Page 19 of A Novel Seduction

Because she doesn’t know, dumbass. He hadn’t talked to her. He had told her “not now” because he was too frustrated to think. She hadn’t known that he’d refused to tell Principal Goode anything more about the other person involved in the photo other than that it wasn’t a student.

He needed to find a way to make this right. He needed to let her know that she was his everything. He needed to grovel and beg, just like all those men in her books. And there was only one way to do it.

10

Pitman, Robson, and Brewer all sat nervously across from Drake and Principal Goode at the large table in the administrative conference room. The three of them had realized they had made a huge mistake as soon as word had spread that Drake had left earlier in the day, and they were now ready to face the music.

“Honestly, Coach, we just thought it was kinda cool that you were gettin’ it on in your office,” Brewer said, barely looking him in the eye.

“Hell, getting laid at all, you’re doing better than I am!” Robson added in, trying to make a joke.

“You’re seventeen, Robson. Worry about school, not about getting laid,” Drake said, knowing damn well that his advice fell on deaf ears.

“We didn’t even think about who you were banging,” Pitman said. Drake shot him a glaring look, telling him to be respectful. “Er, who you were…ummm…sleeping with.”

“I think that’s the problem here, guys. You weren’t thinking. It’s one thing if you’re trying to rib me, between us guys, but it’s another thing to involve another party. And the whole school. Do you understand that everyone in this building, and probably plenty beyond it, has seen that photo? Has seen my bare ass? Not to mention, you’ve caused Miss Staab a lot of stress, heartbreak, and embarrassment today.”

We all did…

“Wait, you were banging Miss Staab?!” Brewer exclaimed. “Sorry! That was Miss Staab?”

“Yes, my girlfriend.”

“Oh, man, did we fuck up,” Pitman said, slinking down in his chair.

“You sure did. All three of you owe her a hell of an apology. Understood?” Drake asked.

“All three of you shall serve one month of detention, Saturdays included, plus whatever else Coach Harkins asks of you.”

All three boys nodded silently.

“Good, now if y’all will excuse me, I got a pretty English teacher to go win over.”

Drake’s messenger bag was seriously heavy for only having eight books in it. Although, he supposed that maybe each one of those eight books carried the weight of the significant role they had played in his life these last couple of months. They represented fate bringing Evie back into his life. They represented them both finally knowing the truth about the marked-up novels from that semester five years ago. Each one was responsible for progress in their relationship, whether it be her agreeing to let him read to her, her starting to open up to him, her trusting him, or them taking the next step and being together. He owed these stories more than he could ever say. He just hoped that after today’s craziness Evie still felt the same about him.

The events that had unfolded after he’d dropped Evie off at her classroom this morning ran through his mind. Their boss had been waiting for him in the athletic office when Drake walked in, hitting him with the news that the photo was making its way around the school. While Drake had been prepared to hear about there being a photo or video of their romp in his office, he was not prepared to be asked if the other person in the photo was a student.

When Principal Goode showed him exactly what the three boys had sent to the rest of the baseball team, who then took it upon themselves to show off to others, it wasn’t what he was expecting. A very large part of him was very relieved that Evie wasn’t featured in the photo, but that just meant that there was an extra level of questioning. Thankfully his boss not only believed him when he told him it wasn’t a student but had been mostly understanding when he respectfully declined to identify his partner. It wasn’t his place to out Evie like that.

Then there was the whole mess with his texts from earlier. He hadn’t stopped kicking himself since he realized that last part didn’t send. If he hadn’t been in such a hurry, he would have waited for a response from her so he would be sure that she knew where he was. He should have told her that he would find a way to fix this that didn’t involve her losing her job. He just needed time to figure it all out. Instead, she was the one who saved him. How about that for turning the fairy tale upside down?

The halls were deserted since it was long after the final bell of the day, so Drake didn’t bother knocking as he walked into Evie’s classroom. She was sitting at her desk, poring over some essays when she heard him enter. She jumped up from her chair so quickly it made a loud bang as it rolled into the wall behind her. But Drake didn’t have time to think about it as she ran over and threw her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up off the ground as he hugged her.

“Drake!” she squealed, tightening her arms around him. She felt so fucking good in his arms, he didn’t want to let go. But he couldn’t hold her up and shoulder the weight of these books all at the same time.

“Hi, beautiful,” he said, putting his bag down and loosening his grip, allowing him to kiss her forehead.

“I’ve been so worried. You stopped responding to my texts. You said that maybe we were a mistake and then stopped answering me and I didn’t know what to think,” she said, her words rushed. She looked up at him, tears starting to form in her emerald eyes.

“No, no baby. I hit send too soon, so my message got cut in half, and then I apparently didn’t actually hit send on the last part. See?” he said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket to show her.

“So, you don’t think we were a mistake?”

“Anything but, beautiful, anything but.”

She threw herself against him again, squeezing him tighter than before. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to how good her body felt against his, and he was more than okay with that.

“It’s been a hell of a day, huh?” he said, stroking her hair, her face still buried in his shoulder. “I hear you made a trip to the principal’s office.”