I can’t help but snort at that, knowing damn well I tried to turn him in for basically harassing me and was shut down before the words could even leave my mouth. And then I yelp when Nate reaches down and pinches my ass, horrified when everyone turns my way in confusion at what probably looks on the outside like I have Tourette’s. Thankfully, Mr. Moran just continues.
“I must inform you that a student came upon your son and Ms. Richards in a… compromising position in the library.”
Mrs. Black eyes widen, and her mouth drops open just a little, her cheeks turning bright pink. Mr. Black reaches over and takes her hand, but his expression doesn’t change except to lift a brow at his son.
“As your son is eighteen, he is a consenting adult. In our state, there is no statutory rape case here. But… there are ethical considerations to be made. There is a policy in place at our school to punish faculty to protect students, since their parents have entrusted their children with them. You may choose to press charges against Ms. Richards that will take away her teaching certification,” he tells them, and I sink against Nate, Mr. Moran’s words taking the life right out of me.
Nate’s arm comes up to pull my head against his chest, and I shut my eyes, forcing myself to absorb the sound of his strong but steady heartbeat against my ear. How can he be so calm at a time like this? How can his pulse be so smooth when mine feels like I’m having a full-on heart attack? It almost makes me mad, him being so cool and collected. I mean, it’s not his life that hangs in the balance. But I thought he’d at least be worried for mine, especially after all the things he said to me in the library not forty-five minutes ago.
And then I flinch back at the sound of Mrs. Black’s gentle voice that is so close to me, so close she could attack me for corrupting her “perfect” son. But when I register her words, recognize she’s not speaking to me but to Nate in a tone I fully didn’t expect, I crack one eye open.
“So this is your little mouse, my boy?” she asks him, no smile on her lips but her eyes are twinkling, and my brow furrows in confusion.
“It is,” he replies, his voice proud, and her eyes look down from his towering height over both of us until she’s looking straight ahead into mine. For some reason, my body relaxes when she stays there, seeming to read me, seeming to tell me something with her beautiful doe eyes, and Nate unfurls his hand from the back of my head so I can stand up straighter, still in his arms. A moment later, Mrs. Black gives me the smallest smile, and she turns back to the assistant principal.
“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Moran. I’ll sign whatever waiver I need in order to give my consent to this relationship,” she tells him, and I gasp, looking from her, to her husband—who has a little smirk on his lips as he looks at his son that looks oh-so familiar—then up to Nate, who is, in fact, giving me that same damn look as he stares down at me.
A thousand whirling thoughts overwhelm my mind, but only one thing comes out of my mouth when I see that expression. “You told your parents about me?” I squeak.
He lets out a cocky laugh. “Didn’t I tell you not to worry, that you should trust me?”
I open and close my mouth like a fish, not knowing how to answer that. There’s activity inside the assistant principal’s office, shuffling of papers, things being signed, and hands being shaken. I vaguely hear Mr. Moran assuring Nathaniel’s schedule wouldn’t have to be altered since I’m not technically one of his teachers in a graded class, and then I’m moving as Nate leads me toward the door.
“Evelyn, dear. Would you do us the honor of coming for dinner tonight? I know you commute quite far, but I’ve already got it in the oven, so you’ll still be able to head home at a decent hour,” Mrs. Black invites, and I’m startled that she already knows that much about me.
My lips reply before my head even catches up. “I’d love to.”
“You’ve been through a lot, baby. You’ll ride with me and I’ll bring you back to your car once you’re good and full and your nerves aren’t as frazzled,” Nate informs me, and I close my eyes, grateful to have finally found my Dominant half and he’s chosen this moment to assert it.
“That sounds perfect,” I tell him, and even though his mom is right there watching us, I can’t help but tip my head up to give him an appreciative smile, to which he leans down, just like I knew he would, and places a sweet kiss to my lips.
My cheeks flame, even though I know I instigated it, and I shyly meet his mother’s eyes. But all I see there is the twinkle of happiness, not the look of a woman luring me back to her home to kill me slowly for defiling her precious only child.
“Let’s go grab your things, little mouse,” Nate tells me, and we turn to make our way down the hallway as his dad calls out.
“Takes eight minutes and thirteen seconds to get to our house, son. Better see you there in fifteen.”
And my hand slaps over my mouth as I let out a giggle—one, because his dad was clearly stating there was to be no more shenanigans in the library, and two, because it sounded so very like something
