Teacher (Voyeur #6) - Fiona Cole Page 0,79

played on repeat and created so many emotions, I didn’t even know where to start. The most prominent that roared through me, washing almost all the others out? Fear.

The last girl who loved me killed herself. And ever since Hanna’s admission, Sabrina’s memory haunted me like it foreshadowed a future with Hanna. I’d seen the hurt in her eyes when I hadn’t said it back. The green had been achingly familiar, and I froze, terrified of repeating the past.

“Fuck,” I shouted, fisting my hair.

I’d texted Hanna every day, trying to get her to talk to me. I needed to know she was okay. I needed to know loving me hadn’t damaged her permanently. She rarely responded, but when she did, it was always an excuse to not see me.

My patience was running thin, and each night I sat on the couch fortified that I needed to talk to her.

I’d gone into this with Hanna because I wanted to help her, but now all I could think about was how I’d made it worse.

I always made it worse. I always tried to help, and I always made it worse.

I needed to talk to her.

I needed to end this.

I don’t want to end this.

It didn’t matter. Hanna deserved someone who didn’t freeze when someone told him they loved him. Hanna deserved someone who didn’t second guess his feelings.

Hanna deserved better.

She deserved better than a coward too scared to love.

Hanna

Daniel: Drinks tonight? We can meet wherever.

I stared down at the phone, wanting to send a hell yes back, but like every other time he’d messaged, I settled for a lame excuse.

Me: I can’t. I have to work late tonight and an early meeting.

Usually, he left it at that, opting to try again the next day, but not this time.

Daniel: Hanna…

Daniel: We need to talk. About what happened.

We sure as shit did not need to talk about what happened. I saw everything written all over his face, and it’d been painful enough. I wasn’t ready to hear it from the lips I loved so much. I was too scared to lose him, but I couldn’t go back to being just friends. I opened pandora’s box, and now it couldn’t be closed.

Me: Sure. Just not tonight. :)

The smiley face at the end wasn’t fooling anyone, but it didn’t stop me from trying to pretend all was just fabulous on my end.

“You okay?” Erik asked from his spot in one of the chairs around the table.

Shit, we ended the meeting a couple of minutes ago, and everyone piled out except Ian and Erik. Keeping up the pretense I was fabulous with them too, I waved his concern away and smiled. “Yeah. Just zoned out.”

“You’ve been working too late this week and coming in too early,” he scolded softly, dark brows lowered over green eyes just like mine.

“And how would you know?” I snapped. Between Daniel, and the emotional release from the week, my ability to bury my irritation was down.

“It’s my office, of course I know when people come and go.” I cocked a brow, knowing he made a point to check on me specifically. “Also, Jared has been working on a special project and staying late. He’s seen your light on when he leaves.”

I froze for a moment, letting the real meaning of Jared working late sink in. He worked for Bergamo and Brandt as an analyst…on paper. And did do that job. He just also surfed the dark web, hunting down anyone who advertised slavery. He and Erik had a system to find traffickers and take them down, rescuing any people they found and rehabilitating them at Haven. My chest squeezed that they were close to finding someone else.

Each time, I hoped it’d be the last, that maybe we got them all, but that was a joke, and each time, I remembered monsters still lurked out there.

“Tattletale,” I grumbled.

“I’ll let you know if we bring anyone to Haven,” he assured, knowing I liked to help. We had doctors of all kinds at Haven, but I liked to help them get settled if I could; buy things they needed. All behind the scenes work, too scared to put myself out there.

Daniel’s words about taking control before it controlled me crept through my mind, and I shoved them down. I didn’t want to think about that or him right now. Even though it was all I thought about.

“What’s really going on, Little Brandt?” Ian asked, plopping in the seat next to me.

“Nothing.” I tried laughing it