Free DrawnTogether by Wendi Zwaduk

and trash for anything labeled McKinley.
Seven emails he’d never seen popped up. Four were from the initial request for
the paperwork. He clicked on the first email dated in October.
    “Dear Sirs, I’d like to reopen my request for an application
and transfer to your district,” he read aloud. “Reopen? I never opened it in
the first place.” He skimmed the rest of the email, as well as the reply from
the superintendent’s secretary. The next email chilled him to the bone. The
October file had been attached to the request for an interview. Teachers didn’t
request interviews. The board and superintendent did. He read through the
forms. The information didn’t make sense. It looked legit, but he knew better.
The signature wasn’t his. The loopy lettering looked nothing like his tight
scrawl. Someone was fucking with his life and career. Somehow emails were
coming to his account, being read and deleted before he’d even seen them. Too
bad the person wasn’t smart enough to dump the trash files.
    Graig unplugged his laptop then grabbed his keys before he
sprinted across the building to Tessa’s apartment. He knocked on her door.
“Tessa?”
    His heart pounded. The longer she took to answer, the lower
his spirits sank. “Tess?”
    The door opened and Tessa waved her hand. “Hi, Graig. Come
in.” Warmer than he expected, but still colder than ice. “How are you?”
    “We need to talk.” He fought to catch his breath. “Please?”
    “Fine.” She perched on the couch and folded her hands on her
knees. The clingy fabric of her workout pants clung to her frame, giving him
hints of the body he craved. Hers. “Go for it.”
    Not the vote of confidence he needed, but he’d manage. He
took a deep breath and let it out while he worked through what he wanted to
say. “The transfer is bogus. I never agreed to it. The signature on the forms
isn’t mine.”
    “Okay.” No warmth in her eyes. No smile on her lips. “Case
closed.”
    Not really. “Lila said she talked to you. Everything she’s
said is a lie. I’m not buying a house and I’m pretty sure she’s not pregnant.”
Graig paced the length of her living room. “The timing is off. We slept
together for the last time at the end of August…more than five months ago. I
can’t figure out how she’s just now pregnant and claiming she’s only three months
along.”
    “Maybe she fudged the due date?” Tessa tipped her head and
shrugged. She offered him a sympathetic half-smile.
    “Like the imaginary house she made up?” He plopped onto the
opposite end of her couch and opened his laptop. “I could understand if we were
trying to have a kid. We weren’t. Hell, we couldn’t be in the same room for
more than ten minutes without arguing. She’s always got an agenda and no one
will get in her way. I’ve got the feeling she cooked this up for some reason
only God understands. Look.” Fucking hell. Lila never liked Tessa to begin
with. When they last talked, Lila’s words echoed in his head. You’ve always
been my baby. I never should’ve let you go and I’m glad I don’t have to now. His heart sank. The moment he got involved with Lila, he’d invited crazy into
his life. Graig clicked on the transfer paperwork file. “Look, this isn’t
mine.” He turned the laptop toward her. “I’m happy at Valley. I revoked the
transfer back in September because I want to stay in our hallway—with you.”
    “You don’t have to explain it to me.” Tessa patted his hand
then withdrew from him.
    “Yes, I do. You’re my girl. I love you.”
    Her eyes widened then the iciness returned. “You don’t mean
that. You’ve got other things to worry about besides me. Get your life sorted
out. I’m here if you need me.”
    “Tessa, you don’t get it. I know how it is to be the son of
a single mom. That was my life. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but we
managed. I don’t love Lila, but if we created a child, I’ll be the father I
never had.” He