Page 132 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

Just… not yet.

Theo didn’t break our kiss as he moved us backward, controlling our steps until my shoulders met the cold wall. His body pressed into mine as I lifted my thigh and wrapped it around his, desperate to get just the smallest bit closer.

Heat curled low, pooling between my thighs; warm and heavy. His hands moved from my waist to my ass, cupping and kneading me until I was a whimpering mess.

“I missed you,” he whispered into my mouth, and my relief melted into something hopeless.

“Me too,” I murmured back, tightening my grip on his shirt as he started to push and pull me against him.

I could feel where this was going.

Desperate, hard and fast sex against the wall, just outside of where my students rehearsed. Theo wouldn’t care if we were caught. Not now. Not when we were finally doing this.

But I cared. And no matter how much I wanted him, I couldn’t let that happen.

I turned my head, breaking our kiss, letting Theo rake his teeth down my throat.

“We need to stop,” I breathed.

My fingers found their way into his hair, and I moaned as he bit and sucked.

“Theo,” I tried again, my voice firmer this time. “We can’t. Kira isn’t okay with this.”

He shifted between my legs, and oh god. The feel of him right there was a sharp bolt of pleasure that went straight to my brain. I rolled my hips, and I knew I had to stop, but every bit of me ached for this. For him.

But at the mention of his daughter’s name, Theo stiffened underneath me. He swore under his breath, then slowly, painfully, pulled away.

I slumped back against the wall, my breath hard, heart pounding, body thrumming, as Theo turned his back to me, swore again, and stepped back. I could make out his frame as his hand ran through his hair. He was tense. It was in the set of his shoulders, his jaw, his movements.

“I can’t do this anymore.” His voice was so low and harsh, it came out as a growl. “Loving you like this is killing me.”

I swallowed, trying to stop my throat from straining. I wrapped my arms around myself and felt those horrible telltale tears prick my eyes. I had to go. Staying here with him wouldn’t end well.

Gem was about to dismiss our students, and they’d see us here, like this. Alone. And then all the progress Lilly and I made to keep Kira from being bullied would be for nothing.

“I’m miserable without you,” he said, and my throat closed in just that little bit more.

“I know. Me too. But I don’t know what else to do.” I put my face in my hands and tried to breathe.

Inhale. Exhale. In. Out.

This wasn’t good for either of us. I had to leave. I pushed off the wall and turned toward the amphitheater, but Theo’s arm darted out, and he was back. He leaned against the wall, his face inches from mine, his body so close, it would’ve taken a single extended finger to touch him.

“Just… be with me.”

The way his voice cracked on that last word tore me to pieces.

“I can’t. You know I can’t.” I swallowed and whispered, “You have to let me go.”

“But you’re mine, Mia. You’re mine. And nothing is going to change that. Kira will understand.”

I bit my lip to stop myself from telling him he was right. I was his. And maybe I always would be. But he wasn’t mine. He belonged to his daughter.

“Hey… Dad?”

Kira’s voice was hesitant but clear. Light from the amphitheater streamed into the hallway, lighting her features, and I followed the way her gaze flickered from her father to me.

Theo straightened and ran a hand down his face, then nodded to his daughter, gesturing for her to come to him so they could leave.