4. Preston

FOUR

preston

“AN ICED AMERICANO for Preston, and an Irish cream cold brew for Travis.”

I didn’t recognize the freshman Travis had solicited to grab our drinks for us from the Astor coffee bar while we lounged in a commandeered spot nearby, but I gave him a quick smile and a thanks before he scurried off.

Travis stretched out along the couch, making himself right at home between classes, then reached into his bag, pulled out a silver flask, and added a bit of whatever was inside to his coffee. When I raised a brow, he shrugged.

“What? You can’t have an Irish coffee without whiskey.”

I shook my head and punched my straw into the lid of my own drink—no spiking necessary. “Who was that?”

“Does it matter?” He took a long swallow of his doctored cold brew before scrolling through his phone. “I swear, this school is such a fucking bore. Even the gossip pages are lame. Not a damn thing happened over the weekend.”

“Are you really basing your time here on posts in the Astor Chronicles?” I didn’t bother glancing up at him as I scribbled down a few more notes from my last class.

“The big story for today, are you ready? ‘Kaia Zaffino denies plastic surgery rumors, insists obvious nose job is stress-related weight loss.’ Are you fucking kidding me? This is news? God, we need to fuck shit up.”

Rolling his eyes, Travis dropped his phone onto his lap as I bit back a grin. “Why do I feel like tomorrow’s headline will have something to do with you?”

“Because you know me. You interested?”

“I thought we were lying low after the Atticus payback?”

“We were, but it’s been weeks.” He picked his phone back up and began to type. “Now where the hell is East…?”

As Travis began to concoct whatever crazy plan he had for more attention—not like we needed it—I cracked my neck from side to side and reached for my drink—only to almost drop it when I caught sight of the man standing by the coffee bar across the room.

Like it always did when I saw him, my heartbeat went wild, speeding up and skipping at the same time. Sweat broke out on the back of my neck, and I had to tighten my grip on my coffee so it didn’t splatter all over the damn floor.

My eyes locked on Archer Carrington and refused to let go.

Why did he have to look so good? The black pinstripe suit he wore, tailored flawlessly to his leanly muscled frame, was entirely out of place at Astor but perfect for his job. Which made me wonder what he was doing here in the middle of the day. It couldn’t have anything to do with Serena—I’d just seen her before her last class started—and he didn’t look upset or panicked about anything.

No, he was giving a charming smile to the barista as he took his coffee, then he took a sip and slid a bill into the tip jar on the counter.

As he turned around, our eyes clashed across the room and he came to a stop. His fingers tightened on the cup in his hand as a smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Any shock I’d felt from seconds ago vanished as my dick stood up like it wanted to say hi too.

He frowned and looked down at his drink, and when he brought his eyes back to mine there was a resoluteness to his gaze. He’d started forward, like he was going to come over, when a hand clapped down on his shoulder.

Professor King, or simply King, as we all referred to him, was a tall, dark, imposing man who seemed to have it out for all of us, but right now he looked anything but hostile as he greeted the object of my attention.

Wait, were those two…friends? No way. King couldn’t possibly have any friends—he was too busy torturing his students to know what fun was. And Archer—Mr. Carrington—had more personality in his pinky than King possessed in his entire body.

But they sure were talking to each other like they were more than mere acquaintances.

I scrunched my nose in distaste, because Mr. Carrington shouldn’t be wasting his time on someone like King.

“You gonna keep staring, or did you want to go jump his bones?” Travis’s voice knocked me out of my stupor, and I looked over to see a moronic grin on his face.

“Sure,” I said, swallowing as I set my drink back down. “With King right there?”

“Hey, you never know. King might join in if you ask him nicely.”

“Do I look like I have a death wish?”

“No, but obviously Daddy Archer is here for something, and it’s not yooou.”

“Daddy Archer? I don’t think so.”

“Okay then, what do you call him in your fuck fantasies? DILF Archer?”

“Ew, that’s even worse.” My eyes shifted back to the two men over at the coffee bar and trailed down Mr. Carrington’s tall frame.

“What about FILTH Carrington?”

My head snapped around until we were practically nose to nose, and a shit-eating grin curved Travis’s lips.

