What if those are the photos?
“Yeah.” My teeth ground together and I stood up way too fast, earning a frown from Christopher, but I ignored him. I marched toward APD and went into the hall with him. Not another great sign.
If this were good news, he’d have said it in my room in front of Christopher.What is the punishment for those photos? Suspension?“What’s going on, Dave?”
“Wanted to give you a heads-up about the conference next weekend.” He sighed, and an annoyed look crossed his face. “The board will want an update from what you learned. You know how they feel about us spending money onteachersinstead of students.”
“Oh,” I said, my limbs relaxing. That’s what had him all worked up. It was almost laughable compared to being blackmailed with racy photos. “Georgia?”
“Yes, you know her passion for literacy.” He ran a hand over his face, and just the mention of literacy made me think of him, about how excited he was about Hilary Jones.
“I think Christopher should go instead of me.”
“Wait—why?” Dave narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side.
“He’s passionate about the topic and was fangirling over Hillary Jones. I’ll have other opportunities.”
He ran his square teeth over his lip as his brows drew together, and he eyed my classroom door for a beat. “You sure?”
“Yes. He should go,” I said, knowing this was the right move. I’d have to tell Fritz the truth then, and it would be best to be here. “He’d be a great teacher to go soak up all the info and bring it back to us.” I nodded to further prove my point. “Change it to him, I insist.”
“If you’re sure, I can see if I can change the reservation.”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling for real this time because even though my life was a hot mess right now, Christopher’s wasn’t. He deserved to go to a conference in his favorite city. I did not.
I had to deal with my brother, and lord knew I’d need the weekend to prepare for it. Once I told Fritz, then I’d tell Christopher the truth.
Chapter Sixteen
Eating Tums was becomingsecond nature, and I was shocked I didn’t have an ulcer at this point. Grace was annoyed with me, refusing to talk until I told Fritz, but he didn’t have time after taking a couple days off work. That gave me plenty of moments to stew about telling him the truth, about Samantha’s possession of photos that might or might not ruin my job, and the fact Christopher and I hadn’t talked about that make-out session once.
Not once.
A week went by, and besides a few heated smiles, it was like that never happened.Kinda like we never talked about the fact we slept together.I pushed my hair behind my ears as the end-of-the-day laughter carried over the halls. We were finishing our unit on weather, and it was wonderfully exhausting. My kids learned so much and had fun while doing it, and normally it gave me a high, but not now.
I was just tired.
My phone buzzed, and with a quick glance to see Grace’s name, I prepared for her rational dig.
Grace: This weekend. This isn’t you. MY BEST FRIEND ISN’T A LIAR.
And my guilt level rose three degrees, making the acid churn in my stomach even more. I rubbed my forehead and thought about asking Larissa to grab a drink because a large margarita was what I wanted. I barely got my texts open before male voices caught my attention. APD’s stern and deep voice was unmistakable, and Christopher’s timbre always perked my interest. He was excited, talking too fast, and I smiled.
“I get to go to this conference, the one Gilly was supposed to attend, with Hilary Jones,” he said, excitement teasing his tone and making him sound like a kid on Christmas, and not the grown man who frowned at rainbows.
“Correct. Here’s the information for your hotel room, for the conference. My assistant got you set up.”
“I don’t understand why. Is she not going?”
My face flushed. It wasn’t with embarrassment, but if Dave told him the truth, then it felt like exposure—which wasn’t something I was ready for as he still hadn’t talked about that make-out session. This was just a professional move, the right decision for my buddy teacher. I could go to a conference any time, really. Christopher couldn’t. He worked hard and deserved to go. End of story. But every part of my body tensed, desperate to hear the reply.
“I’m waiting to hear back if I can get her in. The hotel is sold out, but having two of you go would be fantastic,” Dave said.
“Get her in?” Christopher repeated in his deep voice.
“Gilly wanted you to go instead, so we’ve been making changes.”
Christopher’s silence felt like Thor’s hammer pounding into my rib cage over and over. It was like the air shifted with the truth, and I could picture his furrowed brows, his full lips rubbing together as he digested this information.
