Page 43 of Falling for the Beast

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Really? Do tell.”

Oh, what was she getting herself into? The time that she told her physics teacher off came to mind, and she felt a blush kiss her cheeks. “I don’t want to.”

“Come on, now you have to tell me.”

She knew she was stuck. If she didn’t tell him, he’d bug her about it all night. “All right. I yelled at a teacher once.”

“That’s it?”

What did he mean? “What, that’s not ‘bad girl’ enough for you? I yelled at him in front of the whole class.”

He shot her a ‘that’s lame’ face. “What did you say to him?”

“He was passing back tests, and mine had a big red F on the front. He’d hand written, ‘Cheating won’t be tolerated,’ under the grade. I was furious! I’d studied half the night for the exam. I’d done better on that test because I knew the answers. I stood up and told him I wasn’t a cheater, and that he should ask me any question on the test to see if I knew the answer.”

“You’re embarrassed that you stood up for yourself?”

She picked up the dice. “No. He told me to go to the principal’s office. I called him a bad word and stormed out. It’s the last part I’m embarrassed about.”

He got a wicked gleam in his eye and smiled. “What kind of bad word?”

She whacked his arm. “That’s not the point. The point is, I lost my temper and ended up making myself look bad. If I had simply stood my ground that I hadn’t cheated, I would have looked like the level-headed one. He would have looked like the fool when it was proven that I had not cheated.”

“What happened?”

“I got to re-take the test with the principal in the room making sure I didn’t cheat. And then the stupid teacher apologized. Sort of. He said, ‘I’m sorry for mistaking your improvement as deception. Your lack of competence was evidence enough for me, but I see you have made an effort.’”

“What a jerk.”

“Yeah, he really was.”

They continued to play the game, chatting lightly about things that didn’t really matter. Aribelle would sometimes catch him looking at her in such a way that made her wonder. What was he thinking?

“I can call a moving company tomorrow. Have them box up your things and bring them here.”

“Is that a good idea? What if Gavin follows them?”

Thaddeus looked thoughtful. “Maybe we can put your things in storage?”

“I think that’s best. For now. What will they do with my father’s puzzle?” she asked softly. She couldn’t bear to think of them shoving it back in the box. That would make her cry.

“I don’t know.” He studied her face, and then put his hand on hers. “I’ll make sure they don’t ruin it.”

A lump formed in her throat. “Thanks.”

Chapter 19

Thaddeus pushed aside the desireto reach out and touch Aribelle’s face. She looked like she was blinking back tears, and he wanted to console her, but touching her right now would not be good. Instead, he made a resolve to take care of her father’s puzzle himself.

As they played the rest of their game, he thought about what he could do. He could sneak out tonight and go to her apartment if he stole her keys from her purse. But how could he get the puzzle out of there without ruining it?

They finished playing their game. Aribelle won, although he was close to figuring it all out when she did. He helped her pack up the pieces and put the game back in the cupboard. He followed her up the stairs to their bedrooms.

She stopped outside of his room and turned to face him. Her eyes held a question that she didn’t voice. “Thaddeus…” she started, twisting her fingers together so tight they turned white. Her gaze bounced around, landing on everything but him.

He watched her struggle with her words, and his heart tore in two. The desire to pull her close, to tell her she could say anything to him, that she need not fear him, was almost overpowering, but he held back. He couldn’t lose control again.

Finally, she looked him in the eyes. “When I woke up and you weren’t here...it killed me. I panicked. I don’t want to be stuck here, worrying about where you are.”

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