Page 56 of The Hallows Queen

His brow curves upwards in curiosity, and I narrow my gaze at him as I try to decide what to say. There’s something so fucking thrilling about keeping this information to myself, so I make some shit up.

“Oh,” I say, running my hand through my hair. “I was zoning out so hard. Wow.”

Levi narrows his eyes at me.“Ooo-kay.Get some coffee or something at lunch.”

I tap my fingers on the top of my desk, looking at Penelope again and wondering how fast her heartbeat is racing underneath her shirt.

“Alright, class, welcome.” Mrs. Justice walks to the center of the room, her shrill voice interrupting my thoughts. “Welcome back. This year we’re learning about the government. Obviously, you know who I am, but let me introduce you to my aide for the year.”

She waves a hand toward Penelope, who stands up and brushes down the front of her tight skirt. “This is Miss Leyton; she’ll be taking over my course load next year when I retire.”

Penelope’s gaze moves around the room, avoiding me altogether. “Nice to meet you.”

Luxington High has a different structure than most high schools. We have the same teachers all four years and they travel throughout the grades with us. So, Mrs. Justice has been our history teacher since freshman year. She’s an old cunt, and I wish she had retired a long time ago.

Levi’s hand flies in the air, and a few people chuckle, knowing our resident class clown is probably going to say some stupid shit.

“Yes, Mr. Valentino?” Mrs. Justice says with a sigh.

“Yeah, Mrs. Justice, I was just wondering who allowed such astone-cold foxto be hired? How am I supposed to focus?”

People laugh, and I shake my head. Mrs. Justice sighs again, used to Levi’s shit. “You’ll just have to do your best, Mr. Valentino. Now, if you’re done being disruptive, may I start my lecture?”

“Sure, Mrs. Justice.” Levi smiles like a shit, leaning back in his chair to get comfortable.

* * *

Class goesby too slowly for comfort, and I take every chance I can to try to catch Penelope’s eye, but she doesn’t look at me once. She sits at her desk at the opposite side of the room and scribbles in a notebook for the entire lecture. It starts to piss me off.

When the bell rings, dismissing us for lunch, Mrs. Justice waves us off with the promise of a pop quiz tomorrow before she heads for her desk.

Students scramble around the room, but I stay seated at my desk and stare at Penelope, blood rushing to my cock.

She doesn’t get up to go to lunch either, and when Levi knocks on my desk to get my attention, I tell him I’ll meet him in the cafeteria.

When the classroom is almost empty, I start putting my books away and stand up.

“You need something before I go to lunch, Mr. Monroe?” Mrs. Justice asks, catching me at the front of the room.

“No. Enjoy.”

I watch as she leaves the room, the door shutting behind her and trapping Penelope in with me.

Turning to face her, I stay in the center of the room. When she looks up at me, she closes her eyes and sighs.

“Hayden,” she says, standing up. “Go to lunch.”

“But what I’m craving is in here.” I prowl toward her, and she freezes behind her desk.

“This is inappropriate,” she whispers, eyes widening. “You understand that, right?”

My skin heats and I take another step closer. “I understand.”

“So, turn around, go to lunch, and pretend you and I never met.Please,” she says, almost pleading, her shoulders rolling back like she’s trying to relieve the stress in her muscles.

When I’m on the other side of her desk, just a few feet from her, I shake my head. “God, I fucking love it when you beg.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, trying to regain authority, but it won’t work. I breathe and consume authority like I was born to command millions. “Hayden.”

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