Page 50 of Dangerous

“Of course, I’ll take him.” She took my keys from my hand. “When we’re done, I’ll come back and pick you up.”

“Thanks.” I wanted to kiss her, and I could see the same desire in her eyes, but we couldn’t. Not yet. Just one short month and we’d be free and clear. Instead, she walked beside me towards the doors to the parking lot while I continued to the office where I was immediately ushered in the principal’s office.

I took a seat and waited.

“A complaint was laid today about a teacher acting inappropriately with a student.” He held up his hand to stop me, figuring I was going to jump in and protest my innocence, but I wasn’t going to. When I made no move, he continued, “Now, I personally believe the complaint to be bogus, but I need to make a record of this meeting in case anything further comes from it. Like she goes over my head.” I nodded, understanding the CYA principle since that’s what I was acting on.

“Now, I’m not going to ask you about your relationship with the student involved. I just ask that nothing public happens until she crosses the stage. After that, she’s no longer a student.” I nod. “But you will need to take care of that parent because she’s not one to not get her way and whatever you did, pissed her off.”

So, I explained all my dealings with her and how our lawyer was ready to go. We just needed copies of her interactions with me at school form out security taped.

He nodded. “I’ll get them to you.”

He held out his hand. “I’m so glad that Dr. Stone talked you into becoming a teacher. And she’s grown up to be a wonderful woman. You’re very lucky.”

“That I am, sir. And thank you.”

36

Epilogue – Peter

“I’ll meet you at the school. Don’t forget the flowers for Katy.” I rushed out the front door, hoping I’d run into Katy, but luck wasn’t on my side. Her house was already dark, and Marie’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Not that it mattered since I’d be seeing her in a few, short minutes at the school.

Despite the graduation ceremony not taking place for another two hours, I’d never been so grateful for a reserved staff parking spot. The lot was nearly full of vehicles already. I pulled out my phone to text Jarrod and Jason so they’d leave a little earlier since they’d have to walk from wherever they could find parking. And that they’d need to remember the stroller since it probably wasn’t on the list of things to bring for today.

“Ahh, Peter, just the man I wanted to see.” Principal Kostiuk pulled me into his office.

Worry filled me. Did he know that I was going to reveal my relationship with Katy after she walked across the stage today? Was he about to tell me I couldn’t because I wasn’t sure how I’dreact. These past few months had been difficult. Having sex with Katy had changed everything… no, that was a lie. Everything had changed the moment I acknowledged my feelings for her. From that moment on I’d struggled to keep from showing her, showing the world how I felt when we were out in public. But after we had sex, after we she truly forgave me for everything surrounding Liam’s conception and agreed that she wanted the relationship we’d dreamed of between the four of us, class times had been even more difficult. The struggle to not touch her increased a hundred-fold.

“I know you have tasks to complete before the ceremony begins, but I wanted to give you a little update on that matter we discussed a couple of months ago.” I stiffened. His words not easing an iota of my concern. “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”

“Sir?”

“With Ms. Williams. It was amazing all the things I discovered when I had security search the video feeds for your interactions with Mrs. Blackwell for your lawyer.” Steve pressed his hand to my shoulder. “I’m so sorry you had to experience that Peter. Why didn’t you ever say anything? No one should have to put up with that type of abuse at work. I feel horrible that I never saw it happening.”

I patted his hand. “You weren’t meant to see it. I never wanted you to know because, despite everything, she’s a good teacher and I didn’t want her to get in trouble.”

“Yes, but it wasn’t just you. I had a little talk with Greg about her interactions with him. And, in some of the footage, once I dug a little deeper, I noticed some behaviour with male students that was a little concerning. It wasn’t over the line, and I did speak to them to make sure things were good, but it told me that I needed to take action.”

Fuck. I’d seen her with some students, but hadn’t thought it was anything suspect. Certainly not to the realm like I’d been with Katy—although it sounded like she hadn’t crossed that line thankfully because it would have been hard to forgive myself if students had been taken advantage of my her. It wasn’t lost on my how my own actions were so far beyond reproach that I should have been looking up to Ashley for guidance.

“Nothing”—he stared me in the eye—“and I mean, nothing else looked suspicious on the tapes concerning inappropriate interactions between students and teachers. Do you understand?” He smiled at me, letting me know that all was okay.

I nodded as I sucked in a deep breath. Maybe, just maybe I’d managed to avoid getting my ass in a crack that I wouldn’t be able to get out of.

“Now, what can you tell me about Mrs. Blackwell. Has that situation been taken care of?”

This time I matched his smile. “Yes, it has. Our lawyer brought her in, revealed all the evidence we had, and threatened to go to her husband if she persisted in propositioning us. Turns out her prenup is very thorough and even without having an affair, if he found out, she stood to lose a lot of money.”

“Good. Now go get ready. And don’t worry, I’m expecting to deal with some fireworks after the ceremony. But don’t worry, I have you covered. Just make her happy. I know your parents and her father would be even if her mom might not since I’m guessing she doesn’t know yet, does she?”

His mention of my parents and Katy’s father nearly had tears rolling down my cheeks. It had been my biggest fear out of all of them, that they would be disappointed in me and my actions, that they wouldn’t have approved. So, to hear from their friend that they would have been happy relieved that last heavy weight that I carried within me. As for Marie, that was something Ihadn’t dealt with yet but would need to soon. “I don’t think she knows, but I believe she suspects, and she might have been told this morning.”

“A piece of advice, don’t blindside her. Give her a heads up.”

I nodded again as I chewed on my lip. With only a couple of hours before the reveal, I wasn’t sure how I would let her know. And that started off a whole new chain of worries. What if she said no? What if she told me, us, to leave Katy alone?

“You’ve got time. Go find her. She’ll respect you more for telling her to her face than if she was to find out another way.”

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