Page 15 of Wicked Scandal

I’m definitely overthinking this whole thing. One time he showed some aggression toward her and I’ve been running with it ever since. They’re married. Married people have ups and downs.

Keeping my distance, I carefully watch as they walk down the sidewalk. Mayor Jenkins grabs her hand and something about the way he’s holding it, as if he refuses to let go, irks me.

Part of me thinks I’m being irrational until he walks around the side of the car and shoves her in her side, making her cry out. I want to go over and say something, but I quickly notice no one else is around. Neither of them can see me from where I am beside my car. But I don’t miss the evil glint in his eye as he speaks to her, still clutching her arm in his grip until he tosses it to the side.

I watch as she cradles it to her chest, pain in her features.

I know what I see, and I can’t be the only one to ever witness this. He just acted abusive toward her in a public area, which means this isn’t the first time. Not with the way he walks around the car and adjusts his tie as if this is a normal day for him.

No, other people have to have seen this. They might be cowards, unwilling to stand up to the mayor, though. However, I’m not like that. In fact, I might be the only person who is willing to do something about it because Mayor Jenkins doesn’t intimidate me the way he does everyone else in this town.

As they drive off, I catch a glimpse of her face. Terror and pain are all I see as the car pulls out of the lot.

She needs help, and I might be the only one who can save her.

CHAPTER 4

CATHERINE

“One morning I just woke up and a thought popped in my head…”

My head snaps up from my computer at the sound of the voice in the doorway. There, I find Wilder, balancing an open laptop in his palm as he walks toward me, reading something.

He continues, “I think I might make a good mayor. Yeah. Maybe I’ll try it out.”

I can’t help the chuckle that escapes me as he prowls closer, that all too confident expression on his face as he jokes around. “What are you doing, Wilder?”

I already know what he’s doing. He’s not giving up.

He keeps reading aloud, his eyes darting to mine every few words. “With that said, I want to let you all know I’d like to be the new mayor of Willow Creek.”

He slaps the laptop closed, his head tilted slightly to the left. “Are you really going to allow me to destroy my dad’s reputation with this mess?”

I sigh, shaking my head. “Wilder, I can’t help you.'' Mornings are always nice because I know Troy would never interrupt my day. This is my real safe space, a quiet classroom with the birds chirping outside. Normally having people in here early would feel like a violation, but it’s strange that I actually want Wilder to be here.

Wider fakes a pout, and it’s hard not to fall for his charm. “I came to school early just to talk to you. Doesn’t that prove how important this is to me?”

More than anything, I want to do this for him. But the soreness in my wrist and the ache in my stomach serves as a reminder not to test my limits. I care about Wilder—probably more than I should.

I know it’s because I’ve been chatting with him more lately on SnapTok. It was never supposed to go as far as it has—to the point where we’re checking in with each other daily. But for some reason, I can’t stop. Wilder makes me feel important. Of all the girls who follow his account, he talks to me.

There’s just something about him and the way he flirts with the camera. I’ve memorized the dimples on each side of his cheeks when he smiles. The way he blinks rapidly when he’s feeling nervous, which is rare because Wilder was born to be in the public eye.

He sets the closed laptop down on a stack of papers on my desk and presses his hands to either side of it. “I need you, Mrs. Jenkins.”

My mouth drops open before I force my lips back together. A rush of adrenaline coursing through me. “You need me?”

Wilder leans closer, his face only inches from mine. I can feel the warmth of his minty breath on my cheek and it sends shivers down my spine. “Desperately.”

If he only knew I need him, too. His videos give me the escape I crave from the life I hate. But he’ll never know. He can’t learn that he is the only thing that holds me together on days I think about just ending it all for good. It’s inappropriate and so unlike me to be fixated on a younger man like this.

I make a vow to delete the app tonight. Hopefully that will end this strange fixation.

I’m finding it so hard to say no to him. I can see the desperation in his eyes. He really does need me, and it’s my duty as his teacher to offer a helping hand.

Or at least that’s what I tell myself.

“Okay,” I say softly, lost in his gaze as I suppress the haunting thoughts of any potential consequences. “Just this once.”

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