“FILTH?”

“Yeah, Father I’d Like to Hit.”

Huh. Archer “Filth” Carrington. Now that was something I could get behind…literally.

“You like that one.” Travis nodded as we looked back at the men, and I had to admit, I did like it a whole lot.

What I didn’t like was how close King was standing next to Mr. Carrington.

“God, you’re not even trying to hide the dreamy eyes over there. You’re lucky it’s just me sitting here and not one of the other guys, or you’d have some explaining to do.”

“Oh gimme a break,” I said, ignoring the heat in my face and doing my best to not look in Mr. Carrington’s direction. “I just thought maybe he’d want to come over here and talk about the information he gave me at his office the other night.”

Travis’s brows shot up. “You went to his office? At night? Alone?”

“Nothing happened. I’m helping out with⁠—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m aware of your do-gooder shit, but this? This is juicy. And absolutely fucked, which is more a me thing than a you thing, so let me give you a piece of advice I wouldn’t give anyone else: no.”

I frowned. “No?”

“No.” His voice was firm and not at all what I expected from a guy who wanted to stir shit up for a headline.

“I know, I know. It’s too complicated. That doesn’t mean I can’t look. But thanks for the uncalled-for advice.”

“I get it. Daddy Filth is totally fuckable.”

“No shit. I’ve been trying not to look at him for years.”

Travis snorted and then scooted to the edge of the couch and lowered his voice. “Look, I know you aren’t getting any from him right now, so tell you what. You need a release? I’ll take one for the team.”

My eyes went wide. “What?”

“I’m a good friend, and that’s what good friends do. Plus, you think I’m hot.”

“For fuck’s sake, I knew you’d take that the wrong way. I thought good friends just gave advice.”

“And orgasms.” Travis cocked his head, like he was thinking that statement over. “Well, on an as-needed basis or in emergencies. And from the stiff cock in your pants, I’d say this is an emergency.”

I dropped my face into my hands and groaned. “Oh God. Please stop.”

“That’s not what anyone in my bed says when I⁠—”

“Do not finish that sentence,” I said, putting my hand up to his mouth. But that was the wrong move, because Travis nipped at my finger and grinned when I pulled my hand away. “I appreciate the offer, but trust me when I say taking you up on it is a terrible idea.”

“Yeah, well, so’s banging him.” Before I could open my mouth, he added, “And you can stop denying you want to—it’s just me.”

“I’m not denying anything. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. He’s hot. Anyone with eyes can see that. Don’t act like you haven’t looked.”

Travis’s lip curled. “I’ve done more than look.”

I whipped my head in his direction and leveled him with a glare. Travis held up a hand in mock surrender.

“In my dreams.” He groaned as he turned back to eye the two men across the room. “I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s single, rich, and sexy as fuck. Trust me when I say everyone with a pulse is dreaming about Daddy Filth. Difference is, you’re supposed to be boning his daughter.”

“Lovely.”

“What?” Travis shifted on the couch, facing me. “It’s true. Use your head. How do you think Serena would feel if word got out you wanted to get naked with her dad?”

“Jesus.” I glanced around, making sure no one was within earshot. “Do you have an off button? We’re not going to be getting naked. I’m keeping my damn clothes on.” Unfortunately.

“Really? If I could, I’d be naked all the time.”

“Which has me very thankful for the dress code at Astor.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you ever saw me naked.”

A curt cough in front of us had my eyes darting up to—oh, fuck— “Mr. Carrington. Uh, hi.”

Travis snorted as I shot to my feet, and I promised myself I would kill him as soon as I managed to dig myself out of the hole I was currently trying to crawl out of.

“Hello, Preston. Travis. Good to see you both.”

“What brings you by Astor this morning?” I said, hoping with every fiber in my body it was me, but knowing that was unlikely. “Is it Serena?”

“Actually, no. Professor King wanted to see me about the board meeting next month. Nothing too exciting. But I did get a chance to speak to Serena over the weekend. Do you have a minute?”

My heart skipped a beat as I looked into his eyes, and I hoped like hell my face was doing a better job at hiding the way his words made me feel than my racing heart.

