Page 134 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Monday

I couldn’t wait for tonight. But first I had to get through my calculus pop quiz. I sighed and closed my locker.

“That was a heavy sigh,” Jacob said. “Are you not excited to hang out later?”

“Oh, no, I am. I just hate going to Mr. Halifax’s class.”

“Are you not ready for the pop quiz?” Sophie asked. “Because you can’t fail another one.”

“It was a C.” I hadn’t failed. “And I think I’m ready.” I’d studied all night. But my thoughts kept wandering while I was studying. And of course Axel coming had distracted me.

“Scarlett, you can’t keep failing just to get into Mr. Halifax’s pants.”

I just stared at her.

“Sorry,” she said and shook her head. “I don’t know where that came from. Mr. Halifax’s constant rejection is starting to drive me crazy.”

Jacob laughed. “If it’s a pop quiz, why do the two of you already know about it?”

“Because apparently Mr. Halifax likes giving Scarlett special treatment because he’s her kiss thief,” Sophie said. She groaned and looked up at the ceiling. “I hate my life.”

“Why, because you know that your homecoming date and I are going to win homecoming king and queen?” Gigi said. “So embarrassing for you.”

I jumped. Where had she come from? Usually I heard the Triple Gs heels clicking from all the way down the hall. But I guess I was a little preoccupied recently.

Sophie rolled her eyes and turned around. “In your dreams, Gigi. Hey, Gemma. Hey, George .”

I stifled a laugh.

“What did you just call me?” Georgia asked.

“Your name.”

“You did not just call me by my name. You said George.”

“Which is short for Georgia,” Sophie said. “Have fun with Luis this weekend?”

Georgia’s cheeks started to turn red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Luis has a girlfriend. And I would never step on another woman’s toes.”

The three of them literally took turns tripping me in the hall. If that wasn’t stepping on another woman’s toes, I wasn’t sure what was.

“That’s not what I heard,” Sophie said.

Gigi turned to Georgia. “What is she talking about?” Gigi asked.

“Nothing.” But Georgia kept looking more and more flustered.

“Anywho,” Sophie said. “You won’t be winning homecoming queen. Because Scarlett is going to win. And Jacob will be her king.”

“Sounds about right,” Jacob said and put his arm around my shoulders.

I was used to feeling so small in front of Gigi. But it was a lot easier to stand tall when Jacob’s arm was around me.

“I doubt Scarlett is even going to be on the homecoming court.” Gigi laughed. “And who would vote for her if she was?”

“Me and every other guy with eyes,” Jacob said.

I smiled up at him.

“You are so beautiful,” he said.

I knew this was just a show to get rid of Gigi. But I swear it looked like he meant it.

He leaned down and kissed me.

Yeah, it was definitely for show. His fingers tangled in my hair as he dipped me backward.

“PDA alert,” Gigi said super loudly. “Isn’t that forbidden in the halls? Where is a teacher when you need one?!”

Oh, shove it, Gigi. She was one to talk. She’d literally made out with Axel in the cafeteria at the beginning of the school year.

I heard my dad clear his throat.

Screw me.

Jacob quickly righted me.

“Jacob,” my dad said firmly.

“Good morning, Uncle James.”

My dad lowered his eyebrows as he stared at Jacob. “That’s enough of that. You’re in the hallways of a school. But don’t do that in private either.” He shook his head. “Get to class, kids.”

At least he hadn’t said I was waiting for marriage in front of Gigi. She already had enough ammunition to torture me with. And it seemed like she’d really run with that strange information...

“Thanks for stopping that, Mr. Hunter,” Gigi said. “It was making everyone very uncomfortable. I don’t know why students can’t follow the rules.”

I stared at her. Following the dress code was part of the rules too. And she was not following it at all. She was wearing heels and her shirt was missing the top four buttons.

“See you later, love,” Jacob said.

I knew my face was red. But I was glad to see the Triple Gs retreat too.

“Bye, Dad,” I said and tried to hurry past him, but he caught my elbow.

“Scarlett,” he whispered. “If Jacob is pressuring you in any way...”

“It’s not like that, Dad.” If anything I was the one pressuring Jacob.

“Okay. But...” His voice trailed off. “Just remember, that just because he’s your cousin doesn’t mean you have to say yes.” He frowned. “That came out weird. I’m just saying I know you two are friends too. And you’re comfortable around him...”

“Dad, please stop,” I whispered. “We’re in the middle of school. Can’t this conversation wait until we’re not...here?”

The bell rang.

Shit. “And now I’m late.”

“It’s fine. Let’s get you to class.” He put his arm around my shoulders and escorted me to Mr. Halifax’s room. “Sorry that my daughter is late, West. It was my fault.”

