She rocks her body, meeting my churning hips until we are both trembling from the intensity of our passion. I kneel, pulling her knees to my chest. The change in angle sends her right over the edge, her sweet pussy rippling around my cock. She cries out, completely shattered. I lower myself to her again, wanting to feel all of her against all of me, the skin-on-skin connection. As soon as I’m in her arms, I come hard. I breathe out her name on a harsh gasp. “Hadleigh …”
The only thing I would change about this moment would be to have heard that she loves me, too. All in good time, though. She’s still learning to trust. She’ll eventually understand that I wouldn’t just throw an “I love you” out there for the hell of it. I don’t say things I don’t mean. And my heart knows the truth, it wants Hadleigh to be mine.
Chapter 33
Sawyer
Now that I think about it, I probably should have listened to Hadleigh and taken a day off. I’d gotten a request first thing this morning in my office box for a meeting with Miles Steele, who is in charge of student teacher placements. I’m supposed to see him during our planning period in about five minutes.
Hadleigh is so worried about it she’s a mess. I really hate that for her, but it can’t be helped at this point. All we can do is get through today and see what happens once we come out on the other side.
After we leave our last class, I turn to her to let her know I’ll be back as soon as I can to fill her in, assuming she’s going to the workroom. It would appear, instead, she’s headed in the same direction I am. “You’re not coming with me, Hadleigh.”
The stubborn set of her jaw tells me otherwise. “I sure am. I’ll wait with Zoey,” she grumbles under her breath all while she smiles brightly and waves to a few students.
From behind us, Sadie calls out to us. “Mr. Rivers! Ms. Beckett! I have your Girl Scout Cookies!”
We both turn to her at the same time. Hadleigh plasters yet another faux grin on her face. “Sweetie, would you mind putting them on our desks in the workroom? You can ask any of the teachers in there which desks are ours.”
Sadie’s head bobs. “I can do that.” She shoots a grin at me. “Mr. Rivers, guess what?”
“What?”
“Those mean girls are all kinds of nice when you have cookies that they want.” She giggles, shrugging her slim shoulders.
“I bet they are. Just make sure you remember that it doesn’t matter what other people think. Do or be whatever makes you happy.” I wink at her. “We’ve got to get to a meeting, but thanks for the cookies. We’ll see you tomorrow in class, okay?”
“Okay!” She whirls around, a bright grin on her face, and hurries away.
As we head down the hallway, Hadleigh peeks up at me. “You’re going to make such a great teacher.”
“Let’s hope I get that far.” I eye all the students racing into their classes just before the bell, wondering if I’ll get the chance at a job here or elsewhere. It’s entirely possible that everything is about to go sideways. Ed may talk. He may show off those private photos. He may not give two shits that we’ll take legal action against him. He’s off his rocker just enough that he might not even care. I grimace thinking about it, and unfortunately, Hadleigh sees it.
She shakes her head, looking a little worried. Under her breath she says, “I want to hold your hand so badly right now.”
“I appreciate that, but we’ll have to save it for home.” Using the word home with Hadleigh feels right. I wonder if she feels it, too.
With a deep breath, she nods at me as we push the office door open. Zoey is there speaking to one of the secretaries when we walk in, and I notice she gives Hadleigh a reassuring smile, which I appreciate. I’m glad her friends are on her side through this. I’d been a little worried about what they’d think of the whole situation, but it seems they are supportive. That’s confirmed when Zoey gives me the same smile as she points back toward the administrative offices. “Mr. Steele is waiting for you, Sawyer.”
I give her a quick nod. “Okay.” With measured steps, I make my way down the small hallway.
From behind me, Hadleigh says, “It’s that one on the left.”
I give a solid rap on it when I get there, look over my shoulder and give Hadleigh an encouraging smile. My knock is answered with a deep, “Come in.”
Opening the door, I enter the small office. I’ve only spoken with Mr. Steele a handful of times up until this point—once on the phone before my placement, the day I arrived, and another time in passing. He’d seemed like a nice enough guy when we met, but I think this must be his game face because he looks pretty serious.
Well, let’s get this done, then. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
I extend a hand across his desk. “Sir. Good to see you.”
He nods and shakes my hand, eyeing the cut on my lip. He gestures to a chair. “Okay. Let’s get started.” He clears his throat, picking up a pen and pulling out a notepad. “I heard some rumblings yesterday after the wrestling tournament that something may have happened between you and Mr. Haskin—a disagreement or argument of some sort. No one heard what was said, nor did anyone see how he broke his nose.” He stops to tap his pen on the notepad, eyes scanning my face, honing in again on my injury.
