Page 21 of Restless Ink

“We just didn't work out, dear. We’re not that kind of couple, you know?”

Thea didn’t know. In fact, she had no idea how to possibly comprehend how well Molly was taking this.

“And I can't begrudge my best friend for finding happiness. Any form of happiness. And bybest friend, I mean you both.”

Molly smiled again, and Thea’s heart clutched.Both. Her best friends were Dimitri and Thea. How complicated and tangled and yet utterly monstrous for Thea to even be here in this room asking for forgiveness.

“I love you both so much. Just not in the way I should have when it came to Dimitri. He and I are over. And oddly, it seems like fate that it's a new beginning for the two people I cherish most in my life.”

Thea was confused, so damn confused. “What? There’s no new beginning, Molly. It was…it wasn’t what you think.”

Molly continued on as if Thea hadn’t said anything. Not that it was unusual when it came to Molly, but Thea felt as if she were behind in this conversation.

“If there's anything I can do, I'm here. I might not have been the wife Dimitri needed, but at some point, we were what wethoughtwe needed. So maybe, just maybe, I can help you.”

Thea held up her hand, finding it shaking. “It was just that one time, Molly, it doesn’t mean what you're thinking.”

Molly just gave her a placating smile. “Well, if I know Dimitri, and you know I do, then that one time might just be a little more.” The other woman winked.Winked. “And, really, with the way he moves, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.”

Thea laughed woodenly as the other woman continued, but she couldn’t help the nerves welling up inside her.

How had she ended up here?

Was Molly really okay with things progressing between her and Dimitri? And what the hell was she going to do now when it came to a certain inked teacher that she’d thought might be out of her life forever?

Because Molly was acting weird, so damn weird. And Thea had no idea what to do about it, what to believe, or what to hope for.

Once again, she knew this called for wine, and even Thea didn’t know if she had enough of it.

Chapter 10

Dimitri put his hands on his hips, trying not to glare at the kid in front of him. But, damn it, he was just so disappointed that he’d had to talk himself out of so many different variations of how this conversation might go.

One of his brightest kids was failing his class, and there was nothing Dimitri could do about it beyond what he was doing now. He hated the fact that this was out of his grasp and it was going to take time—and maybe even a miracle—for things to change.

But he’d try his damnedest to make that happen because all of his students deserved the best,hisbest.

“Jason.”

The kid lifted his head, his dark hair falling in front of his face in a messy array of angles and random cuts. Apparently, the shaggy haircut was a new trend or something. The fact that it almost mirrored Dimitri’s, only messier, wasn’t lost on him.

“I need you to complete your assignments. You used to do so last year, and when you moved up to this grade with your peers, you stopped doing them. Tell me what’s wrong, Jason. Let me try to help.”

Jason shrugged. “I’m fine.”

Dimitri held back a sigh and walked around the desk separating them to lean on the side. “No, you’re not fine. I’m going to call a parent-teacher conference, and I know you’re going to hate it. But I know you understand the material. I see the way your eyes move during class.” And how Jason mouthed the answers even if he didn’t raise his hand to answer out loud. Dimitri didn’t push all of his students to speak every day like some teachers. He knew most needed their own quiet space, and those he thought weren’t paying attention were the ones he called on. It usually meant that everyone was at least trying.

Trying when it came to participation, that was.

Turning in assignments? Jason wasn’t the only holdout, but he was the most dramatic turn when It came to his grades, and Dimitri was going to do his best to find out why.

“I don’t need a meeting.”

“You might not. But I do. Is there something going on at home you want to talk about?”

“No. Everything’s fine.”

Even if Dimitri didn’t know Jason’s parents were going through a particularly nasty divorce, he’d have heard the lie in Jason’s assertion. Colorado Springs was by no means a small town, but Jason’s dad had moved into the same apartment complex Dimitri currently resided in. Apparently, all newly single men without homes knew it was the place to be.