Page 29 of Branded

I remind my students to be back in the classroom in forty-five minutes then I start making my way around the circle of tables, not so subtly looking for a six foot three fireman who has been occupying most of my mind as of late.

I pass by the culinary arts table and happily take a sample of some kind of delicious chicken they offer to me and continue on around until a sight stops me in my tracks.

There are three tables stationed side by side with two people standing behind each.

A dark-haired, broad-shouldered man stands beside a pretty blonde woman, both in their police uniforms, at the first table. They are chatting up two of my AP students, so I leave them to their conversation and make my way to the next table.

“Now who’s stalking who?” His voice is like caramel and it sends chills over my skin.

I turn toward him to make eye contact and I’m nearly knocked off my feet at the sight of him.

He is dressed just as he was the last time he was here for the fire drill, but this time he is wearing his bunker pants over his slacks and they are held up by bright red suspenders. It’s like a porno fantasy standing right in front of me.

“You’re in my place of employment, sir.”

The handsome gentleman at his side leans over and whispers loud enough for me to hear, “She called you sir. Keep her.”

“Well, that would imply he even has me to begin with.” I grin and step up to the table.

“I’m working on it,” Isaac adds with that killer smile. “Sawyer, this is Graham. Graham, this is Sawyer. She’s an English teacher here.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” I reach out to shake his hand.

“Likewise, Sawyer.” He shakes my hand in return.

“So, young lady, are you here to inquire about the wonderous world of being a firefighter?” Isaac is trying to be cute, I know he is, but the display behind him sends chills up my back and I instantly feel nauseous.

Structural fires, wildfires, accident scenes, every kind of issue you’d take on as someone in that line of work, but the memories that wash over my soul sink like a boulder in my stomach and I have to look away.

“Actually, uh, I just remembered… I have… something I need to do.” I place my hand over my racing heart. “Graham, it was nice meeting you.”

“Sawyer? Are you okay?” Isaac steps around the table.

“I’m fine. I just… I have to go.”

Isaac

I’ve never seen someone go from flushed to stark white in less than five seconds in my entire thirty-seven years on this earth, but Sawyer’s beautiful face did just that.

And she was gone like a burst of wind before I could even make it around to check on her completely, and I lost her in the sea of high school students crowding in the area.

“Black,” Graham says, and I glance over my shoulder at him. “Go check on her. I’ve got this.”

“I’ll be back.”

I weave through the throngs of teenagers zigging and zagging across in front of me, and I catch a brief glimpse of her chocolate brown hair as she slips out of the door on the other side of the area. I move as quickly as I can without seeming like I am literally chasing her, even though that is exactly what I’m doing, and when I finally exit the same door she did, she is nowhere to be found.

“Shit.” I slide my hand over my face in frustration and drop my back against the wall.

I wait for a few minutes, hoping maybe she will come back down, but she doesn’t, and I have no idea where to find her. This school is so much bigger and much more of a maze than you’d think.

“Aren’t you supposed to be guiding our youth toward their ultimate path or some shit?” His irritating voice is the last thing I want to hear right now.

“I would say that’s your job, but I know how much you suck at it,” I retort.

Caleb leans against the wall next to me and crosses his arms. “You’re a dick when you’re pissy. What’s the matter?”

“Where is Sawyer Westbrook’s classroom?”

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