Chapter 5
brIE
My breath fogs out in front of me as I trudge out to my car.
It’s been a long day. A long thirty-six hours. A long few months, really.
The kids in my class are all sweet, but I could tell their feelings are hurt. A teacher they loved basically ghosted them. I’m not complaining since that’s why I have a job, but it’s going to take some time for them to trust me.
That, along with the knowledge that Sawyer’s my new boss, not to mention the fact I’m in Blue Ridge in the first place . . . basically my life is imploding.
Halfway to my car, a voice to my left says, “Brie Casey, is that you?”
I stop, turn, and take in the short, stout woman before me. She has a few more grays and a couple extra worry lines, but her eyes are still as sharp as a hawk’s, and her lips just as permanently pursed as they were when she was terrorizing my class with irregular Spanish verbs.
“Senora Martinez?”
“No, it’s Eva Longoria. Come here.”
I’m a head taller than her, but before I can even process that she tells jokes now, my face is pressed tight against her chest.
Senora Martinez was one of the only adults who treated all her students the same, regardless of who our parents were or what neighborhood we lived in.
“I work in the front office now. I heard you’re our new substitute.” Her voice is laced with excitement, belying the stern expression she’s always worn.
Delicately, I extricate myself from her arms.
“Yeah, that’s me,” I say, pulling my coat tighter around me.
She takes me by the shoulders and holds me out for inspection, like a piece of fruit at the grocery store. “You’re thin.”
I flutter my eyelashes. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment. You look bad.” She cups my chin, angling my head this way and that.
“And you look like you didn’t sleep last night.
” She doesn’t give me the chance to tell her it’s because I didn’t.
“No matter, I’m so glad you’ve come home.
” Not home. “And lucky for us because we need you. Is it true you can stay all semester?”
“Um . . .”
I don’t know how to answer this question. I wouldn’t have come down here without that assurance. But Sawyer didn’t say anything about it, and I assume it’s technically up to him, even if the district is who called me.
For the hundredth time, I think, I need this job.
Senora Martinez seems to have retained the ability to read people’s minds because she leans forward and whispers, “That’s a yes.”
Despite the cold, warmth blooms in my chest. “Yes.”
“Good. Now get going, it’s cold out here. See you tomorrow.” She winks before turning toward a luxury SUV and hoisting herself into the drivers seat.
I give her a wave as I head toward my car, a little surprised by the smile forming on my face.
As I reach for the door handle, lost in thought, a deep voice cuts through the chill.
“Brie!”
There goes that smile.
Sawyer hurries toward me, tie gone and the collar of his shirt open beneath his jacket, even though it’s in the thirties.
I pause. He’s going to fire me. Tell me he’d rather be a teacher short than have me here.
Give me self-esteem issues again.
Folding my arms over my chest, I wait for him to approach, my stomach knotting.
His long legs cross the distance in no time. As he stalks closer, I notice how brooding he looks, scowling down at me.
And it clicks something into place.
No, it pisses me the fuck off.
Yeah, I need this job. Yeah, Sawyer’s my new boss. Yeah, I fled from one scandal right back to the hometown I swore up and down I’d never return to.
But I won’t let Sawyer Strong fuck with me the way he used to.
I’m stronger than that.
“I wanted to check in with you before you left,” he says. “How was your first day? Do you have any questions or need anything?”
Wait, what? This isn’t what I expected, nor is it exactly a chase-after-me-in-the-freezing-parking-lot kind of conversation.
Don’t let down your guard.
“My day went well,” I answer with my fuck off smile.
His eyes sweep over the windows of my car, stuffed full of my belongings I’d thrown in the night before. I step to the side, blocking his view as I straighten my spine, daring him to say a word.
The corners of his mouth tilt down. “Do you want to talk about anything?”
The intensity in his eyes has my stomach fizzing like a bottle of champagne. My heart beats fast, and I don’t understand it.
“Nope. I pretty much remember how the school works,” I reply. “I was only a student here for six years.”
His jaw relaxes and his throat works in a swallow. “Right.”
He rubs the back of his neck, looking lost for a moment. He glances at the school, then back at me. Suddenly, his brows dip and he steps closer, stealing my breath.
“Is everything okay, Brie?” His voice is so deep, so low, so husky. When did his voice get so husky? I feel it between my legs. His voice is the last voice I want to feel between my legs.
I step back and raise my chin to look at him.
“Why are you really here?” His voice is quiet, like he’s asking me a secret. Like I should trust him. Like he’s my friend.
But I don’t.
And he isn’t.
All at once, I understand exactly what he’s asking. The reason he followed me out here in the first place. He wants to know about my past, for me to fess up about Christopher and being pushed out of Everett Academy.
Sawyer Strong, the man, is crafty and patient in a way the boy wasn’t. I’d caught a glimpse of that our senior year. He knows how to play the long game.
I ought to remember that.
All the frustration, desperation, and anger I’ve swallowed down since yesterday rise to the surface. Without permission, my face screws up into what my little sister Mara calls my Angry Badger Face.
I push off my car and step into Sawyer’s space, my chest brushing his. The sharp intake of breath tells me he wasn’t expecting me to stand up for myself.
Surprise, mother fucker.
Pointing at the school, I say, “In there, I’ll be polite and professional.
Teacher-like. My only comfort is knowing you have to do the same.
But school’s out, and I don’t have to answer any of your questions.
I don’t even have to talk to you. In fact—” I cut myself off and let my actions speak for themselves.
Spinning on my heel, I bump Sawyer out of my way with my hip, almost tipping over in the process, and get in my car.
As I pull out, any satisfaction I might have felt grows hollow when I glance at Sawyer in my mirror. He’s still mostly stoic, but one side of his mouth ticks up, partway to his evil, playful smirk.
Like I played right into his hand.