8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Ronan

W e've been on Thanksgiving break for a couple days now and we've done different activities to keep Noah occupied. Today, Asher, Carter, and West decided to go to the gym, so I asked Noah if he wanted to hang out with me.

We're sitting at the sandwich shop, Noah straight across from me. He takes a bite of his sandwich before offering me a huge grin.

"I wanna say thank you. For not letting us lose our friendship."

"I would never let us lose our friendship," I say, taking a fry off my plate and dipping it into the ketchup. I knew Asher and Noah would end up together eventually, I just didn't realize how much I would miss my best friend when it happened. Letting him know how I was feeling was the best decision I made, because we've both made it a point to talk and hang out with each other. Don't get me wrong, I still don't see him as much as I used to, but it's better than nothing. "So, talk to me. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Ronan." He rolls his eyes before taking another bite of his sandwich. "You don't have to go all daddy and protective on me; Asher does it enough already."

"Okay, okay," I concede, drinking some water. "Are you almost ready for finals? That shit is going to be brutal."

"Hell yeah, I am. Then it's only one more semester till we're done. But you're the one planning to stay in school until you retire." He shudders, then tosses me a small smirk.

"The life of wanting to teach."

"Better you than me."

We finish eating, tossing our trash away, then make our way back home. When we get inside the house, Asher, Carter, and West are in the living room watching a movie. Noah walks in and sidles up to Asher while I take my spot on the floor.

"You guys wanna play a game?" Noah asks, his head resting against Asher's chest.

"Am I in the mood to get my ass kicked?" West pipes in. "Hmm. Hell yeah, let's do it."

"I'll sit this one out, but I'll watch you guys." I say, grabbing my phone out of my back pocket.

They start playing their games while I scroll aimlessly on my phone and Carter sits behind West, rubbing his head.

Professor Carson flashes in my mind and my hand falters slightly, the phone almost falling down. I gave up relationships a while ago, but I can't say the thought of spending a random night with him doesn't make flutters appear in my stomach. But I know it'll never happen.

"Are you sure you don't want to play?" Asher's voice forces me to lift my gaze to him. He's tilting the controller toward me, so I grab it and smile.

"Fine," I surrender, knowing they'll never stop asking. "Thanks."

It's two days until Thanksgiving, and today has been a perfect day, hanging out with the people closest to me.

I'm helping prepare the kitchen, placing the plates and silverware onto the counter. I'm not much of a cook so I didn't even bother offering to help them make anything. Asher can handle making all the food on his own, which he proved as he kept shooing everyone out of the kitchen all day.

"What else do you need me to do?" I ask Asher as I grab the napkins off the counter and set them down on the table with a thunk.

"Could you start bringing the food to the table?"

"Got it."

I'm starting to bring the food to the table when I hear Noah and Asher start bickering behind me. I twist my head to look at them, making sure they're okay. I haven't heard them bicker since their foreplay days, so it instantly causes me to look. Noah notices all of us staring at them and yells, "What?" Glaring at each of us.

Not wanting to draw more attention to their fight, I shrug my shoulders and turn back around, putting things on the table. Once we've gathered all the food and set it down, we grab plates and start piling different things on them.

We sit at the table, conversations passing through us easily. I keep up with talking with everyone, but out of the corner of my eye, I'm watching Noah. He's seething, sitting next to Asher, not paying attention to anyone. I tilt my head, wondering what's been happening with my best friend.

He's never been one to flip out easily, usually so calm. I watch him for a little bit longer, wondering what could have set him off so badly. From what I saw, it wasn't anything big, just Asher being Asher and his protective self. But maybe there's more going on to it I don't know about .

Asher leans over and says something to Noah, who snaps again before pushing his plate away from him and taking off. My first instinct is to go after him, but Asher locks eyes with me and shakes his head sadly.

"I'll check on him," Asher says, reaching out to stop me with his hand.

"Are you sure?"

"I got it, Ronan." He nods sullenly, before standing up and walking out of the room.

West and Carter look at me and I shrug, because I have no idea what happened either.

"I hope he's okay," Carter whispers, looking in the direction where Noah and Asher just went.

