28. Rebecca

28

REBECCA

Nothing had gone the way I thought it would since I first walked into Ethan's class. Standing in front of the dean with Ethan, Cole, and David on either side of me felt like the biggest mistake in the world. My book might be doing fantastic online, but I still wanted my degree. I still wanted to take classes taught by these three men. Why did I fuck everything up? I don't regret our time together, and they've been wonderful since finding out about the pregnancy. If anything, learning we were having twins had solidified the scattered pieces of our relationship.

Twins. Just thinking the word shocked me into straightening my spine and lifting my chin to stare down Dean Scott.

His casual pose in his big leather chair with his fingers steepled in front of his mouth wasn't fooling anyone. He'd been narrow-eyed and glaring from the minute we all walked in. Ethan had guided me to a seat, and Dean Scott became even more focused and intense.

All the degrees in the world would not stop the storm of wrath coming my way. Our way.

"I think it's time someone told me what we're doing here." Dean Scott rocked forward and planted his elbows on the desk.

My palms itched with the need to reach for Ethan on my left, or Cole on my right. David sat on Cole's other side, out of my physical reach, but his solid support never wavered.

They'd argued over whether to tell Dean Scott, but Ethan won in the end. Just like David insisted on telling Carrie, Ethan demanded that we come clean with the dean.

I opened my mouth but stopped when Ethan sat forward.

"You were right to question us." Ethan took my hand.

Dean Scott's eyes narrowed so far that he resembled a beady-eyed ferret.

"It's my fault." This time, when the words came, I blurted them out before I lost my courage. "I pursued them, not the other way around. And my actions have no bearing on my grades. If you look at my grades, you'll see that I'm an average student, as I've always been."

"Average?" Dean Scott set a pair of glasses on his nose and peered at me through them several long seconds before he turned and tapped on his computer keys.

With his attention elsewhere, I squeezed Ethan's fingers and took a shaky breath. This was harder than I thought it would be. Lying and sneaking around were never part of my nature, but admitting to breaking rules and facing the consequences that could end the careers of three good men was equally startling.

Dean Scott stopped typing and scanned the computer screen. Columns of names and numbers reflected in his lenses. Was he looking up my grades?

"What has happened outside of the classroom has had no bearing on my work ethic. I've continued to show up for classes and present myself with dignity and respect." More reassurances rose within me, but I managed to tamp them down when Dean Scott pushed back from the computer and rubbed a hand over his forehead. Something about the look said we were in deep shit.

When he spoke, his voice held enough exhaustion to bury us all. "You three should have been able to control yourselves." His face reddened as he stood, tearing off his glasses and throwing them onto the desk. Heavy steps carried him back and forth behind the desk. "When I came to your office and asked, you should have been honest then. If you'd told me it might be a problem, we could have worked together."

Ah. I recognized part of the fury now. He felt betrayed. I understood. He'd trusted Ethan, Cole, and David. They had the golden standard of records. They'd never been written up for anything, and the one time Ethan was accused, it had been proven that he was innocent in the whole thing. Then I'd come along and blown everything out of the water. Shame threatened to knock me back in my chair, but I held on.

Cole's arm went across the back of the chair, not touching me but close enough that Dean Scott pointed at him. "This is uncalled for. I should put you all on suspension. Hell, I should fire you all." Red crept up his neck and into his cheeks. "If I had anyone who could cover for all of you, I'd send you packing. No questions asked."

A breath of relief loosened the tightness in my chest. "Please don't fire them. Or put them on suspension. This is my fault. Punish me. I'll change all my classes. Just don't do anything to them." Don't let the public find out was what I really wanted to say. We could keep this quiet. It didn't have to be a spectacle.

Dean Scott crossed his arms. "And how do you expect that to work? What happens after classes, when you have a question about an assignment? Are you going to look me in the eye and tell me none of them will help you ace your tests?"

"We're not cheats." Anger infused David's voice. He sat forward, almost like he intended to stand but stopped just shy of it. "Rebecca has never asked us for anything related to her coursework."

No. If anything, I'd challenged them about the syllabus and made light of the literature being taught.

