5. Callie
Callie
Present
I was going to die right there beside my desk with Oliver watching me.
Every single dirty thing I’d done with the three men back at the lake flashed through my brain like it had every single night since.
The difference was I wasn’t in bed with the vibrator I’d purchased after the retreat, I was standing in front of a classroom full of parents waiting on me to talk with them about their kids and my plans for the school year.
It felt like my entire body was burning up. I reached up to touch my forehead and found it covered in sweat. “Oh, jeez.”
Oliver was watching me too closely and I knew he was about to say something that would humiliate me. “Mom, you’re sweating excessively and breathing faster than normal. You’re vermilion. That’s not your normal shade.”
“O-kay, Oliver!” I skirted around my desk and lightly gripped the top of his head.
“T-thanks for that. Okay, everyone, let’s get started, shall we?
I’m so sorry I’m a few minutes late. The printer in the teacher’s lounge was out to get me.
Um, let me pass out these forms that go over the supplies the kids need and a few more basic things before we really get into it. ”
My hands were shaking like crazy and I couldn’t imagine how I was going to get through the night.
I grabbed the papers and fanned myself with them.
I had to approach the guys. I couldn’t avoid them, even if I felt like I would die if I had to face them.
I just wouldn’t be able to look them in the eye.
Ever. Not when they knew the exact shape of my body and the sounds I made when I came.
“Oh, god, stop thinking about it.” I muttered under my breath and went to move back around my desk.
Unfortunately, Oliver had pulled out the bottom drawer to grab a sheet of paper and I didn’t see it.
I slammed my right shin into it and jerked forward as pain made my eyes water.
I barely held in a string of curses as the stupid papers slipped from my hand and scattered across the floor.
“Mom, you dropped the papers.”
One of the dads I hadn’t slept with under the stars hurried to help me pick up everything before nodding to my leg. “At least we know you’ll never lose your cool in front of your class. If that didn’t break you, nothing can.”
Some of the parents laughed when I did but when I dared look up I saw that Luke, Ben, and Cole were frowning. Somehow, I grew even more embarrassed. I was making a giant fool of myself. “Could you pass those out for me? Please?”
The man who’d helped me stuck out his hand and shook mine. “Grant Davis. I’ll get these handed out. Do you need a nurse for that leg?”
“No, no. I’m fine. It looked worse than it felt, I’m sure.” I wasn’t. It hurt like hell and I wasn’t sure I wasn’t bleeding. I was too embarrassed to draw more attention to it, though. “Okay, let’s get this conference on track.”
While I struggled through the supply list and answered questions about why each thing was needed, I was trying to crawl into a tiny ball inside.
The guys wouldn’t take their eyes off me.
They never looked down at their sheets once from what I could tell.
Their gazes made me clumsy and awkward, which made me self-conscious about my presentation and even worse for it. I was a mess.
One of the moms, a woman named Cameron, dropped her pen from the tiny desk the parents had shoved themselves into.
We made eye contact and since I was already standing, I bent down to get it and felt something strange happen without my shirt.
Ignoring it, I handed her the pen and turned back to the rest of the class.
“Um, Excuse me, Miss Morgan?” Cameron looked down at the chest and nodded at me. “Your shirt.”
I looked down and nearly screamed. A button had fallen off and my shirt had become a peep show experience.
I’d forgotten to do laundry again and I’d only had a sad maternity bra to wear that morning.
I wasn’t just flashing my bra; I was flashing the most embarrassing bra I owned.
I spun around and hurried clutched the sides of my shirt together.
Sidestepping to my desk I eased Oliver out of the way so I could grab another safety pin from the middle drawer.
“Um, excuse me. Seems like I’m supposed to humiliate myself a few times today. Let’s just hope that’s all that’s coming my way.” I stabbed myself and winced but it didn’t slow me down. “That never happened. Right?”
“Right.” Grant answered loud enough that I almost felt a little better about it.
Before I had a chance to reset, though, Darren walked into my room with his steroid gained pecs leading the way. “Miss Morgan, why haven’t you broken into individual meetings yet? These people have lives to get back to.”
“You’re taking up more of Mom’s time right now.” Oliver tilted his head to the side and stared at Darren.
A few snickers from the parents had Darren’s chest puffing out even more. He shot Oliver a frown before focusing his ire on me. “Your time management needs improvement. I think putting you in charge of the school play this year will help you.”
Ice filled my veins. I was mortified over being insulted in front of my kids’ parents but the idea of leading the school play was my worst nightmare.
Organizing anything was a challenge, but organizing an event like the play?
Torture. “Oh, Principal Darren, you’ll definitely want to get someone with-”
“My decision is final.”
I wasn’t even thinking when I opened my mouth and words flew out. “We should involve the parents this year.”
Darren scowled. “We’ve never-”
Colt’s voice stopped the murmurs and Darren. “Volunteering, you mean? I’d be down for that.”
“Same. I was just saying that I wanted to focus more on giving.” Ben met my shocked gaze and smirked. “It’s been too long.”
Oh, my god. I shot a quick look at Darren but no one else seemed to sense anything more than face value. I was already shaking my head like that would stop what was happening when Luke piped in, too.
“I’d love to help out the kids.”
After hearing that the three hot dads shoved into the tiny desks were volunteering the rest went like dominos.
In the end almost every parent had volunteered to volunteer.
I was starting to not feel as awful about being put in charge of the play when I noticed Darren’s face.
He looked like he’d just stuck his fingers in a shitty diaper.
“We’ve never involved parents before, Miss Morgan. It goes against-”
“Principal Darren, studies show that children with parents who are more involved with their schooling do better academically and behaviorally. I’d say Miss Morgan had a great idea.”
Backed into a corner, Darren had no choice but to assent. “Fine. Figure it out and set it up, Miss Morgan. Please plan better than you did tonight.”
I made the mistake of breathing easily and then turned around to see that Luke, Cole, and Ben were still in my room, still waiting to have conferences with me.
“Crap.”