Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 90795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
He doesn’t know. He’s kidding, but that’s too close for comfort. “As if,” I say.
He snickers and sits in the chair on the opposite side of my desk. I sit down in mine, trying to ignore the fact that Colton is there.
“You’re seeing someone,” Henry announces.
“What? No I’m not!” I sputter, but I am. I’m seeing someone. I have…a person, and he’s here right now.
“Would you like to go on a date with me tonight?” he asks, and I’m fairly certain the room is spinning. I can’t help glancing down, and I see the tightness on Colton’s face, the emotion twisting there.
“No. I can’t. I’m…”
“Seeing someone,” Henry finishes for me. “Or something has changed with you. You’ve been different lately. Happier.”
My eyes find Henry’s. They’re softer now, caring, not teasing as they often are.
“I’m happy for you,” he says, though I haven’t confirmed anything. “Maybe I’ll get to meet him sometime.”
My palms begin to sweat, heart racing, foot tapping. How can Henry ever meet him? Even once Colton has passed my class, people will always question us if they find out.
“Does anyone else know?” I ask, and Henry frowns.
“Not that I’m aware of. I haven’t spoken to anyone about you. I pay extra attention to you because I wanted to date you, but alas, I’m too late.” He throws his hands up in defeat, then smiles. “I’m teasing you, James. Well, not that I didn’t want to date you, but it’s not a big deal. I just think you’re hot.”
A clunk sounds beneath the desk, and I clear my throat, then say, “Ouch,” pretending I accidentally kicked it.
“You’re being very weird.”
“I’m always weird,” I counter.
“Good point.” He stands. “Anyway, I came to see if you could cover a class for me next week, not hit on you, or not only hit on you, I guess. On Thursday.”
“I’m not sure. I need to check the schedule. I don’t know when Nash’s games start, and I have to go to those.”
Henry frowns again. “Who’s Nash?”
I haven’t told anyone about the kids. Even when I went to Oregon, no one knew anything other than it being a family emergency. I’d forgotten they still don’t know, and that feels…wrong. Like I’m a bad brother.
“Um, I got custody of my siblings this past summer. Nash is my brother. My little sister is Sadie. Nash made the basketball team.” That makes me beam.
“Holy shit, James. You got two whole kids and no one knows?”
“Siblings,” I correct. “And the dean knows. HR too.”
“Siblings that you’re raising.”
“Rain check on this conversation, please?”
“Yes, of course. Jesus, man. You know I’m your friend, right? I tease you and flirt with you, but mostly I just want to be your friend. You can talk to me.”
I nod. The thing is, I believe him. Henry and I couldn’t be more different, but he’s a nice guy, and I know he would be a good friend to me. I’ve just never let myself have it.
“Thanks, Henry.”
“No problem.” He moves toward the door. “Anyway…I’ll let you get back to whoever’s absolutely not under your desk. Your secret is safe with me.” Henry winks and disappears from the room, snatching all the air with him.
Once the door is closed, I stumble over to lock it, just as Colton climbs out from his spot.
“I want to kill that guy,” he says.
“He knows,” I stress. “I’m fucked. My career is over. How will I take care of the kids? What will I—”
“Shh, breathe, baby.”
Every single part of me wants to melt into him, wants to let Colton hold me up, care for me, make me feel loved, but all I can think about is the fact that Henry knows.
“I can’t fucking breathe,” I hiss out, then pull away. “What was I thinking?” I never should have asked him in here. Such a stupid mistake.
“This isn’t your fault. We both messed up. I should have been more careful. I should have said no.”
Oh God. “You’re supposed to be in class,” I remember. I’d lost myself all over the desire for an orgasm? “You have to go. I can’t do this right now.”
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone. We should—”
“Red,” I interrupt him. “Red…for this. For now.”
He flinches, looking hurt, but I can’t do this. We can talk about it later. I need to talk to Henry and figure out what in the hell any of this means.
“Okay.” He nods. “Take that cage off, please.”
Colton picks up his bag, the one leaning against my desk that I’d completely forgotten about, and walks out of the room.
The door closes before he can hear me say, “I’m sorry.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Colton
The first thing I do when I leave James’s office is drop his class. There’s two weeks left before I would get a failing grade for not finishing it, so I count that as a small blessing. I should have already done it. The second James and I decided to continue having sex, it should have been the first thing I did. But I didn’t, and now this.