But what it looked like… Couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be.
“You— You bought a school?”
Adrian took my hand, and we started up the path to the entrance. “Why choose between two lives when you can have both?”
I shook my head, still trying to process. My chest felt full, almost too much to bear. “This is insane.”
“The kids won’t be here forever,” Miles said, his hand on the door. “We decided that we don’t want you leaving when they do.”
Tears sprung to my eyes, hot and unwilling to be tamed into submission. Miles held the door open and waited for me to go in, but my feet couldn’t move. I felt Ethan’s steady palm on the small of my back.
“We want you to stay, Maren.”
I shook my head. “This is too much.”
Adrian stalked past us into the hallway, arms held wide as he looked around. “Funny, it looks like just enough to me. Maybe you have to look at it from here. Come on.”
They led me down a wide hallway lined with corkboards, already labeled with colorful letters, and the first classroom came into view. Sunlight poured through the large windows, illuminating desks and chairs that looked impossibly perfect. I bent over a desk, running my fingers along the smooth surface as if touching it could make the dream real.
“Your students are going to love you,” Miles said, leaning casually against the doorframe, watching me.
“My students,” I said to myself, going back out to inspect the rest of the place. It was all so surreal, my mind was sludge in its failure to keep up.
Everything was just the way I would’ve wanted it if I’d picked the building myself. Everything was perfect. As we drew closer to the admin block again, Ethan fell in step beside me.
“I have to say, this almost makes up for that ridiculous book you gave me.”
“Almost?” His eyes were wide, but he joined me laughing soon enough.
“Oh, before I forget.” Adrian turned round and started walking backward in front of me. He held a crisp envelope in his hand that made me stop.
“No more,” I said, waving it away. “I think I’ll stroke out. I mean it.”
Miles took the envelope and tore it open. “Just… Read it.”
My hands shook as I took the paper from him, eyes raking across the black print with rapid urgency. “But—”
“Student loans, all paid up,” Ethan said with a nod. “So you can focus on your fresh start.”
“Oh my God.” I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him hard, the pressure of months, of everything, pouring into that one, fierce contact. His hands came up to my back, holding me close, and I could feel the heat building between us.
“Um, hi, yeah, the student loans was my idea,” Miles teased, and I pivoted, pressing a cheeky kiss to his lips in turn. I was just getting into the comforting warmth of his mouth, when I felt Adrian’s hand on my wrist, wrenching me away.
“Now I'm feeling left out.” He crashed his mouth to mine in a heady kiss that turned my knees to jelly. Deep, savoring, it stole my last breath away.
I pulled back, my chest heaving, eyes shining. The building, the sunlit classrooms, the smell of polished wood—it all felt like Christmas magic wrapped up just for me. Like I had finally stepped into a life I’d only dared dream of.
I spotted the principal’s office door over his shoulder, and a sly grin spread across my face.
“You’ve all been very bad boys,” I said, voice low and playful. “And I think it’s time you report to my office.”
A flicker of surprise flashed across each of their faces. I could see it—the immediate reaction, the way their breathing hitched, subtle but obvious.
I raised one eyebrow, curling a finger slowly, beckoning them forward. “Come on. Detention starts now.”
The three of them exchanged a quick glance, an unspoken agreement passing between them, before they followed me obediently. The tension and excitement was palpable.
“This is going to be educational,” I murmured over my shoulder, a wicked grin tugging at my lips. “So take notes.”
