Our schedules align perfectly which is part of why this particular job was a no-brainer, so I’m not surprised when I turn the corner and find that, per usual, she is strapped to his chest.
If I’d wanted to slip by without them noticing, I wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in hell because Sienna spots me from a mile away and lets out an ear-splitting screech that causes everyone to stop and look in their direction.
Jack has a perplexed look until he sees me walking toward them. He smiles widely when he spots me and I nearly melt into a puddle of goo on the floor.
I havegotto get it together.
“What are you two doing here?” I take Sienna’s hand once I approach them, hoping it will suffice in calming her down, but it’s no use and Jack knows this too.
He wordlessly unclips the sides of the carrier, allowing me to slip her out. “I needed to grab some paperwork from my office.”
“Ah.” Sienna is content with her head on my shoulder, and I sway her from side to side out of habit. “The agreement you signed to wring the absolute most out of each of your students?”
He shakes his head in mock annoyance. “You know, you’re the only one who complains.”
“Everyone else is probably scared of you because you’re so intimidating. I’m the only one brave enough to tell it like it is.” I am not intimidated by him at all.
“Is that so?” An unruly strand of hair dances in front of my face. I go to brush it away, but the tips of his fingers beat mine there and he gently tucks it behind my ear.
There is no awkwardness in the gesture, but he shoves his hands in the front pockets of his pants as if it will keep them from doing anything else without his permission.
Sienna pops her head up, fighting sleep as babies do, and plants a drooly kiss on the edge of my jaw. “It’s past your nap time, girlie pop.” She gives me the smuggest look within her baby capabilities like she knows she’s gotten away with something.
Jack reaches to take her from my arms, but she does not intend on going back to him. She just lays her head on my shoulder again and ignores his existence.
I comb my fingers through her silky brown hair. “Quinny will be with you all day tomorrow.” She curls into me harder.
He places a hand on the small of her back. “Does Quinny want to put Sienna in her car seat?”
“Of course I do.” I go to adjust the strap on my bag and realize I’ve left itandmy laptop in the classroom. “Shit. I need to go back for just a second. I left something. Sienna, go to Daddy so Quinny can be quick.”
She’s too tired now to protest much further and returns to Jack easily this time. “We’ll wait here for you.”
Sunlight streams through the glass double doors, and I don’t realize how much warmer I’d grown standing in the exit area with Jack and Sienna until I turn the corner to head back to the classroom. I reenter the dimly lit hallway, and the cold, damp air hits me in the face. The contrast is jarring, causing goosebumps to rise on my arms. It’s part of the charm of Cypress; how some parts of the school feel like you’ve stepped back in time.
The chill seeps through my thin sweater. I hug myself and keep my gaze fixed on the stone floor ahead of me, in so much of a hurry that I don’t realize I’m about to smack into someone until it’s too late.
“Oh my god, I am so sorry.” I curl my fingers around his biceps to steady both of us. He is vaguely familiar, and the look on his face tells me he’s going to be an asshole about the fact that I should watch where I’m going.
I mean. He’s not wrong.
He jerks away from me like my touch might burn a hole through his sleeves. “Too wrapped up in thinking about how you’ll spend Daddy’s money next?”
I scoff and skirt around him. I’ve danced this dance too many times to count, and this douchebag is not worth my time or mental energy. I’m not going to try and convince him or anyone else that what they think my life is like couldn’t be further from the truth. It doesn’t affect them and I don’t know why they care so much about it.
I guess they’re too bored of their own lives, and the fairytales of this town aren’t enough to keep them occupied so they spin their own.
“I guess Daddy isn’t enough to keep you at the top of the class now that he’s gone, is he? I didn’t think you needed any additional advantage but I see you’re sucking Hollis’s dick to stay ahead now too.”
Yes, because god forbid a man ever admits a woman is capable of a level of intelligence beyond his own. His words echo off the walls and I’m thankful the hallway is empty.
Or at least I think it is, but I turn to face him again and see Jack standing just behind him completelystaggered—and growing more irate by the second—as Sienna snoozes away in his arms.
That doesn’t stop me from fully intending to hand this prick his ass but he shoves his foot even further into his own mouth before I have the chance to respond. “Since you’re lining up to suck cock, you can get on those pretty knees for me while you’re at it. Seems like a good way for you to pay your dues like the rest of us who haven’t been given a leg up like you have.”
He doesn’t realize we aren’t alone and I don’t give him any indication otherwise. I straighten myself and cross my arms over my chest. “Whip it out then.” I make a show of running my gaze over him. “It’ll take what? Two seconds at most. And I doubt you have much to choke on so it shouldn’t be too difficult, though I’m not sure what you think it is thatI’mgetting out of this.”
Jack makes a strangled sound like he’s choking on air, and I can’t hold back a snort of laughter as the man in front of me suddenly looks like he’s seen a ghost.