Cole made a hand motion toward David, maybe to try and calm him, but David shrugged it off while Cole sighed. "Look, sir, we're trying to do what's right. We all admit we could have done a better job with this situation." He gripped the back of my chair, his body heat wrapping around me with a comforting embrace.

"He's right." I swallowed hard. How much did I admit? "I'm going to need to make some adjustments to my schedule, anyway. Maybe take more online classes." My pulse hammered. There was no way I'd be able to finish out all my classes this year. Not once I reached a certain point in my pregnancy, and especially not right after birth. Twins. That one word rattled around in my brain like a pinball. It knocked me loose from everything I had planned for the year, and well into the next. My entire life was changing, and a lot of what happened next depended on the man staring down at me with disdain.

He stalked back to his chair and sat, lacing his fingers together on top of the desk. "I thought you were not interested in online classes. That's what you told your advisor when your schedule was drawn up."

How did he know all that? It must be in my online records or something. I shrugged off the confusion and answered him the best I could. "I wasn't as interested in online classes at first. But my friend has been taking them, and I've found that I enjoy them more than I thought." I paused for a breath before continuing. David gave me an encouraging smile. "And I've taken on a second job writing books." Technically true. My romance book with Ethan as the hero was still going crazy online.

"And writing now is more important to you than the classes you're taking?" He scoffed, his head shaking from side to side. Naturally, he didn't believe me. Who would when I'd been adamant in my admission interviews about needing and wanting a creative writing degree before I started my writing career. I wanted the validation that came with being able to put it in my bio.

"That's bullshit." Ethan slapped a hand to the chair arm, the hard smack sending my pulse skyrocketing. A scowl twisted his lips. "You don't get to accuse her, or question her, about her decisions. She's allowed to change her mind. Why are you fucking around with these questions, interrogating her like it matters?"

Cole's hand slid across my back, and he gripped Ethan's shoulder, pulling him back into the chair. Ethan trembled but remained seated.

"Writing is the whole reason I'm here." I answered honestly and with all the fervor I could muster. "I'm doing well right now with my story. It would be a shame to lose that momentum." I stopped again before I gave too much away. Ethan had a point. What I did was none of the dean's business. Yes, the whole thing about my relationship with Cole and the others mattered, but not what I did in my spare time. "If you'll promise not to punish them, I'll even leave school altogether. I'd rather do that than see them be put out and treated like criminals."

"Don't you dare." David leaned past Cole and squeezed my knee. "We can work this out. There's no need for you to quit."

Wasn't there, though? "If it makes things easier." I shrugged because I had no more words to spare as the threat of tears burned the backs of my eyes. My emotions had been all over the place since learning about the pregnancy, and I'd rather look like a bitch than cry in front of Dean Scott.

"May I remind you that you're here on scholarship?" Dean Scott tented his fingers again and tapped them to his lips. He did that a lot, especially when thinking.

I hadn't forgotten, so I nodded. "That's right. I am."

Ethan made a noise beside me, but it had no relevance on the conversation so I ignored him.

"What does that have to do with my classes?" I asked.

Eyes boring into mine, Dean Scott sighed. "Your actions put not only their jobs and our reputation as a college at risk, but it also threatens your scholarship. If it's revealed you had a relationship with your professors, you may be blacklisted from any future scholarships, and from this school should you attempt to return."

What?

"That's harsh." Cole released Ethan's shoulder and returned his hand to the back of my chair. "You'd keep her from getting an education over this?"

"I would not. Her actions, and yours, have put us all in a delicate situation." The dean's frown pulled deep lines in his cheeks. He could have kicked us all out of his office the minute we came clean, but he seemed willing to work with us. If not work with us, then at least tell us all the potential repercussions so we could make an informed decision on what to do next.

It was a delicate situation, all right. I ran a palm over my stomach. Cole caught the movement and a grin flashed almost too quickly for me to see before he schooled his expression and focused on Dean Scott.

This was it, then. I'd not only risked their jobs, their reputations, and the college's, but I'd put my entire scholarship at risk. All my future endeavors might be at risk as well. If my readers found out what I'd done, would they cancel me? The thought was overwhelming and terrifying.

My entire dream might be over before it had truly even begun. My career and my dream of a degree. Was it all over?