Page 40 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

I was tired of it. Tired of replaying that day in the closet, of picturing her naked, of looking for signs of her. I was tired of losing control.

Because my daughter and sister were right. I wasn’t the type of man who changed for someone else. I wasn’t the kind of guy who fell in love.

So nothing about how I felt now made sense.

The last person I’d ever fall for was Mia Walker; I knew that. But she was in my head, and I fucking hated that I couldn’t get her out of it.

Chapter 17

Mia

SOUTH BRONX CLASSICAL

Monday

“All right, you two, get in there and don’t come out until you’ve turned into Kat and Pat.”

I waved Miles and Kira into their change rooms. The two of them were struggling to get into character, and I was not having it. If Gem were here, she’d manage to pull out some type of dramatic exercise that would push them into the right headspace, but she was nowhere to be found.

Which meant it was up to me, and if I had anything to do with it, these two would end up fake-kissing like a couple of hormonal teenagers.

I let out a breath as I moved across the stage. Maybe if they were in costume, they’d feel like they could do this. I ran my hands down the front of my pencil skirt. It was why I wore what I did. It helped me tap into Mia Walker: Language Arts Teacher. Although, lately, that wasn’t all this outfit helped me tap into.

It was too similar to the skirt and blouse I’d worn the last time I saw Kira’s father.

“Bloody hell.” I ran a hand down the side of the faux-porch Theo built. “Maybe burning my clothes will help me forget about him.”

The thought of burning my bras alone was tempting all on its own, Theo or no Theo.

But it was all kinds of uncomfortable now–not just because I was still all hot and bothered over the closet incident, but because I felt like such an asshole.

God, the way I treated him. I wanted to apologize, but I hadn’t seen him in almost three weeks.

And then there was Kira. Knowing what I knew about her mother, it wasn’t easy to see her in my classroom. I wanted to ask how she was feeling, how she was coping. And, selfishly, I wanted to ask about her dad too.

I paced the stage and stared at Rochelle’s half-finished paint job, trying to distract myself from feeling like the literal worst, when the door to the costume room opened and shut. I turned and pasted on a smile.

Miles was awkward as I’d ever seen him, but the effect of him standing tall in his bad-boy Patrick outfit? Well, when Kira walked out in her band tee and ripped jeans, all the girl could do was stare. And rightly so. The sweet darling nerd was more than what he seemed. All someone needed to do was take off his glasses.

“The shirt feels a bit tight, Miss Walker.”

Miles looked away as he adjusted the sleeve of his black tee over his biceps, and then pulled the ultimate guy-who-doesn’t-know-how-cute-he-is move as he ran his hands through his rumpled hair.

Kira swooned.

“Well, love, it’s supposed to be, but if you’re not comfortable with the fit, I can talk to Gem about getting you a larger size.”

He rolled his shoulders back, pushing his chest forward as he said, “Maybe I can stretch it out.”

Kira’s mouth gaped open, and as entertaining as it was to see the beautiful new girl drooling over the adorable nerd, I had to put a stop to it before my teacher filter fell off.

“The contacts are okay, aren’t they? You can see?” I asked. Miles nodded. “Great. Then take the hair pomade to the bathroom. I want your hair so slicked back that penguins could slide on it.”

He gave me a soft smile, took the pomade, and left. Kira turned to watch him go, and I couldn’t help it. A laugh slipped out of me.

Kira turned back, and the expression on her face was like she’d just seen a unicorn gallop through the room with a rainbow shooting from its ass. She hiked a thumb over her shoulder.

“Did you see him?”