So he’d talked to her. Did he know the truth? And if he did, he wanted to talk to me about it…now?

I was acutely aware of not only Travis sitting behind me, but also my hard-on he’d just pointed out, and all I could do was hope anyone around didn’t notice.

Think about icebergs…

Think about Antarctica…

Think about polar bears—no, don’t think about bears.

No bears of any kind.

I swallowed hard. “Sure.”

Mr. Carrington turned on his heel and began to walk away, and I shot a look over at Travis, who mouthed, Try not to get too filthy.

I ignored the imbecile to follow Mr. Carrington, the man who had every part of my body going haywire. When he disappeared inside one of the study rooms, I ducked in behind him. As the door shut, Mr. Carrington turned and leveled me with an assessing stare. The polite mask from moments ago was gone.

“Lock the door, please, Preston.”

“Lock the⁠—”

“I don’t think you want anyone to overhear the conversation we’re about to have, so, yes, I think it would be best if you lock the door.”

Oh shit.I wasn’t sure if I should be excited or terrified by the seriousness of his voice. But my dick sure knew what it was feeling as it throbbed back to life.

The lock clicked into place and seemed to echo off the walls as I found myself standing in the small confines of the room, and for the first time ever I understood the appeal of fucking around during study period.

I could totally fuck around in here.

With him.

“I had a very interesting conversation with Serena this weekend.”

So I’d been right. He knew. He knew we weren’t dating. He knew we weren’t really a couple.

If that was the case, why did he look so…annoyed?

“Oh?”

“Oh?” Mr. Carrington put his coffee cup down on the desk behind him and took a step toward me. “Is that all you’ve got to say for yourself?”

I opened my mouth, about to say yes, because that was the proper response, but fuck it. This was my chance. This might be my only chance to really speak my mind, my truth, around this man.

“No. I have a whole lot to say. I’m just not sure if you want to hear it.”

“I want to hear the truth.”

“Really?”

“Try me.”

If he wanted to know the truth, I’d give it to him.

My eyes shifted to his mouth. “I’ve wanted to kiss you from the first moment I saw you.”

Mr. Carrington’s brows hit his hairline. “Preston, that’s not what⁠—”

“You meant?” I asked, deciding it was now or never. “What you wanted to hear? I thought you wanted the truth? And the truth is that night at the charity event was the hottest moment of my life. And it was just a kiss.”

His lips parted in surprise, and apparently I’d shocked him, because he wasn’t able to say a word.

I took a step toward him. “I know it was wrong. But you have to understand that Serena and I aren’t together like that⁠—”

“But that’s what I don’t understand,” he said. “This lie that the two of you perpetuated… Explain it to me. Are you gay or bi or confused⁠—”

“I’m not confused.” I took another step closer. “I know exactly what I want—I just never thought I had a hope of getting it.”

We were close enough now that I could touch him, but Mr. Carrington surprised me by touching me first, putting his hand on my chest. If the move was meant to deter me, it failed. Because that touch was a shock that reverberated through my body, shooting straight to my dick.

“Preston—”

“I love how you say my name.” I put my hand over his where it still rested on my chest, holding him there even when he tried to pull back. “Don’t you want to hear me say yours?”

The only tell that he was affected was the tic in his jaw before he said, “You need to back up.”

“Is that what you really want, or is that what you think you have to say?”

“I’m not doing this.” He pulled his hand away and ran it through his hair. As he headed for the door, I thought I heard him mumble, “This was a mistake.”

“I thought you wanted to talk,” I said when he unlocked the door.

“I think being anywhere alone with you isn’t a good idea. Whatever it is you’re thinking, whatever scenario you’ve dreamed up, it’s not happening,” he said. “No matter what arrangement you and my daughter have, it’s clear that the rest of the world has bought into your lies. I bought into them. The truth changes nothing.”

“Doesn’t it?” I trailed my eyes over his pants, which had looked noticeably tighter since we walked in the room. “Then why did you bother to ask?”

He shook his head as he opened the door. “Take care, Preston.”

As he left the room, I sighed and ran a hand over my hair.

Fuck. That went well.

But at least I’d have another chance later. It seemed he’d forgotten I’d be stopping by his office tonight…