Free Teach Before You Fuck (Before You Fuck #1) by Margretta Milano Page B

night...and this morning.”
    “You want to grab dinner tonight?” Nick asked.
    “Yes, but where are we going to go? We need to go somewhere the staff and students won’t find us. We live and work in the same community. If we are seen out, our relationship will be all over Facebook before school tomorrow.”
    “I’ll think about it, Laura.”
    “You know, we could go to my dad’s old restaurant, Chloe. Chances are slim that we’d run into anyone there. I go there every so often – it’s about 30 minutes away. Some of the original guys still work there,” I said, “They’d be happy to see me. And they’d love to see me with a smile on my face.”
    “Perfect. It’s a date,” Nick said and he started to walk out of the room.
    “Come back here,” I said.
    “Do you want one more kiss?” he asked.
    “No, I want a hug,” I said as I moved towards the back of my room, behind a large cabinet.
    Nick snuck with me into the corner and he hugged me close, looking down on my face with a sweet smile.
    “Nick, are you sure you have never felt this way towards anyone else at school? No other first year teachers?” I asked looking up at him.
    Nick stepped back, “Laura? You can’t be seriously asking me that, right?”
    “I just keep wondering if it’s too good to be true.”
    “Laura, no. There’s never been another person in my life like you. There’s never been someone who I would risk it all for. Until you came along,” Nick said, stepping back, “I’m kind of pissed you even asked me that.”
    “Nick, please don’t get offended,” I asked, “I’m just feeling nervous about…being so vulnerable.”
    “Laura,” Nick said, “Look, we’ll talk about it tonight at dinner. I’ll pick you up at 6:30 so we can drive to the restaurant together.” Nick started to walk towards the door of my classroom.
    “Sorry, Nick, I—”
    “Stop it. I really like you. Don’t fuck it up,” Nick said and he shut the door.
    What have I done?
     

Chapter Thirty-Three
    It was dismissal time and after I hugged and high-fived my students, I decided to run over to Nick’s office. I just wanted to make it better before our date. I knew it was a bad idea, but I felt compelled to go to him. How many times do women screw things up by questioning and overthinking? What the fuck is wrong with me?
    I breezed by the secretaries, “Is Mr. Bloomgren available?” I asked, peeking through the window of his office door, “I’d like to talk to him.”
    “Yes, Ms. Roland, you can enter.”
    I tapped on the door of his office and peered through the window. I could see that he was on the phone so I decided to wait. I stood and watched the bustle of the front office. The secretaries were talking to parents that came in to meet with teachers after school. There were students who got in trouble in the classroom and were waiting to see the assistant principal before they went home. Classroom assistants were photocopying lessons for the next day.
    Then I noticed a woman pushing her way past parents to get to the front desk. She was wearing an expensive beige trench coat and even though she appeared young and pretty, her hair was disheveled. Even from my vantage point about five feet away, I could see that her mascara had run down her face.
    She started walking past the desk, towards where I was standing in front of the principal’s office. A secretary stood, looking alarmed.
    “Ma’am, you need to wait your turn behind the desk.”
    “I need to speak with the principal immediately,” she said, her eyes flashing with anger. It was obvious she wasn’t going to take no for an answer and she rushed towards the principal’s office door, pushing me aside. When she opened the door of Nick’s office, I watched the color drain from his face and he hung up his phone call.
    “There you are you fucking son of a bitch,” the woman said.
    I was standing partially in the doorway wondering if I needed to intervene to protect Nick from this