighed. “We really have to stop making this a thing, Mr Hudson.”
He strode in, brimming with big-dick confidence, as he said, “I need to talk to you.”
Much to my frustration, the two teens took it as their excuse to leave, and brushed by him. Kira shot him a look on her way out.
I kept my eyes glued to the wall in front of me. “You can talk all you like as long as you don’t yell at me.”
He shut the door behind him and stepped close, his tone low and… almost menacing as he said, “Tell me why my daughter’s still reading this, and I won’t have to yell.”
My gaze caught on a copy of Misplaced as it whirred through the air and landed on my desk.
Confused, I made the mistake of glancing up at him and wasn’t surprised to find a six-foot-three outraged male staring back.
“You said you’d give her a different book.”
My confusion settled in. “I was going to, but she told me she was fine with it.”
His outrage turned to frustration. He swore under his breath as he paced the small space beside my desk, running his hands through his hair and gripping the back of his neck.
My pulse thrummed under my skin, sharp and intense. Tension radiated from him, and I had this awful impulse to soothe it.
I tried to ignore it, but my skin flushed as I picked up Misplaced.
“If she’s going through something, I need to know,” I told him. “Otherwise, I can’t do anything.”
He sighed, and something like acceptance was in the way he stared at me. But before he could say anything, two unhappy female voices drifted through the door. I recognized one as Principal Rutton and groaned.
After my last encounter with Theo, Gem decided to report not just to Lilly but to the principal too.
This morning, before I set foot in the staffroom, Rutton ordered me into her office and gave me a prompt telling-off.
She had no problem with Theo and me not liking each other, but having me disappear on Gem during rehearsals left her no choice.
She didn’t want me alone with this man if I could help it.
Add in all the parent drama from last year, and she’d be pretty irritated if she saw me standing here with him now.
“Get in the closet.”
Theo seemed surprised at first, but that quickly morphed into exasperation.
“I’m not getting in the closet, Mia.”
“If you don’t, my boss is going to be pissed.”
“Why?”
It was a lucky twist of fate that our doors auto-locked after they were shut. Rutton was still fiddling with the keys to the classroom.
“Because every time you yell at me, I get in trouble for it.” I put the book back on the desk, walked around him, gripped the closet doorknob, and threw it open. “I know you don’t like me, but I don’t deserve another lecture. Will you please just get in here before she comes in?”
He hesitated as he eyed the small storage closet behind me, but mumbled, “Fine,” and stepped inside.
I shut him in, then quickly sidled up to the classroom door, planning to open it for them, when I heard Ashley Myers’s voice on the other side.
“Amber shouldn’t have this much work to do. It’s impacting her other classes.”
“Mom, I said I was fine.” Amber was here too.
“Shh. I’m chatting with your principal, honey.”
Well, this wasn’t good.
Amber’s mom was talking shit about me to my boss, and while that was nothing new, getting caught eavesdropping definitely wasn’t a good idea.
I whirled around, pulled open the closet door, stepped inside, and shut it softly.
A bit of light filtered in through the doorframe, but other than that, it was dark and cramped.
I couldn’t make out much of anything. Shelves of stationery and books pressed in from both sides, and my back pushed into Theo’s front.
There wasn’t enough space for the two of us in here, but it was too late to do anything else.
They were in the room now. I could hear them almost as clearly as if I was out there with them.
“What are you doing?” Theo mumbled. From the way he shifted back, he was probably trying his best to give me space.
“They’re talking about me. I can’t let them know I’ve heard every bitchy thing they’ve said, can I?” He was so stiff behind me; I could’ve cracked a board over him. “Oh, would you relax? I’m not going to bite you.”
“I’m not worried about your teeth, Mia.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
He didn’t answer, and I caught the tail end of Ashley asking, “Are you sure she should be the one teaching this?”
Damn it, Ashley. She hadn’t been a fan of mine since I gave her daughter a C-minus in eighth-grade literature. Was she ever going to get over that?
I pressed both hands to the door and turned my head. I shouldn’t have been snooping, but I wanted to know whether Rutton would defend me.
“Mia… Fuck. I need you to stop.”
“Shh. I’m trying to listen.”
Ignoring Theo’s rough, strained breaths, I bent closer, pushing my ear into the wood. He groaned softly as my hips pushed deeper into him, and I felt it.
There was a jolt of awareness, and suddenly, whatever Rutton had just said didn’t matter.
Theo was hard. Oh, god. He was hard.
Did being here, in this cramped space, turn him on? Or was it… me?
My nerves hummed, and the image of Theo caging me against the porch, demanding that I “show him”, forced a prickled heat across my skin.