"Me too." I push my plate away and stand up. "I'm gonna head up to bed."

Heading to my room, I spend the rest of the night working on my assignment for Professor Carson.

Walking into Brewz, I come to a stop when I see Professor Carson sitting at a table over in the corner. I step up to him, my shadow darkening over him. He turns toward me, a smile hitting his face immediately.

"Hey, Ronan. How are you doing? "

"Hi, Professor Carson. I'm good, just getting my caffeine fix. You?"

"Same. Been addicted to this drink here for the past few days." He shakes his cup at me, the ice hitting the sides of it noisily. "Also, you can call me Oliver outside of class."

"Okay, Oliver," I breathe out. Holy shit, that feels weird calling him by his first name.

"Do you wanna join me?"

"I'd love to. Let me grab a drink and I'll be right back."

I get into the line, giving the barista my order. Within a few minutes, I'm back at the table.

"How has your break been?" I ask as soon as I sit down.

"It's been great, actually. I found this little cove at the beach yesterday. It's secluded, off the path, and so beautiful. I haven't spent much time at the beach since I've moved here."

"Oh, yeah. The beaches here are gorgeous. Have you tried surfing yet?"

"No, but it's on my to do list. I don't know how it'll work though since I have no balance. I'm a bit clumsy." He laughs lightly, and my eyes are instantly drawn to the slight pink that tints his cheeks.

"I could teach you if you want." Oh, fucking hell, Ronan. He's not going to take you up on that. He's your professor, not your friend.

"That would be cool."

"Yeah?" I ask excitedly .

"Yeah. I mean, it's still like six months away, but it would be cool."

"Awesome. Have you done anything else during break? I know it's a short break, but I would hope you wouldn't stay holed up at home."

"I've done a few things. Mostly exploring what this place has to offer."

Oliver takes another sip of his drink, my eyes tracking every movement he makes. The sun hits his face and my breath hitches. Fuck. He's so damn beautiful, I'll never get over looking at his eyes that sparkle when the sun hits them.

"Ronan?"

"Hmm?" I'm too distracted looking into his eyes when my cup slips from my fingers and falls onto the table. My drink spills all over the surface, a stream landing on Oliver's lap. "Oh, shit, shit. I'm so sorry." I snatch the napkin holder from the edge of the table and start ripping out as many napkins as I can. I pass some to Oliver, while using others to wipe down the table. "Fuck."

Oliver chuckles while wiping his pants. "Don't worry about it, accidents happen." He finishes cleaning off his pants, passing me the napkins when he's done. After I finish wiping the table down, I toss it all into the trash. I can't fucking believe that just happened. "It was great to see you, but I should probably head home and get changed. "

"Again, I'm so sorry," I tell him, my cheeks heating from embarrassment.

"Don't worry. It's fine. I'll see you in a couple days?"

"Yeah, see you then."

Oliver walks past me and toward the door. My eyes glance down, watching his ass in his jeans. Each step he takes causes his jeans to strain tight, which makes my dick twitch. The bell above the door jingles as Oliver leaves, my eyes still tracking him long after he's gone.

Debating whether to grab another coffee, I end up back in line, knowing I'll get grumpy if I don't get my caffeine fix. Once I have a new drink in hand, I leave the café and head home.

Opening the front door, I put my shoes onto the shoe rack then run up the stairs, closing and locking my bedroom door behind me. I don't expect anyone to come home anytime soon so tonight would be a good night to do a live session.

After setting up my camera and tripod, I dress up and grab my mask from my dresser drawer, slipping it onto my face. I pull up my profile, starting a live room. I wait a few minutes to see if anyone is going to join.

The screen name BetweenThePages pops up on the screen. The name sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it. Clicking accept, I allow him into the room watching the twirling circle as the screen loads .

A face pops up on the screen and my heart stops. A lump forms in my throat and I can't help but stare at the man in front of me. The gorgeous red-haired man who I can't stop thinking about. The man who I've seen weekly, but when I see him, he's dressed in suits with wired, circular glasses perched on his face, not sitting on his couch in what looks like sweats and a T-shirt.

Ripping my mask off, I swallow, getting closer to the screen.

"Professor Carson?"