Chapter Seven
Dominic
“Sir, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying here. St. Leasing is not the place for someone like Corey Cooper. She’s too young, too beautiful. These kids, they’d never let her—”
“Dominic, I’ve already made my decision. We need her, and we need her to get to work immediately. I hear what you’re saying, but in all honesty, son, it makes me feel like I made the right choice.” The dean rocked back on his heels, his hands folded over his large stomach.
Dominic had been arguing with him for over fifteen minutes, relaying the events of last night. Trying to prove his point, that Corey needed to leave St. Leasing. But the dean wasn’t having any of it. “Dean, I know that—” Dominic was cut off by a sharp, angry rap at the door.
“Come in,” the dean all but sang as Dominic rolled his eyes.
“Dean McCormick, sorry to interrupt, am I too early? I thought you wanted to meet with me this morning.” Corey’s smile turned to a glare as she moved her attention from the dean to Dominic. The rage in her eyes was unmistakable. She had heard them talking about her. There was no doubt about it.
The dean waved her in. “Yes, Ms. Cooper, I do want to see you.” He looked pointedly at Dominic. “We need to finalize your paperwork, I already have someone from maintenance getting your office ready. You’ll be right down the hall from Coach Hardy. He tells me you two have already met.”
When Corey did nothing but scowl at him, Dominic mumbled an excuse and left the office. Oh yeah, she’d heard them, maybe not every word. But enough to let her know they were talking about her, and enough to piss her off.
He had felt the anger behind that dirty look all the way to his bones. He couldn’t blame her. To Corey it looked like he was trying to undermine her with the dean when all he was trying to do was protect her. Protect them all really. His boys needed him, trusted him, and relied on him.
Boys, such a loose interpretation for what they actually were. He had hated it when his dad and uncles had called him a boy at that age. He’d felt like a man trapped in a teenager’s body. The outside world had seen a seventeen-year-old kid, stubborn and wild. When inside he had felt like he’d already lived a hundred lives. That was why he was such a good coach: he understood them on a level that few other teachers here could.
And he knew in his heart what and who Corey was. Even if he was slow to admit it, he had known it from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. She wouldn’t understand though and she’d end up hating him, resenting him to her core. His relationship with the team would be strained. They’d come on to her; they wouldn’t be able to help themselves. They would automatically want her because she was beautiful and because she was made for their kind. Even though she was made specifically for him, the boys were still too young; they wouldn’t understand the difference. He’d end up fighting the kids, and that’s not what he wanted. He wanted only to help them.
Dominic wasn’t looking for forever; he had never wanted that life. He had seen firsthand how forever destroyed people. But if she stayed he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. He’d end up giving in to his instinct, claiming what was rightfully his. And after last night there was no denying that she was his. He appealed to her on every level and she brought out the beast in him. Mouthwatering.
As he lay in bed watching the dark turn into light, he remembered why that word sounded so familiar. His mom used to use it to describe his dad. It always made his dad smile when she said it, and his dad was always smiling at his mom. Dominic was the only one who noticed that she rarely smiled back. Dominic was the only one who wasn’t surprised when she left. And he was the only one who wasn’t surprised when his dad had died two months later. He had seen it all coming like a car accident that Dominic couldn’t stop. His mom had been in lust with his father, but never in love. She never wanted the life they led together. He wouldn’t do that to himself, and he sure as hell wouldn’t do that to Corey. He looked up from his spot leaning against the wall as he heard the door open.
“Thank you, Dean McCormick, you won’t be disappointed.” Corey walked out of the dean’s office, walked right past Dominic, and headed down the stairs.
“Corey, wait.” He quickly followed her.
“What do you want, Coach Hardy? I need to go set up my office before I start meeting with the kids. I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but I still have a job.”
“Corey, please let me explain, it’s not what you think.” He was all but pleading with her. He knew he sounded like a tool, a guilty tool.
“Oh really? You weren’t in there telling the dean you didn’t think I could handle the guys or my job?”
“No, well, not really. Please give me five minutes to try to explain myself.”
When they reached the first-floor landing, she finally turned to him, arms crossed and chin up. “You have two minutes.” She spared a bored glance at her watch, timing him. “Starting now.”
“Look, I care about you. I don’t want to see this go badly.”
“Is that it? That’s your big explanation? Riveting.” She made to leave.
He tried again. “These boys—”
She cut him off before he could even finish his sentence. “You know what? Shut the hell up. I’m so tired of everyone and all this ‘these boys’ bullshit. What? Is this an expensive boarding school for rapists and sociopaths? All the top-notch teachers and fancy blazers a front for a ritzy juvenile detention center? Huh?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. If you’d—”
She cut him off yet again. “Well, then back the fuck off. If and when I need your assistance, I’ll ask for it. Until then stay out of my way. I’m perfectly capable of putting horny misinformed males in their place, as you can well see.” And with that she pushed through the large double doors then slammed them in his face, which was pretty impressive, considering they had a slow-close hinge.