West? It was weird that I hadn’t known Mr. Halifax’s name until two seconds ago. Especially because of Soph’s obsession with him.

“Oh, no problem, James,” Mr. Halifax said. “She’s just in time for our pop quiz.” He winked at me.

Don’t wink at me in front of my dad!

A few students groaned at the announcement of a pop quiz.

And my dad’s arm stiffened around me. He’d totally seen the wink. He looked down at me, a concerned expression on his face.

“That was weird,” I whispered. “But I should probably sit down.”

“Yeah.” My dad dropped his arm. “We’ll talk about this after school too, okay?”

Please no. I hurried to my desk at the back of the classroom.

“Why does Mr. Halifax never wink suggestively at me?” Sophie said with a sigh. “Bold move to do in front of your dad, though. It’s like he’s asking for a fist fight.”

“Sh.”

“Miss Hunter and Miss Hunter,” Mr. Halifax said. “Are you planning on speaking during my whole class?”

“Sorry, West,” Sophie said. She bit her lip as she stared at him.

Mr. Halifax raised his eyebrow at her. “Miss Hunter, that is entirely inappropriate.”

“Sorry, sir. I meant Weston. I know how formal you like being with me.”

“Miss Hunter.”

“Do people usually call you West or Weston out of school though?” She dropped her chin in her hand.

“Miss Hunter, are you trying to get detention again?”

“Maybe. Are you...”

“No, I’m not the teacher in charge of it today. Now everyone, please put everything away except for you calculator. It’s time for our pop quiz.”

I grabbed my pencil and calculator as Mr. Halifax started handing out the quizzes.

“Why did you never mention his name was West?” I whispered to Sophie.

“Because I’m not going to be calling him West or Weston when he has me bent over his desk.” She smiled.

I made a grossed out face.

“What? Screaming Mr. Halifax is going to be so much fun. I dream about it every night.”

“Miss Hunter and Miss Hunter,” Mr. Halifax said firmly.

“Sorry,” I quickly said.

He nodded and continued to hand out the quizzes. He dropped a stack on the front desk of each row so they could pass the quizzes back. But for some reason, he walked down my row instead, handing out a quiz to each student individually.

What is he doing?

He got to my desk and slowly lowered the last quiz down onto it. “Are you ready for this?” he whispered.

Please stop giving me special treatment. I nodded.

“You’re going to do great. It’s just like we talked about the other day.” He tapped the paper.

I looked down at where he was pointing. His finger was on the first problem. He was pointing right at where it said, “steal third base.”

What?!

My heart started pounding. The kiss thief was talking to me about stealing third base the other day. Was Mr. Halifax confessing that he was my kiss thief right now?

I quickly read the problem: If a runner is trying to steal third base, and his top speed is 19 miles per hour, what acceleration would he need to achieve to beat the throw and be safe on third?

“So are we good to go?” Mr. Halifax asked.

What the actual F was he asking me right now?!

Sophie was almost falling out of her chair as she tried to see what Mr. Halifax was pointing at on my paper.

“Or do you have any questions for me?” he asked.

I had a million questions for him. But none of them were about calc. “I’m good.”

“Fantastic. Remember. It’s just like we talked about.” He tapped the stealing third base question again.

I stared at him as he walked away.

Normally Sophie would be staring at his ass and commenting on his khakis or something. Instead she was staring down at her test. It looked like she was holding back tears.

“Soph,” I whispered.

She ignored me.

My head was completely scrambled for the rest of class. I couldn’t pay attention to the problems on the quiz. All I could think about was Sophie being mad at me and Mr. Halifax being my kiss thief. He’d basically confessed.

When the bell rang, I was practically in tears too. I hadn’t even gotten to the last two questions. Mr. Halifax would probably be offering me one-on-one tutoring sessions by the end of the week. And that was the last thing I wanted.

Sophie didn’t say a word to me in the hall as we headed to our next class.

“It’s him, isn’t it?” I asked. I felt like I was going to be sick. “Mr. Halifax is my kiss thief and you’re going to homecoming with Axel. Why is everything so backwards right now?”

Sophie finally seemed to snap out of her daze. “It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine. I’m so sorry. I don’t like him, Sophie. I swear.”

“I know. And we don’t know for sure if it’s Mr. Halifax. You still have to dance with him to find out.”

“We don’t even know if he’s going to be a chaperone at the dance.” The one good thing about my dad announcing he was a chaperone was the fact that it reminded me that not all teachers were the worst.

“Oh Mr. Halifax is definitely a chaperone,” Sophie said.

“How do you know that?”

“I got access to the list of chaperones weeks ago.”

I stared at her. “And you didn’t think you should give me a heads up that my dad is volunteering?”

“I figured he’d told you.”

“He doesn’t tell me anything,” I said.