“Gil.” Olin snuggled into my side as our fellow students packed up their school bags. “My parents are away all weekend.” Her voice lowered. “Stay. Sleep over.”
My eyes shot wide, looking down at her. This wasn’t the first time her parents had stayed away for days, but it was the first time she’d asked me to sleep there. To slip into her bed. To touch her in the dark. To strip her, kiss her, take her.
I squeezed my eyes against the images, cursing the sudden tightness in my jeans. Why did she have to choose today of all days to break me?
I had a plan.
A script to follow.
Outside of school, it was no secret things were burning between us. She wanted me as much as I wanted her. Her touches were different. Her stares more heated. We could barely be around each other without jumping when we touched and breathing hard for forbidden things.
Our bodies had been patient.
Our hearts had swapped and no longer belonged to us but to each other.
Sex was the natural evolution of our connection.
And I wanted it.
Wanted her.
So fucking much.
All I wanted to do was nuzzle her nose with mine and whisper yes.
Yes to taking her.
Yes to love.
Yes to making her mine.
But Ms Tallup watched my every move. Her eyes made me sick. Her concentration made me shake. And right now, her gaze sent poisoned arrows into my flesh.
I couldn’t let Olin keep paying for my mistakes.
I had to guard her...forever.
Swallowing hard, I prepared myself to hurt the one person I adored more than anything, all in the name of protecting her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?”
Olin sighed with impatience, but she didn’t click to my betrayal. Her tongue licked her bottom lip, not taking my snark for an answer. “We’ll talk about it. But it’s happening. You’re sleeping over tonight, Gilbert Clark. I can’t wait another day.”
Ms Tallup couldn’t hear us, but our protection of other students had gone, and her stare was ever more venomous. Pushing Olin away, I withdrew from her, doing my best to seem cold-hearted and annoyed. “Go home, Olin. We’re done here.”
Her eyes flared with hurt, studying me helplessly. “Wait...what...?”
“Go on. You know the way.” I raised my voice to ensure a certain teacher heard. “Leave me alone.” I crippled inside for being such a heartless liar.
I wanted to cuddle her close and whisper that it was all just an act. An act that I hoped Ms Tallup bought. An act that would buy her freedom from the wickedest teacher in this school. My voice glittered with ice as I bled deep inside. “We’re through.”
One of the girls who Olin hung out with before me slung her bag on and tugged Olin’s hand. “Come on. He’s being a jerk. I’ll walk you home.”
I forced myself not to shake with gratefulness with how loud she spoke. I’d pre-arranged this pantomime. I’d asked Olin’s friend to call me names, put me down, slam and shame me.
All for an audience of one.
Olin’s shock and heartbreak had to be real, but she did too good a job as her eyes watered and she looked at me as if I’d suffocated the love right out of her.
I crossed my arms and clenched my teeth, wrapping myself in as much frost as I could. “Go away, O.”
“You don’t mean this. Why are you doing this?” Tears spilled from Olin’s hazel gaze.
“I do mean it. We’re done.”
“I don’t understand. This can’t be real. What are you—”
Olin’s friend dragged her toward the exit. “Come on, O. He’s such a prick. You can do so much better, you know. No one likes him, anyway. Such a loser.”
I flinched as Olin twisted to keep her eyes on mine, searching for some sign that this was a cruel joke.
Cruel, absolutely.
A joke, definitely not.
I would never hurt her this way if there was another alternative.
“Gil, please. Talk to me.”
I hid my trembles as her friend jerked her into the corridor then slammed the classroom door.
I was the only one left.
The only student, anyway.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, doing my best to get my heart rate under control and not bolt after Olin with the biggest apology. My knees burned to slam to the ground and beg for her forgiveness.
And I would.
I would apologise all night at her place. I would gather her close and kiss her deep. I would release my fears and make love to the girl I adored with all my heart. And I would tell her the truth about why our teacher—who was in charge of grooming our future—was doing her best to destroy it.
The soft snick of a door locking ripped my eyes open and head up.
Ms Tallup stood with her back to the now-locked door, her eyes narrowed on me.
I braced myself, balling my hands and staring her down.
We didn’t speak.
There weren’t words that could be used. Somehow, humans had the ability to hold entire conversations, put forth arguments, plead for help, and understand they were trapped, all without making a sound.
Ms Tallup gave me a tight smile before pushing from the door and clipping in her heels to the supply closet at the back of the room. “Come along, Mr. Clark.”
My thighs trembled to run in the opposite direction. To chase after Olin this very second and ease the pain I’d caused in her heart. Tonight was too far away. The tears she’d cry in the meantime. The agony she’d have to endure.
It killed me.
But...I’d bought this opportunity. I’d created this hell for a reason.
Balling my hands until nails sliced into my palms, I turned from the exit and followed Ms Tallup with stiff legs and unwilling steps to the storage area where class paraphernalia grew dusty on shallow shelves.
In there, no one would see us. No one would hear us.
I swallowed hard as I stepped into the dark room, and Ms Tallup grinned like a soul-sucking succubus we’d learned about in mythology. “I wondered when you’d break that silly girl’s heart.”
My teeth ground together.
The power dynamic between us did its best to keep me in my place as her underling. I was her student. My job was to be subservient, polite, and grateful.
But in this dark, dangerous place, I was her equal. I was her oppressor.
Inhaling sharp, my anger overflowed, gushing from my mouth with clipped vowels and harsh consonants. “Let’s get one thing straight. I might be your student, but you aren’t God. You don’t get to play with our lives. You don’t get to make us miserable.” My hand came up, slicing through the air like a guillotine. My head came down, glowering at her under my brows. “If you ever mess with Olin’s future again, I’ll hurt you.”
She didn’t look ruffled by my outburst. Instead, she chuckled condescendingly. “Quite a display for someone who supposedly just broke up with her.”
Shit.
Shit.
I dropped my hand, deleting all sign of emotion from my voice. I embraced the freezing cold that’d helped me cope so many times in my life. “I’m bored of her. Bored of you. Bored of this school.”
“Bored is a serious accusation to say to your teacher,” she murmured with a hungry gleam. “Are you saying I’m not teaching you to the best of my ability?” She licked her lips, her gaze dancing down my body to my groin. “Because there are other subjects I can teach you. Lots and lots of subjects.”