Page 4 of Her Forbidden Teacher

My watch vibrates and I glance down at it. Mr. Langford didn’t mention watches, but I’m sure they’re lumped in with the phones. When I see a text from Lucy, I tense up.

Lucy: We’re all so shocked and embarrassed to have been friends with you. Try not to fuck any teachers at your new school.

I grew up with Lucy. Spent the night at her house more times than I can count. Even went on a vacation with her family. We were close.

There was one weird moment that I try hard not to think about and then everything changed. She viciously turned against me.

When I look back up at my teacher, the tears in my eyes making his form blurry, he’s watching me intently. I’m busted. I grimace, fully expecting to be called out.

“All right,” Mr. Langford says, eyes dragging away from me and across the classroom. “Let’s go visit the campus greenhouse. When you’re not taking tests here in this classroom, we’ll be there. Prepare to get dirty.”

Soon, everyone will learn I already am.

Dirty.

Dirty, dirty girl.

Chapter 2

Theo

This is such a far cry from my previous CPA job, it’s almost comical. But then I remember how I came to obtain this new career at a new place in a new town.

I’m not here because I wanted to change what I did for a living.

I’m here because my ex-wife blew up our marriage and I had to escape the humiliation of what she did to me.

A fresh start is exactly what I needed.

I’ve been in town for the past couple of months, taking a much-needed vacation before school started. For a decade, I worked as an accountant and rarely missed a day. The longest I took off was for the honeymoon with Mary Ellen. It was a full week of sex, margaritas, and pool-side lounging.

God, I was such a fucking fool.

Blind to everything that woman did to me.

I’m extra rattled today, not because it’s the first day of school and my being a teacher, but because Mary Ellen sent me a text.

Bitch Ex: I’m pregnant. You’ll need to do a paternity test.

I know for a fact it’s not mine, because the timing lines up to when we rarely shared the same bed, much less were naked in it. For a while there, she walked around with a nearly curled up lip of disgust toward me. Sex between us was the last thing on either of our minds. We were barely holding a marriage together.

But this is what she does.

Toys and toys with me. Like she’s a cat and I’m a fucking mouse.

She wants to screw with my head. Make me think the baby is mine. Mary Ellen wants to dangle a carrot in front of me only to take it away.

It’s something we often fought about.

Me wanting a family. Her wanting more time.

I’m done playing her shitty games, though, which is why I screenshot the message rather than replying and sent it to my attorney. The divorce may be finalized, but I still want my ducks in a row in case she ever decides to terrorize me again.

Someone barks out a laugh, and I’m jerked into the present. Sneakers squeak across linoleum and voices chatter while the class follows me through the building to the exit.

As much as I’m out of my element with this new career, there’s relief in it. I’d been good at my accounting job, but I threw myself into it to avoid an unhappy marriage. I needed a fresh break from everything.

“It’s hot out here,” someone complains. “Does this greenhouse have AC?”