Page 35 of Loved

"Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, please just let me explain. I would never put your daughter in a position like that. As far as I'm concerned, my relationship with my ex-wife was terminated as soon as I filed..."

"You put her in a terrible situation," her dad cut in. "You're her professor. You were hermarriedprofessor."

"Yes, I was Penny's communications professor. And I realize that I crossed the line. I completely understand why you're upset. But my marriage really has nothing to do with this."

"I was the one that crossed the line," Penny said.

I was not expecting her to say that.

"You shouldn't be mad at him, you should be mad at me." Her phone started to make a buzzing noise, but she ignored it.

"Wearemad at you," her dad said. "But we will deal with you later."

This was ridiculous, she wasn't a kid anymore. What were they planning on doing? Grounding her? Banning her from seeing me? She was practically living with me.

"It was my fault,” Penny said. “I fell in love with my professor and he told me to stay away from him.”

Oh, Penny.

“I didn't listen. You two met and fell in love in college. This isn't any different than that. You were my age when you met. You should understand better than anyone."

"Those were completely different circumstances," her dad said.

"Were they that different?” asked Penny. “Yes, you were the same age, but you were both as young as me. You have to at least accept the fact that I'm in love with him. And he resigned for me. So that we could be together."

"Did he get divorced for you too? Was he cheating on his wife with..."

"It wasn't like that," I said. "I would never cheat on someone." I thought back to high school and my first girlfriend. Rachel had kissed one of my best friends. Maybe they’d done more. I never really found out the truth. I knew I could be distant. I knew when I was spiraling I was hard to be around. But I’d never cheat because I knew how it felt to be cheated on. Like being held down in the water when you were already drowning. And yeah, maybe I was sick in the head, but I wasn’t a dick.

"You have a very strange sense of morals, James," her dad said.

I clenched my jaw again. It was like he was asking for me to punch him instead of the other way around. He didn’t know me. He didn’t know what I’d been through. And he certainly didn’t know how much I loved getting into fights.

Breathe."I would never do anything to hurt Penny," I said, as calmly as I could. And that meant I also wouldn’t punch her dad in the face. Even if he fucking deserved it.

"You already have,” her dad said. “What's going to happen when other professors find out? And students? Can't she be expelled for this?"

"We talked to the dean this morning when I resigned,” I said. “Penny got two strikes on her record, but other than that, nothing. The news is circulating fast and I assume most of the college already knows. That's why we're here. We wanted to tell you before you found out from someone else. Despite myloosemorals, I respected you both enough to want to tell you the truth in person."

Mr. Taylor didn’t seem at all placated by my words. “And what now? You just quit your job. You're divorced. You probably have alimony to pay. And you're dating a college student. What kind of future could you possibly have? You're just going to drag her down with you."

I lowered my eyebrows. "I'm starting a tech company."

Penny’s phone kept buzzing incessantly, but she still ignored it.

"A tech company?" He laughed. "And where are you going to get the startup money for such a venture? I was wrong about you. You're not an adult. You're just as immature as any college student."

"Dad!" Penny looked horrified.

Did her father not usually make rude, snap judgements about strangers?Just me then? Great.

"He's probably here to ask us for money," her dad huffed.

What the actual fuck?I didn’t need their money. I didn’t need anything from them. I came here out of respect for their daughter. But I could only take so much. "I have the necessary funds to start the company," I said through gritted teeth.

The house phone started ringing. When no one answered, it automatically switched onto the voicemail recorder.

"Hi, I'm trying to reach Penny Taylor or the parents of Penny Taylor. This is Ellen Fitzgerald with..."

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