and the weird spidey senses, Toby suddenly wasn’t sure what he wanted after all.
“This has been the weirdest day. And I know I should be trying to impress you right now, but I’m really freaked-out. First the guys at the gas station and now all this. Something is… off.”
Instead of being offended like Toby expected, Nick grinned. “Glad to know you’ve got a good sense of danger and your surroundings. I don’t fuck around with the kids’ safety, Toby. Keeping them safe is my job. You show up, not on my schedule, without security expecting you? I’m glad you’re freaked-out. That means my team did what they were supposed to do.”
Toby hadn’t quite thought about it like that. The bubble of anxiety floating in his belly dissipated. “That makes sense, actually.”
The headmaster shrugged. “Yeah, well, I didn’t get all this power and glory because of my pretty face.”
Toby couldn’t help but smile. Now that the headmaster wasn’t being all Mr. Scary Tough Guy, he was actually kind of nice. Relaxing to be around, in a super weird way Toby couldn’t quite define.
It was strange, almost as if Nick exuded a feeling of calm and safety—when he wasn’t terrifying strangers at the gate.
“Okay, we can walk if you want. I’ve been cooped up in the car for a couple of days.”
They climbed out of the car, and Toby noticed that Nick had Toby’s resume in his hand. That was a good sign. It had to be. This was the interview.
He sucked in a breath and reminded himself that he loved teaching and loved kids. And that this was a great opportunity, even if the school required more security than the love interest in most Jason Statham movies. What? He’d been on a Statham kick lately. The man was ridiculously sexy, with the shaved head and perfect accent and smirky grin and…
“Come on.”
Nick walked by the stone pillar and turned to look back at him. Toby quickly hurried to catch up, shivering when he walked past the rocks. “Whoa. That was weird.”
“Yeah,” Nick said. “Yeah, it was. Toby my friend, I hope you aren’t a fainter.”
“What?”
Nick whistled and glanced up at the sky. Toby followed his gaze and… a dragon appeared. A giant black dragon with shimmering iridescent scales, and Toby suddenly realized those guys at the gas station must have done something to his orange soda. They were probably murdering him and he’d created this elaborate fantasy to keep his mind safe from the horrors being done to his body.
The dragon landed in front of him, and… well, Toby would like to pretend that what happened next didn’t happen.
He reacted.
With a karate chop.
Right across the dragon’s nose.
And then he turned and ran. Well, he tried to, anyway. The headmaster was surprisingly fast and astonishingly strong. He had Toby by the shoulder while he doubled over with laughter. Toby tried to wiggle free to complete his escape, but he couldn’t.
If he had to create an elaborate fantasy, he could have had the decency to create one where he could escape the scary dragon before it burned him alive and ate him for lunch. He could have at least given himself some of Jason Statham’s moves. Oh, or Jason Statham himself could appear and rescue Toby before ravishing him. That would work too.
“Oh, that’s some funny shit. I can’t wait to tell Sawyer.”
“You tell him and I will light your ass on fire.”
Toby turned, and where the dragon had been standing a moment ago, there was now a ridiculously handsome man with black hair and… oh. Right. This was his imagination. Of course the dragon would shift into a perfect specimen of manhood.
“Come on, Draco. I gotta tell him.”
Toby couldn’t help but smile, even though it caught both Nick and Draco’s attention. Draco the dragon’s expression changed to a dangerous scowl.
“Don’t say it,” Draco warned.
“Draco, like the Latin for dragon.”
Draco’s face broke into a smile. “Oh. You can say that. I thought you were going to bring up the other thing.”
“He doesn’t like it when people compare him to that blond kid.”
“Oh no. Draco is the actual etymology for dragon. Draco is also a constellation, but I’m guessing my brain just substituted dragon for Draco. It’s actually a perfect name for a dragon. I’m sad it means that I’m probably going to die over a bad decision involving orange soda. I could write this book and make a fortune.”