The lighting changes as I descend despite it still being morning and the place not actually being open yet, and the air turns heated, electric even. My skin prickles, memories threatening to pop up of the time I spent here with Nico.
Damn, that was a hot night I wouldn’t mind repea—No, Brianna. Do not go there.
The bar is deserted, the stages, hanging platforms, and poles that are usually showcasing some of the city’s hottest dancers empty. There is a part of me that wants to hop on up there and pretend I’m even half as seductive as they are every night of the week, turning patrons into nothing but puddles of need.
There’s a bang on the other side of the bar that stops me from playing out the fantasy in my head before footsteps head my way.
“I can put some music on if you want to give me a one-woman show?” Jodie asks, amusement lacing her tone.
“I think we both know that I’m nowhere near good enough yet.”
“Yet? So you’re thinking of jacking in this teaching thing for a life of debauchery and sex?”
I blow out a long breath and turn away from the stage that held my attention.
“Right now, I’m seriously considering it, yeah,” I mutter quietly.
“What happened?”
“Pour me a drink and I’ll confess all my sins.”
2
BRIANNA
“Oh shit,” Jodie gasps when I pass her the piece of paper with my fate printed on it. “What the hell are you going to do?”
“There’s nothing I can do. I can’t tell them it’s inappropriate because I’ve fucked one of the students.”
Jodie’s lips part to argue, but she quickly thinks better of it.
“And there isn’t anywhere else?”
I shake my head.
I mean, I didn’t exactly ask that question, but seeing as every other student teacher in the city will now be allocated a placement, I hardly doubt that there are schools out there just begging for one.
“This isn’t something that is up for discussion, Jojo. I’ve got to complete this placement to pass.” This is something she is more than aware of, after watching me freak out when my last placement went south last week.
“I know, I know. But Knight’s Ridge?”
“I probably won’t even see him,” I reason. The reality of that is entirely possible.
Knight’s Ridge College might have a relatively small student population compared to others in the city, but the grounds are colossal, from what I’ve heard. I’ve never actually stepped foot inside the gate. People like me just… don’t.
“Probably not. But you might. You need to tell him.”
I stare at her.
“What?” she asks. “He might open the door this time.”
I shake my head, reaching for the glass of… I’m not entirely sure what it is.
“This had better be strong,” I mutter before taking a sip of the almost neon liquid.
The second it hits my tongue, the alcohol burns and a satisfied moan rumbles in the back of my throat.
“If that desperate groan was anything to go by, you really should go and see him.”