My back arched on its own, and the thick, rough fabric of his trousers rasped against my skirt.
He felt thick and weighty as he pushed into my ass, and I bit back a gasp as sparks skittered down my spine.
His voice was low and harsh–threatening–as he clamped his hands down on my hips, put his lips to my ear, and said, “Stop moving.”
I swallowed, then jerked as Rutton’s muffled voice pushed through the door. “Did you find her folder?”
Theo grunted, and I felt his breath against my cheek as his fingers curled into me.
“Let me go,” I whispered.
“I can’t. It’s too small in here, and you won’t keep still.”
“Well, this–” I wriggled my hips against him “–isn’t my fault.”
“You fucking know it is.”
My stomach swooped as a hot thrum pulsed between my thighs, and I didn’t know what to say. Theo had his hands on me, and they were so big that they spanned my waist. He could do whatever he wanted, and there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop it.
“Be quiet, and I’ll let you go when they leave.” It wasn’t a soft whisper of reassurance in my ear. It was a command.
And I couldn’t help it. Panic took over as I squirmed against him, pulling at his hands, trying to get him to loosen his grip, but he wouldn’t let go.
His groan was soft and desperate. “Fuck. I told you to stop moving like that.”
I pushed back against him, and he grunted, pulling me close.
His whisper was savage. “Try and move now.”
I could feel him firmly pressed against the lower curve of my ass, and wished I could’ve told myself it disgusted me. I was trapped in a closet with a man who hated me, who made life difficult for me.
So why did the thought of Theo pinning me down make me so wet?
I wriggled my ass against him just to hear more of his deep, gravelly voice as it strained and grunted.
He didn’t disappoint. His whisper was rough as he said, “Mia, I need you to stop.”
“Or what?”
“Or they’ll hear us.”
He spread his hand across my lower belly, pinning me to him, and I whimpered as his cock twitched. A mind-altering heat rushed me—I liked it. Oh god, I liked how it felt.
I didn’t want him to let me go.
My body melted into his as his other hand moved around my waist, letting him touch more of me.
The curve of my breast brushed against his thumb, and I almost wished he’d slide higher, over my blouse.
He was so solid against my back, his arms heavy around me, and his touch felt so good, like it could soothe the ache between my thighs.
A heavy pulse forced a moan from me, and I didn’t care if Theo noticed.
“But you want it, don’t you?” His breath was warm against my cheek, sending a shiver down my spine. “You want me to touch you.”
He ground into me, teasing himself, and there wasn’t a single thought in my mind as I lifted my hand from the doorframe and slid it between us. He grunted as I ran my palm over him, and it was heady to feel the size of him like this.
“You’re fucking filthy, Mia, aren’t you? Touching my cock while your boss is right outside.”
Soft noises strained my throat as I worked his erection.
“How wet are you? Should I find out?”
The throbbing between my legs was unbearable. I needed him to touch me.
“Say it.” His hand slid lower, raking across my thigh as he whispered, “Tell me you want this.”
I spread my legs as his fingers drifted to the hem of my skirt. My breath sounded heavy, almost ragged in this small closet, and it was through the haze of my panting that I realized the classroom was quiet.
The classroom.
I was in a classroom storage closet. And I was touching my student’s father.
“Oh my god,” I whispered, clapping my hand over my mouth.
What was I doing?
I jerked out of Theo’s grip and yanked the door open, almost tearing it from its hinges as it slammed against the wall. The room was quiet. Not a thing was out of place. And it didn’t feel right, because I’d just done something very, very wrong.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit. What did we do?
His hands were on me. I could still feel the heat of his breath on my neck, the weight of his body on mine. I would’ve let him touch me.
Oh god, I would’ve let him touch me.
What the hell was I thinking?
I shouldn’t have been in that closet.
But I liked it.
No. No, no, no. This wasn’t happening.
But, how did this happen? How could I let him–
“Mia, wait–”
My pulse pounded as I made it to my desk, turned on my heel, held up a hand, and waved it at him. “Mm-mm. No. You do not get to talk to me after that.”
He stopped. Tension ebbed from him in waves, fire racing through his eyes, and I recognized it because I felt the same way. “That wasn’t just me in there, and you know it.”
“I don’t care.” I stepped back until my knees hit my chair. I was shaking. “You need to leave. I can’t-I can’t be around you anymore. My head teacher will speak to you about Kira from now on.”
His jaw clenched, muscles twitching as he swung his gaze around the room once, took the book from my desk, and left.
My knees gave out as I collapsed into my chair and buried my face in my hands.