Dulce

“Hold on. Let me look and see what we have.”

I hear her tapping away before she hums.

“Caroline Smith, aged thirty-two. She has worked at Willow Creek Academy for the last year. Nothing particularly interesting in her file except there are two incidents where a complaint was filed and dismissed by two different students for being treated unfairly. But it doesn’t mention if the cases were dropped or dealt with.”

“The two students, they didn’t go missing, did they?”

“No, both graduated last year.”

“Okay, that’s good. Anything about her personal life?”

“She was engaged, but her fiancé left her at the altar for another woman. Oh, yikes. It was one of her former students. They live in Florida now and are expecting their first child.”

“Shit, no wonder she has a dislike for her female students.”

“Is she giving you grief?”

“Nothing I can’t handle. She is hostile but not a threat, at least not to me. I’ll keep my eye on her. Though she seems very popular with the boys, if you catch my drift.”

“Ah, teenage boys and their hot-for-teacher fantasies.”

It’s not just teenage boys, but I don’t tell her about me and Aslanov. Nope, not going there.

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, is there anything in Aslanov’s file like that about misconduct possible with one of his students?”

“No. The man is squeaky clean, possibly too clean. I did as much digging as I could without drawing too much attention, but it seems he has little to do with the students beyond regular headmaster duties. Why? You see something?”

More like felt something.

“No, I just wanted to double-check.”

“I’ll keep my ear to the ground and let you know if any flags pop up.”

“Okay, thanks. I better go. Classes start soon and I need a shower.”

“Alright. And, Dulce? Stay safe.”

She hangs up, so I slip my cell back into my pocket and jog up the stairs to the house. I hear laughter in the kitchen, but I ignore it and head straight upstairs and collide with Luke. He steadies me before offering me a wink.

“Morning, Everly.”

My cheeks flush unexpectedly when I realize he could have been the one eating me out last night. I have no clue who it was, and instead of being horrified, I feel myself getting wet.

Motherfucking son of a bitch has turned me into a bitch in heat.

I offer Luke a tight smile. “Morning. I’m just going to take a shower and get ready for school.”

“Sure. Oh, and Everly, if there is ever anything you need to talk about, my door is always open.”

“Right.” Like fucking hell. “Thanks.”

I slip past him, grab my things and lock myself in the bathroom. It’s barely 7 a.m. and it’s already been a long day.

I strip out of my running clothes and take a shower before getting dressed in my uniform. I head back out to the living room, only to find the sofa bed put away and the blankets back in the trunk.

Aslanov steps into the doorway of his room, fastening one of his cufflinks as he looks up at me.

“The boys have just left. Better hurry, Miss Sinclair. Wouldn’t want you to be late.”

He turns and heads back into his room, leaving me staring after him.

So, we’re going to pretend last night never happened, are we? Fine. That works for me. If I pretend nothing happened, I can pretend none of it meant anything. And right now, denial is my new best friend.