Page 137 of Teacher's Pet

The idea shouldn’t feel like a knife twisting in my gut, but it does.

“But things have been handled,” he continues, his voice steady, his posture rigid. “My little brother has decided to spend some quality time with me, and as a result, I’m able to step back into my role here.”

His brother?

He doesn’t elaborate, doesn’t offer a single clue about what that means.

His gaze flicks back to me, sharp and unreadable, jaw clenching slightly.

“Family Night is coming up,” he announces, his words measured. “Administration has asked me to remind you all to invite your parents to campus on Friday.”

But he’s not addressing the class.

Not really.

He’s looking at me.

His stare cuts straight through me, into the places I’ve tried to bury since the moment he walked out of my life.

"Is that understood?"

I swallow.

The weight of his attention is suffocating.

Before I can even think of how to respond, Walker lets out a lazy chuckle.

“You seem to have left out the part where my family is funding the event,” he announces, reclining slightly in his seat.

And there it is, his blatant arrogance.

“So stay nice to me,” Walker grins, “and I won’t have any of your parents thrown out.”

The room shifts.

Some students chuckle under their breath. Others just sit in awkward silence, waiting for a reaction.

Noah’s expression hardens, his jaw tightening just enough for me to notice.

"Yes," he hisses, the words barely passing his lips. "That as well."

But something about it feels... off.

His voice is too low, too strained.

God, it’s like he’s Walker’s fucking dog.

And I don’t know what bothers me more.

The fact that he’s letting Walker speak to him like that.

Or the fact that, after two months of silence, of abandonment, of pain... he still looks at me like I’m the only thing in the room.

“Ana,” Noah hisses, his voice low and dangerous, stopping me just as I reach the door. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

No.

Fuck no.

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