“We both know that’s bullshit.” I snapped, stepping closer.
He grinned, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“I know Taryn put you up to it. What I don’t know is why you would agree to it.”
“IfI were lying… which I’m not. What’s it to you?” He raised a brow.
What afuckingpunk. He was lucky I was a teacher, and my career was already on the line because of the brat.
“I’ve seen the evidence. I know you didn’t do it.” Running my hand through my hair in agitation, I snarled low.
Beck smiled. “Seems the counselor didn’t care as long as I was willing to sign his little piece of paper.”
He straddled his bike.
“I don’t know how she got you to do it, but whatever she said is probably a lie,” I warned him.
He shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not.” He started his bike and revved the engine. “Don’t worry your head about poor little ole me, Mr. Rowen. I know exactly who I’m dealing with.”
“This isn’t a game,” I snapped, pissed that this punk was being so nonchalant about all of this.
“No,” he smiled. “It’s an audition, and I plan to get the part.”
“What fucking part?” I was already on leave, so what did my language matter?
His smile widened, “Any part she’s willing to give me.”
He slipped his helmet on and started his bike.
“You’re making a mistake,” I growled.
His voice was muffled, “And what a fan-fucking-tastic mistake it’s going to be.”
I felt a burning sensation in my gut and an urge to punch him. I was angry at Taryn, yet I couldn’t ignore her beauty—a beauty I had begun to notice involuntarily a few months earlier. Was my anger due to his attitude or because he was free to act on his feelings while I wasn’t?
As Beck rode off, I stood alone in the lot, the truth settling like a weight I couldn’t shake off.
Every bit of this had been about revenge. And I had been bested in a war I didn’t even know I was fighting by an eighteen-year-old girl.
I should’ve left, but I didn’t. That was the first mistake.
The second was following Taryn when she left the building.
“Stop, I want to speak to you,” I called out.
Taryn smirked but didn’t slow.
Of course the fucking brat didn’t. She cut around the side of the building like she owned the ground under her feet, as if the world bent just slightly in her direction.
I was starting to believe that it usually did.
I caught up to her near the entrance to the parking lot and pulled her into the trees, grabbing her arm and yanking her back harder than I meant to.
She jerked away from me, not appearing the least scared. “You don’t get to touch me,” she said flatly.
“Funny,” I snapped. “I haven’t before today. But that didn’t seem to stop you from throwing accusations around.”
Her eyes flashed, and she smirked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
