Page 139 of Can't Text This

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Monty.” He says her name like he fucking knows her, and it makes me want to scream. “You can’t walk out here on your own.”

She shakes her head. “I won’t be. My friend is just using the restroom and will be back any moment.”

Smart.

“Good thing for yourfriend.” He nearly spits the last word from his lips, darting his eyes my way again. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

So much hope in his voice, so much inflection, like his words mean more than they actually do. I want to march over there, grab the prick by his collar, and give him a good shake to remind him that woman he’s trying so desperately to pick up ismine.

“Yep. See you tomorrow,” Monty agrees.

He reaches out and gives her shoulder a squeeze, and I nearly let my feet carry me his way at the contact.

“Good night, Monty.”

“Night,” she says, moving away from his touch.

He finally turns away, getting lost in the crowd, and I should be happy the shithead is finally leaving.

But I can’t be, because everything just changed for us in a big way.

He’s Monty’s coworker.

And last year he was my son’s teacher.

He knows exactly who I am, and he knows what we were doing in that photo booth.

* * *

The momentshe’s certain Brandon is gone, my girl flounces back over to me, grinning.

“Whew. That was close.”

I nod but don’t say anything. I don’t trust myself.

I take her hand and lead the way back to the parking garage, not wanting to risk running into anyone else we know.

“That’s the guy I’ve been telling you about, my coworker who kept asking me to go for drinks and such over the summer. He’s your competition.”

I know she’s teasing, but it doesn’t mean I hate the words any less.

“Monty, he’s—”

“Kind of a creeper?” she interrupts.

No, he’s going to rat us out. He was Xavie’s teacher.

“I know,” she continues. “He gives me such weird vibes. Sometimes he’s not so bad, but some days it’s hard to handle. I think he might just be going through a tough time. He was a kindergarten teacher last year before moving up to second this year and was dating one of the secretaries. They were engaged. Turned out she wasengagingin some not-so-clothed activities with the gym teacher too.”

I hear it in her voice—sympathy. No matter how hard of a time the dude has taking a hint and not leaving her alone, she still feels bad for him.

Which issolike my Monty.

She leans into me, pressing her body against mine, and I throw my arm around her shoulder, bringing her in closer.

“Thank you for tonight,” she says shyly. “It was…nice.”

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