Page 39 of Her Forbidden Teacher

I’m glad she doesn’t seem to connect that it’s the same girl from school. It’s only a matter of time, though.

“I’m here. Talk. What do you want?”

“Theo,” Mary Ellen says, shaking her head. “You’re getting grumpy in your old age.”

“And you’re getting predictable in yours.”

Her features contort into the nasty, hateful expression she always shot my way. “I miss you. I want to get back together and raise our baby together. Why are you being so difficult about this?”

A laugh bursts out of me. “You’re fucking serious right now? Oh, shit, you are. Get a life, Mary Ellen. You’re delusional and fucking insane. The kid isn’t mine. Leave me the hell alone.”

I don’t wait for her response and storm away from her.

Tomorrow, I’ll be calling my attorney.

Tonight, I’ll call my sweet girl and replay our perfect lovemaking over and over in my head.

I refuse to let Mary Ellen ruin the one slice of happiness in my life.

I’m tired as hell the next morning, and grumpy after a nightmare where I learned I was the father of Mary Ellen’s baby, but I manage to drag my sorry ass into the gym anyway. A sweet text from Addison telling me she’s sore but so happy improves my mood dramatically.

“You look like shit,” Everett says as he runs on a treadmill. “Seriously. So bad.”

Adam, who’s walking briskly, and limping while at it, laughs at his friend. “Rough night?”

I grumble as I hop onto the machine beside Everett. “My ex-wife is stalking me. Thanks for sending her my way, jackass.”

“I didn’t know she was stalking you,” Adam says, shaking his head. “She seemed nice enough and said she had something important to talk to you about. Next time, I’ll tell her you’re busy.”

I turn my machine up to a speed where I can easily jog while also talking. Everett is racing on his treadmill and barely sweating, much less out of breath.

“She showed up last night at my apartment,” I tell them, irritation in my tone. “I was with my girlfriend.” I evade both their curious stares. “Mary Ellen claims I’m the father of her baby. I’m not. That shit gave me nightmares hence why I’m grumpy.”

They both nod as if this is a satisfactory reason.

“Do we know your girlfriend?” Adam asks, voice careful.

“I’m not answering that.” I mash the buttons on my machine so I’m running as fast as Everett.

We go for another fifteen minutes and then take a break to drink water before heading to the weights. Adam’s eyebrows are furled together in concern. Everett is stone-faced, but I can tell he’s dying to ask more.

They’re my friends, but also, they work at the school I work at.

The girl I’m fucking is a student there.

I need to be careful.

“Look,” Everett says once we’re all busy with bicep curls. “I’m going to say this once and I won’t say it again.”

Cringing, I brace for a verbal lashing.

“You’re close with the Monahan girl. It’s plain as day.” Everett pins me with a hard stare. “But she’s eighteen. Legal. Just shitty if it gets out. Know what I mean?”

“Grounds for termination,” Adam mutters, disappointment in his tone. “Unfortunately.”

“This job isn’t everything,” I hiss out, stupidly giving myself away.

Both men nod as if they agree, surprising me.