Page 27 of Unloved

The softness in her voice, the sympathetic gentleness of the chide, makes me sick.

“You should go. Get out of here.” I say it all with a smile, lifting my hands to readjust her backpack. “I’ll see you at tutoring—promise. Now go catch your ride.”

“I’m surprised you’re still here,” she stalls, stumbling over the first two steps of the staircase.

I give her a firm look, arms crossed. “Easy, princess. Watch where you’re walking.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she mimics me lightheartedly, but I see the moment she turns from playful to worrying. “Sorry— I’ll—”

“Last two standing,” a smooth, dark voice announces. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, anxiety reignited in my gut. “Need something?”

Carmen Tinley stands between us now, closer to me—close enough that I can smell the triggering scent of her usual perfume. She flicks her gaze between Ro and me a few times before Ro finally steps back down toward her.

“Sorry, Dr. Tinley,” she says with a glittering smile that sends a fresh wave of nausea plowing through me. “We were just chatting. I’m Freddy’s new tutor, actually.”

Carmen’s striking crystal blue eyes grow wider. I feel the heat of her stare across my face, waiting for a reaction I won’t give her.

My muscles tighten, bracing for impact as she sidesteps me and stops one step closer to Ro.

“You’re applying for my cohort in the spring, right? I think Tyler told me you were planning on it.”

“I am,” Ro says before a brighter, closed-mouth grin spreads across her face.

“I know this is Freddy’s second time in my class, so if you can help him pass this time around, it would really impress me. I would love to see him succeed.”

They both turn to look at me, but I focus only on Ro’s features.

“Me, too,” Ro says, and it brings a little warmth to my cold, uneasy body.

“Just stay focused.” This time, Carmen’s words are directed at me. “I don’t want you seducing my best girl.”

She laughs, like she isn’t making jokes about my reputation to mytutor—as my professor. Ro wrinkles her brow and I want to hug her for even realizing how inappropriate this entire thing is.

Ask me, Rosalie. Please. I think I could tell you.

“I should go,” my calm, confused tutor says, ending the awkward silence. “Freddy, do you want to walk with me?”

Something squeezes in my chest. I step toward her, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders—before it slams right back down as Carmen wraps a hand around my bicep.

“I need to speak with him for a moment. Do you want her to wait?”

I shake my head, my shoulders melting in defeat. “No, go ahead, Ro. I’ll see you Wednesday.”

“If you’re sure…” She trails off. Ro waits until I’ve assured her before she trips her way up the stairs, enough times that she pauses halfway and turns to make sure I’m not watching—which I am—before she finally makes it to the top, leaving me behind.

“Freddy,” Carmen says. “It’s nice to have you back in my class. Do you want to go over the syllabus? Make sure everything is clear?”

So, we’re playing it like this.

I shake my head a little aggressively. “I want out of the class.”

Her eyes narrow a hair, but she nods and steps back, beckoning me lazily to follow her into the connected hallway and through to her office.

Dr. Tinley’s black high heels click on the linoleum and grate on the already loud space inside my own head. I’m trying to focus on the speech I’ve been mentally preparing the entire lecture, but I find my attention lingering on the length of her legs in that dress and wondering why she wore it. Has she worn it before? Did she do it on purpose?

Stop.

Dr. Tinley unlocks her office door and flicks the light switch, a warm lamp illuminating the darkened room.

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