Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

HIM — BEFORE

We’ve been seeing each other for three weeks when everything goes wrong. Four dates, plus phone conversations, and I think our fifth will finally get her in my bed. I’m right there—so close I can taste her already—when it happens.

We’re at an Italian place for dinner across town. Far enough away from the university I’m not worried about being seen.

That’s the problem, though—not worrying. It always seems to be what gets me into trouble. If I don’t plan, I don’t think everything through, and things fall apart.

“I don’t see how anyone could think it’s a bad show,” she says playfully. “It’s one of my favorites.”

“Some people just have bad taste.” I wink at her, and she kicks me under the table, her jaw slack with obvious delight in her eyes.

“I can’t believe you just said that.” She laughs.

I shrug one shoulder, taking a bite of my baked ziti. The pasta is getting cold now from all the talking, but it’s worth it. In this dimly lit restaurant, she’s especially alluring.

“Besides.” She twirls her fork through her spaghetti slowly, eyes locked on mine. She knows exactly what she’s doing. “What does that say about you if I have bad taste?”

“Are you saying you chose me?”

It’s her turn to shrug. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Fair enough. And let me tell you, I?—”

“Professor?” a husky voice asks from behind me. I freeze, every muscle in my body going tight.

No.

No.

No.

If I ignore them, pretend I didn’t hear a thing, will they go away? Is there a chance they’ll think they have it wrong and disappear?

Across from me, she seems to sense something is wrong, and I have no idea what I was planning to say or what we were even talking about. Slowly, to my right, I see the person creeping around the side of our table.

Even without looking directly at him, I know who he is. Tyler Edmonson, a student taking my class this semester. My eyes flick up to meet his slowly, regrettably, and his face alights like a firework.

“I thought that was you! Hey, I had a question about the assignment from Tuesday. I emailed you, not sure if you got it?—”

I hold up a hand, cutting him off. “I’ll get back with you during office hours. As you can see, I’m on my personal time right now.”

Tyler’s eyes go wide, then dart from me to her and back. “Oh, shoot. Right. Sorry. Okay.” He holds his hands up, retreating and nearly running into a waiter. “Sorry about that.”

Once he’s gone, I turn my attention back to her slowly, waiting to see how she’ll react.

She leans back in her chair, studying me. “Who was that?”

I swallow. “A student.”

“ Your student?”

I blink, not responding. Trying to decide how to respond.

“You lied to me.”

“No, I didn’t. You asked if I was a student, and I said I’m not, which is the truth. I’m not a student.”

“You should’ve told me you were a professor. You know I’m a student. I’m on a scholarship. If we get into trouble, I could lose everything.” She gathers her napkin, wadding it up and moving to stand.

“Wait! Wait!” I stand too, holding up my hands to stop her from leaving. “Please.”

When she hesitates, I go all in. “I would never let that happen, okay? I swear to you, I wouldn’t. I wasn’t trying to trick you. Will you just hear me out?”

She’s quiet for a long while, staring around, refusing to look me in the eye.

“You’re a student, but you aren’t my student. It’s not against the rules, and even if it were, no one will find out if that’s how you want it to be. I can take care of you, take care of this. I just need you to trust me.”

She looks back at me with the single longest pause I’ve ever been forced to wait through. Entire conversations must be happening inside her head, conversations I’m not privy to, though I wish I was. If she’d let me in, I could help her understand. Finally, she rolls her eyes, looking away. If I’m reading her correctly, I don’t think she’s angry anymore. “Couldn’t you lose your job?”

Relief floods me as I suck in a deep breath, a smile playing on my lips. “It’s possible. What if I said you’re worth the risk?”