Callie would kill me if I fucked her dad, but man would that be fun.
Until he opened his mouth and slung out his insults.
“I’ll be ready,” I snip. “Thank you.”
Two hours later and I’m staring at the board of my pre-calculus class wanting to jump out the window. Coach Long, while super easy on the eyes, is almost as mean as August Miller. Coach snaps and barks and grumbles to anyone who will listen. It just makes me long to see August again. We’d managed a morning without killing or fucking each other, which seemed like quite the feat if you ask me.
“Miss Burke,” Coach barks out.
“Yep,” I grumble. “I’m here.”
He crosses his arms over his chest and glowers at me. “Lose the attitude.”
This guy. Seriously. I arch my brow at him. “Define attitude. I’m unclear if it was a good one or a bad one.”
His jaw clenches. “I don’t have time for spoiled brats not paying attention in my class.”
“And I’m so over assholes,” I mutter under my breath.
But apparently not quietly enough.
“Out,” he barks. “Take your bad attitude down to Renner and let him deal with you.”
Huffing loudly and ignoring the sniggers of the other students, I gather my shit and push past him. Tears burn my eyes, but I blink them away. I don’t want him to call my dad. If Principal Renner calls him, he’ll see what I’ve been trying to hide from everyone.
Dad doesn’t care.
My chest aches at that thought, but it’s true. Dad and I fought hard the other day, and he kicked me out. Sided with that woman and told me to pack my shit. I sat in my room for a good half hour, waiting for it to blow over. It didn’t blow over, though. They meant it. My father chose his skanky wife over me and forced me out. It makes me miss Mom. She died when I was younger and I hardly remember her. But she always smiled in the pictures and it reached her eyes. Mom was lovely and good and wonderful. Unlike the one Dad married next.
By the time I reach the office, Renner is waiting for me. He’s hot for a principal but nothing about his disappointed face is doing it for me right now. I follow him into his office and plop down in a chair across from his desk.
“Coach Long said you were disrupting his class,” Principal Renner says, frowning. “You’re on track for being valedictorian. You know better than to act out and curse in class, Winter. And yet this is the third time in a week that you’ve been here from smarting off to teachers.”
Shrugging, I stare out the window. “Sorry.”
“I’m going to call your father and—”
“Can you, uh, call Callie Miller’s dad instead? Mine’s out of town. She’s my stepsister.” My voice shakes with my lie. Renner sniffs it out but nods as he dials the number.
“August,” he greets. “How you doing, man?”
I can hear the deep rumbling of August’s voice coming through the line.
“Actually,” Renner says, “it’s not Callie. It’s Winter.”
A beat of silence.
Renner continues. “She said her dad was out of town and that I ought to call you. She was disrupting Coach Long’s class and got sent to the office. In-school suspension is punishment for the third offense.” He darts his eyes my way. “Of course. Here she is.”
I take the phone and bring it to my ear. “Hello?”
“You’re being a bad girl and too afraid to call Daddy, hmmm?”
Swallowing, I avoid Renner’s stare and look out the window. “Something like that.”
“Are you going to be good for the rest of the day?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I grumble.
“Then I’ll get you out of trouble,” he murmurs. “But don’t think you’ll go unpunished once you get home.”
The last thing I need is to get suspended. I don’t want that crap on my record. These scholarships are important, especially now that Dad is done with me.
“Just like that?” I ask.
August chuckles and it warms me to my core. “I can make it go away just like that. I’m good at that sort of thing. But it won’t go without a price. Question is, are you willing to pay it?”
When Renner pulls out the in-school suspension form, my heart races.
“Yes, I agree. Just help.”
“Put Adam back on the phone,” he orders in that bossy lawyer tone he has down pat.
I hand the phone back and Principal Renner frowns. He nods a few times and then grunts out his agreement. My heart flops when