Sebastian
"I told you to let me talk," Leslie says, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You can't bulldoze your way over the entire School Board, Sebastian! It's unseemly."
"Unseemly?" I glare at her, my jaw clenched. "They've been arguing for two hours already. How much more is there to say? His staff hates him, the kids are afraid of him, and he may very well be manipulating test results. He needs to go."
"No one is disputing that. They're simply trying to determine the best way to go about it. You have to give us time to do this properly. You can't shout the entire Board into submission just because you're tired of hearing them bicker."
"It worked, didn't it?" As soon as I lost my temper and told them how we were going to precede, they stopped arguing about what to do. They might not have been happy, but it solved the problem. They may have all night to sit around and argue. I don't. The longer I'm here, the longer I'm away from Rowan. I don't like it.
And we're still nowhere near done here. It's going to be at least another hour or two before we're finished dotting I's and crossing T's. I want it done now so we can drop the hammer on him first thing Monday morning. Before he has time to do any more damage at Commodore.
Leslie stares at me for a full minute and then she drops her head into her hands and laughs. "You're still the same intractable, mulish boy you were twenty years ago."
"I've grown since then."
"Taller, perhaps," she says, lifting her head to look at me. She's not very mad though. Amusement twinkles in her eyes. "But you haven't changed. When you see an injustice, you dig in your heels and refuse to budge. It's one of the reasons we hired you, you know. You fight hard for those who need it." Her lips twitch, her tone droll. "The arrogance is new."
"Call it whatever you want," I retort, shrugging. Maybe I am arrogant and stubborn, but at the end of the day, I get shit done. It's what I was trained to do. There's a reason the only ex-Marine is Lee Harvey Oswald. You never really leave the Marines. Regardless of how long you've been out, you're still a Marine. We're all shaped from the same mold. The lessons we learned linger for life. And Marines are trained to get shit done, whatever it takes. "It worked. They stopped arguing."
"I don't know how Rowan puts up with you."
"She loves me."
The laugh lines around Leslie's mouth deepen, her eyes lighting up. "Judging from your little announcement in there, I'm thinking she isn't the only one in love."
"Sorry about that." I blindsided her with my statement about my relationship with Rowan, but it had to be done. I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to hide it. If it were up to me, I'd already have a ring on her finger. And Johnson's treatment of her is part of my problem with him. Better to admit it outright than to have my integrity and motives questioned later. "I figured I should lay it on the table before we discussed Johnson so they didn't have a reason to doubt my motives later."
Leslie waves her hand in a dismissive gesture, letting me off the hook. "I assumed that was why you brought it up."
"They handled it well."
"You didn't exactly give them a choice," she points out, her tone dry.
"No, I didn't," I agree softly. Whether they like it or not, I'm marrying Rowan. They can fire me over it if they feel so inclined. That's their prerogative. But Rowan is mine. She'll be mine until the day I die. No one but me and her gets a say in that.
Fortunately, I don't think it's going to come to that. I expected more pushback, but they were…receptive to the news. Perhaps because Leslie has been quietly smoothing the way for me all week. Or perhaps because I didn't try to hide my relationship with Rowan tonight. I don't think the board is necessarily thrilled to know I'm dating a teacher who is technically under my command. But in the grand scheme of things, my relationship with Rowan is a hell of a lot less problematic for them than Johnson is proving to be.
Rowan and I are consenting adults who haven't broken any laws or rules, and we're being discreet. If anyone wants to judge me for falling for her, that's their right. It won't change a damn thing. There are other jobs, other school districts, other options. There is no one else like Rowan though. She's mine. I'll always choose her above anything else. If I never worked in education again, I'd miss it. But I'd survive. I wouldn't survive without Rowan. Losing her would destroy me.
I can almost understand why Johnson turned into such a dick after his wife died. If he felt for her anything like I already feel for Rowan, he's probably been in hell. But the thing is…you don't drag everyone else into hell with you. You don't try to destroy their happiness because yours is gone. Especially not the people who depend on you to protect them. If I learned anything in the Marines, it was that. You don't fail the people who depend on you.
"They like you," Leslie says. "You've done a good job, and I think you made it clear tonight that you're not here to cause a scandal, but to save us that embarrassment." She smiles at me, affection and pride shining in her eyes. "It probably doesn't hurt that you made it abundantly clear that you're head over heels in love with her. It's hard to be scandalized by a man who has hearts in his eyes."
I chuckle at her assessment of me. It's not wrong. I've had hearts in my eyes since I met my little owl. Though I guess it's a good thing the board doesn't know how close I've come to fucking her dirty up against the door in the Assistant Principal's office. They might not be so forgiving if they knew that little tidbit.
I have no control when it comes to her. I'm constantly hurting for her, desperate to be inside her, claiming her. That voice that whispered mine when I saw her the first day hasn't stopped since. It's a song now, a second heartbeat, constant and unchanging.
Maybe it'll ease off once I put a ring on her finger and get my kid in her belly, but I doubt it. I have a feeling I'm always going to be a little crazy when it comes to her.
My phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket, frowning when I see the unfamiliar number on the display. If there's another problem tonight, I may be doing a little more judicious bulldozing. I'm ready to go home and get lost in my woman.
"Dr. Thorne," I say, bringing the phone to my ear.
"Hi, Dr. Thorne, this is Cadence Grayson. I teach at Commodore. We met the other day."
"I know who you are, Miss Grayson. How can I help you?"
"Tell him," a man says in the background, his voice full of impatience. Colton Walker, unless I miss my guess. I've only met him once, but his deep voice is distinctive.
"Don't boss me," Cadence huffs at him.
Colton grumbles wordlessly, making me chuckle.