Ready For It (MacAteer Brothers #2) - M.L. Nystrom Page 0,71
and radius z.” I grinned, waiting to see who would get it first.
Jimbo didn’t disappoint. A big smile burst across his face. “Ah, Miss Miser, that’s so lame.”
“Is not. What’s the answer?”
He rolled his eyes and recited with his eyes heavenward as if asking why he had to put up with such antics. “The formula for volume is pi times radius squared times height. In this case, pi-z-z-a.”
“Absolutely correct, and if we stay here much longer, I’ll order us a few. I’m getting hungry.”
My kids moaned at the math nerd joke but perked up when I mentioned one of their staple food groups.
“Miss Miser? Mr. Bradshaw is here with two police officers.” Coral Blakely, a student teacher, stood in the doorway. Her timid voice sounded uncertain. She played with one of her long dreadlocks. I already knew that to be a nervous tic of hers. She spent a lot of time in my classroom, as she would be graduating in December and taking over for me as a long-term sub in January.
“Can he wait until we’re done? It’s only a few more minutes.”
Two police officers? What the hell was going on? None of my students acted out, as long as you didn’t count their drive-thru math prank of making weird change for the attendant.
“I’m afraid not, Miss Miser.” The principal strode in my classroom with a confidence I’d never seen in him. His smirk covered his face from ear to ear, and he practically bounced with glee.
A cold dread hit my stomach. If something made him this happy, chances were it was bad for me.
“Miss Miser, you’re under arrest.”
What the fuck? The roaring in my ears almost covered the rest of his words.
“For inappropriate sexual contact with a student.”
The collection of my mathletes surrounded me.
“No, you’re wrong!”
“You can’t do this!”
I stared at the diminutive man with the smug look on his face. “What the fuck are you talking about? I’ve never fucked one of my students, and I never will. They’re kids, you fucking pervert! Who are you even talking about?”
“Ashton Fordham said you made inappropriate comments and touched him.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? You’ve not done your homework, have you? Ashton Fordham has been gone for a long time. Remember his dad put him at some military boarding school after the party he threw at his father’s house? He hasn’t been my student since his freshman year, and he never joined the mathletes team. I’ve not laid eyes on him in a long time, and I sure as hell never laid hands on him either.”
“Nonetheless, it has come to my attention that he has claimed he’s the one who got you pregnant.” His shit-eating grin freed my tongue, and I let loose. Probably not the best scenario for my students, but I’d had enough. More than enough.
Of all the statements that man could make, that one took the fucking cake! “You are out of your goddamn mind! Ever since I came to this school, you’ve spent years, years, trying to get me fired or make me quit. You damn well know this trumped-up crap is false, but you’ll jump at anything to fuck with me. You’ve gone too far with this stunt, you fucking asshole. This is one paternity test away from the biggest lawsuit you’ve ever seen.”
“Please turn around, ma’am.”
Fuck, they’re really doing this. They’re putting me in handcuffs in front of my students. “Is this necessary, Officer? I’ll be glad to drive over to the station and clear up whatever shit this toad has smeared.”
The officers didn’t budge. “Sorry, ma’am. This is just procedure.”
What else could I do? Two of my girls were crying, and two boys looked like they were thinking about it. If I put up a fight, it would make that worse.
“As you can see, Officer, I am pregnant.”
He sighed. “Please, ma’am. Turn around, and we’ll get this done a lot quicker.”
I shook my head. “If you have to cuff me, don’t you do it in front for safety reasons?”
The second cop lost patience. He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. “Quit resisting, bitch. I ain’t got no time for this shit.”
I cried out in pain, and my students renewed their yells of protest.
“Stop, you’re hurting her!”
“No, you can’t take her away!”
“Ashton is a liar!”
One of the kids rapidly typed something on his phone. “Don’t worry, Miss Miser. I posted a video of this on Facebook. I bet it will go viral, and you’ll be out