Page 35 of Overdue Feelings
“It’s our job to protect you. I ain’t come back to Harvest to not live my truth.” Ares shrugged.
“I didn’t ask y’all to do this.” My eyes filled up with tears, but I blinked them away.
“You don’t have to,” Zae said. “We grown. We know what we’re doing.”
I pressed my fingers into my temples. This was too much. My job still hung in the balance, and now both of them had just dropped theirs like it was nothing and I was everything.
“What if they fire me anyway?”
“Then you become a stay-at-home girlfriend,” Zae said simply, making me smile just as the door opened again, and the board reentered. The man in the center adjusted his mic.
“Ms. Delaney. Mr. Bishop. Mr. Knight. We’ve come to a decision.” I took a deep breath. “After reviewing the situation, we don’t find it necessary for anyone to resign or be let go given there’s been no policy violation or student complaints.” My breath hitched. “However,” he continued, “we strongly advise maintaining discretion going forward. There are still community concerns, and we’ll be monitoring the situation closely.”
“Understood.” I nodded slowly, and he gave a stiff nod.
“Thank you for your time.”
I stood, my knees a little weak as I headed for the door. My men followed close behind me until we were out of the parking lot.
“That man said use discretion like we are out here fucking in the library.”
Zae smirked. “I guess that means no more fuckin’ in your office, huh?”
“Hold up. Y’all be fucking at school?” Ares blurted.
Zae reached for my hand. “Occasionally.”
“Damn.” Ares huffed. “Ain’t nobody told me shit.”
“Consider this your briefing. Everybody fucking on school grounds. I caught Principal Voss and assistant principal Dr. Griffin looking suspicious in her office last week.”
“Damn, I can’t wait until Monday,” Ares muttered.
We all cracked up—loud, unfiltered, and free.
Zae looked over at me as we reached the car. “You tired?”
I shook my head. “Not really. Why?”
“Good,” he said, smirking. “’Cause we’ve got a surprise for you.”
My brows lifted. “What kind of surprise?”
“The kind you don’t find out about until we get there,” Ares said, opening my door and leaning in close, his breath brushing my cheek.
“We’re being intentional.” Zae slid in beside me. That was all they gave me. They didn’t tell me where we were going, they just drove. The whole ride, they exchanged quiet glances and smug grins like they were holding on to something top secret. By the time we hit the edge of Harvest, my stomach was flipping with anticipation.
“We’re leaving town?”
“Sit back and ride.” Zae grinned.
I crossed my arms and relaxed into the passenger seat.Please let this surprise end with me being stuffed and satisfied.
We pulled up to a boutique hotel that looked like it belonged in a movie. Valet came out and greeted Zae and Ares by name like this had been set up well in advance. I didn’t even have time to take it all in before we were in the elevator going up to the top floor.
“This place is beautiful,” I said.
“You haven’t seen the best part,” Ares replied. The doors opened into something out of a dream. A rooftop suite with the most perfect view of the city skyline in the floor to ceiling windows. Candlelight flickered everywhere, and there were roses, actual roses, strung across the ceiling, cascading downover the bed like something straight off social media. My breath caught in my throat.
