Unfinished Ex (Calloway Brothers, #2)(20)

I need everything to go smoothly. I don’t want to let anyone down.”

“I get it. This is your big break. Happened to me four years ago when I came over from a small station upstate. You feel like you have to prove yourself. But let me tell you, the reason you’re here is because you already have. XTN wouldn’t have hired you, even temporarily, if they didn’t think you had what it takes to be in a large market.”

Chris might be as good at pep talks as Josh was. “Thank you. Would you mind telling me that again if you see me cowering in the corner?”

He laughs. “Sure thing. You’ll be great, Nicole.”

“You can call me Nicky. All my friends do.”

“Okay, Nicky,” he says as he pulls into the CCHS parking lot. “Let’s go do this.”

I check the time. “Not quite yet.”

“But it’s almost two.”

“Classes will be changing right about now. If we wait a minute, we won’t have to walk the halls with hundreds of students.”

“You don’t want your fans to accost you?”

“Fans.” I huff out a snort. “Something like that.”

I roll down the window and wait until I hear the bell ring. Then Chris gets our equipment, and we check in at the front office. I don’t recognize the student manning the desk, but I do recognize the man coming around the corner. “Principal Thomas,” I say. “Nice to see you again.”

“Nicky Forbes.” He smiles brightly. “When I heard you’d be coming today, I knew I had to greet you. Congratulations on your career. We’ll have to add you to our Wall of Fame.”

He nods to a picture next to the front desk of Peter James-Cortez, who played in the NBA for ten years. Peter is CCHS’s only claim to fame apparently. That he would consider adding me makes me delighted and sick to my stomach at the same time.

“Not necessary, but I’d be honored.”

“Nice of you to do this,” he says. “You know, considering…”

He doesn’t have to complete his sentence. We both know what he’s thinking.

“It’s my pleasure.”

“Room forty-six. East wing. You remember the way?”

“I sure do.”

And the sooner I stop talking to you and get there, the fewer people will see me.

“Perfect. I look forward to seeing the story. Please be sure to let us know when it will air.”

“Will do. Thanks, Principal Thomas.”

He chuckles. “I think you can call me Kurt now, Nicky.”

Kurt lets us through the door to the back. I’m overcome by nostalgia as we navigate the halls.

Walls of dented and scratched lockers. Handmade posters advertising school events. A glass case that I don’t have to look at to know holds a four-foot-tall state championship trophy that Jaxon led the team to.

My breath catches when we come upon the bathroom Jaxon and I used to make out in between classes senior year. I’d pretend to try and get away. He’d pull me closer, his foot pressed firmly against the door to prevent anyone from entering. It was always the best part of my day.

I walk faster needing to tune out all the memories.

We pass a girl who doesn’t even bother looking up from her phone. A Janitor who tips his chin.

A picture of the cheer squad hanging from the ceiling trips up my steps. Chris holds out a hand and steadies me. “Slow down, Nicky.”

I focus on the sound of my heels on the old tile floors and the smell of day-old cardboard pizza as we pass the cafeteria. We turn a corner, and I look at the room numbers. Room forty-four… forty-five… forty-six. My heart stops beating. I check the number on the door again after I read the nameplate.

Mr. Calloway

I sink against the hard concrete wall.

“Nicky?” Chris asks. “What is it?”

I point to the nameplate, then close my eyes. “It’s my ex.”

“Boyfriend?”

“Husband. As of last week.”

He laughs, then stops. “Oh, shit. Sorry. No wonder you didn’t want to come. You didn’t know it would be him?”

“Of course not. He teaches math, not science.”

Chris peeks through the window in the door. “Well, he teaches science now. I can see the deflated weather balloon.”

“I should just quit. Walk out of here and drive back to Oklahoma.”

“And let him win? No way.”

“There are no winners here, Chris. And I’m the one who left our marriage.”

“Oh. Double shit. Does he hate you?”

“Yes. No. I’m not sure.”

The door opens, and a student comes out. “Are you from the TV station?” she asks.

I clear my throat. “We are.”

“Mr. Calloway said you can come in.”

Chris leans in. “Does he know you are doing the report?”

My stomach tenses, churning up the sandwich I had along the way. Does he?





Chapter Nine



Jaxon




A built guy holding a camera walks through the door, followed by… my wife?

Ex-wife, my stunned brain reminds me.

“Nicky?” I remember that I’m standing in front a classroom of students, so I pick my jaw up off the ground and try not to act like a complete idiot. “Class, this is Nicky, uh, Nicole Forbes from XTN, and…?” I raise my brows at the man who’s got at least an inch and twenty pounds on me.