1
EMMY
Ah,hell.
I ducked out of the way in time for the crumpled piece of music sheet to fly past my face, missing me by about half an inch.
A familiar voice shouted somewhere to my left—where the paper had been thrown from—
“Oh, shit!”
I looked over at Braxton Madden, a seventh grader, and put on my teacher’s face that quickly had him looking down at his feet, muttering a half-hearted apology.
“Sorry, Miss Wilde.”
I opened my mouth to reprimand him about cursing in the hallway, but today was the last day of school, and I didn’t think it would matter much, considering who the boy’s father was.
I bet he heard all sorts of things back home.
Braxton’s father was famous around this part of the city—or should I say,infamous?
There wasn’t a person in this school who didn’t know who Dominic Madden was, the notorious president of the King’s Men Motorcycle Club. I had never met the man, though I had seen him on school grounds for Braxton’s football games and, once, at a mandatory choir concert I had directed for all the grades.
That was about the extent of my interaction with the man, and it was enough for me to know I should stay far away from him.
It was one thing to be attracted to bad boys and a whole other thing to be attracted to the kind of man Dominic Madden was.
With broad shoulders and the most mesmerizing blue eyes I had ever seen on any human, Dominic was beautiful.
Beautiful and untouchable.
I had been stuck speechless at first sight at the beginning of the school year when he first showed up to pick Braxton up on his bike.
I was so sure God had sent down one of his avenging angels to help save the world.
Then he flirtatiously smiled at one of the school’s admins, and I realized he was more of a fallen angel—a devil in disguise. Even so, I had been fascinated with him from that day on.
My heart wanted to harbor this little crush. After all, who could an innocent little fantasy hurt? My head said Dominic wasn’t good for anyone, even if I did nothing more than let him occupy my thoughts.
It was one of those rare instances in which I let my head win. I tried not to put myself directly in his path if I could help it.
Not that it mattered much. The man hadn’t noticed me, and I doubted I was the kind of woman he usually went for. One look at him and I could tell he was experienced. And arrogant.
The last thing I needed in my life was excitement.
Especially with a man as rough-looking as him. Something told me I wouldn’t be able to handle it. It also didn’t help that I was wary about men his size.
Not that men with smaller statures were any safer.
I automatically gripped my hands together without conscious thought.
I had to focus on the present. And the present was something I should be proud of.
I was really enjoying the peace and quiet now.
I shivered as the dark memory threatened to surface and focused back on my reality.
I didn’t know Braxton well, considering I taught sixth-grade choir, and this was my first year of teaching at Sacramento Public Middle School.
