gear, but once it does, Thea has danced out of my arms, drawn to Coleman. He falls back a step, the light in the hallway showing his smarmy face. The satisfied curve of his mouth ignites a rage in me.
What. The. Fuck.
Sure, he’s a teacher, but this guy is always around Thea, especially when I’m alone with her. It’s improbable he would just happen to be walking by her all the time. I followed him yesterday when he tracked Thea to the baking classroom. This is all wrong, blaring a dissonant clang in every bone in my body.
“Get to class, Mr. Bishop,” he says in a clipped command.
I grin without a trace of pleasure. “Sure thing.”
“Come on. I’ll escort you to your class.” He steers Thea down the hall with a hand resting lightly on her back. “You’re really surprising me lately with this behavior. It’s not what I expect from you.”
Coleman walks off with Thea. She doesn’t look back at me once. Nothing about this feels right.
Halfway down the hall, I catch her simpering. “I can explain, sir.”
My stomach ices over. Goddamn it. I got swept up in her again.
Still suspicious and questioning why Coleman is always around Thea, I rub my jaw as I head for my car to smoke a joint. I have practice later, but fuck being here right now.
Thirteen
Connor
Practice is gruesome. Two guys have knelt in the grass at the sidelines to puke. A few more are sprawled and groaning across the field. Devlin’s got a wicked gleam in his eye from the torture I’m taking out on the guys.
I stand on the center line with my hands on my hips, spitting on the ground. My throat is raw from shouting directions at them for the last forty-five minutes. “Shape the fuck up. This is not the team I know we are.”
Which is true, because I’m taking all my annoyance out on them. For once, I don’t want to be here, but I can’t skip soccer.
All I want to do is get out of here so I can do more digging on Thea. I might be blackmailing her, but I still want to claim those pink lips. We were about to kiss, having a real taste of her was in my grasp. Then Coleman showed the fuck up and ruined it. She flipped a switch so fast, it’s got alarm bells going off in my head.
I’ll hunt down every secret she’s ever hidden so I don’t have any more surprises with her. Then I’ll fucking devour her.
Devlin is in full Devil Boy mode with his own demons, enjoying the show. Damn sadist. He dribbles a soccer ball, flicking it from his toe to bounce off his knees.
“The hell did we even do?” Sean mutters to Trent as he helps him to the bench for their water bottles.
“Beats me,” Trent answers, glaring at me as they pass.
I shake my head, not in the mood for my favorite pastime or my so-called friends. “Can’t keep up? Quit popping your dad’s oxy pills, then maybe you’ll have some stamina. The pros go harder than this.”
Trent lunges at me with a growl. Sean holds him back with a worried look, like he’s afraid of what I’ll spill about him. I grant them both a vicious grin. They back off, exchanging wary glances.
“Fucking psycho,” Sean says in an undertone.
He better watch it, or I will spill his dirty deeds. Porn addiction, that one. Nasty shit, too.
“Another lap, captain?” Devlin asks as he cycles the ball from his toe, to knee, to chest, and over again with perfect control. Showoff. “If these guys can gossip on the field, they haven’t had enough.”
“Nah. Get the fuck out of my face, all of you.” Flapping my hand in dismissal, I head for the showers. I don’t care. “Game against Ridgeview East Valley coming up. Coach can deal with you.”
Devlin follows, lacing his fingers and putting his hands behind his head. “You good?”
“Yeah. Just an intense day.”
He pops my shoulder with the back of his hand. “You need anything?”
“I’m good. I just need to cool off. Unwind.” I’m going to shower, go home, and pack a bowl. That’ll do the trick to kill the edge close to choking me. “It’s chill, bro.”
“All right, cool. I’ll catch you later.” Peeling off from the path to the locker room, Devlin heads for the parking lot without showering.
I head into the locker room and rush through a shower. There’s something else on my agenda when I get