Page 8 of Loved

Penny looked down at her shoes. "Are you nervous?"

I took a deep breath. I already knew how this morning was going to go. And I was calmer than I thought I’d be. I was happy with my decision to resign. I knew it was the only way. I wanted a future with Penny more than I wanted to keep teaching. It was going to be fine. "Not really. I have everything that I want. Teaching doesn't define me. Like I told you on our first date, I don't think we're doing anything wrong. This feels right to me."

"It feels right to me too. It's weird, you know. I never in a million years thought I'd be in this situation. I didn't even have my first kiss until last semester. And now I'm embarking on this big scandalous affair with my professor. I'm not even sure my parents will believe me."

I laughed. "You should have called them already. This is just going to get worse as the day goes on."

"I'll call them later. I need to know what the dean says first." She squeezed my hand.

She was procrastinating. She was dreading telling her parents. I got that. I did. But I didn’t want her to be embarrassed by our relationship. I didn’t want her to suddenly change her mind about us. What if they told her she had to break up with me? What would she choose to do then?Breathe.

"What did you vandalize?" she asked.

I laughed, relieved at the change of subject. I couldn’t believe the paper put shit about my past in the article though. "There was this professor I hated. I had him for an 8 a.m. The night before one of his classes my friends and I broke into the classroom and drew...vulgar things all over the chalkboard." Mason, Matt, Rob, and I had each been trying to draw the biggest dick. We couldn’t stop laughing. I’d also been very, very high. All of us were. Or else we wouldn’t have been drawing dicks on my professor’s chalkboard.

"With chalk?"

"Yeah."

"Is that really vandalism?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think so. And I didn't get arrested for it either. It was a harmless prank. Hilarious, but harmless."

"So another lie."

"Mhm." Senior investigative reporter Bill Fuckface Raffer was supreme at his job.

"And were you arrested for underage drinking?"

"I got a warning. They had a three strikes policy like they do here. I only had two strikes, one for that and one for the chalkboard thing. I was never arrested while I was in Harvard." Although, I probably should have been for that other thing. I smiled, remembering the four of us running from the cops.

The elevator doors opened and we walked over to my cars. Part of me wanted for us to climb into my convertible and just get the fuck out of here. But if Penny wanted to keep going here, we had to face the dean. I opened up the door of my Audi for her.

I closed the door behind her and took another deep breath. This would all be over soon. I climbed into the car and started the engine.

"Well, you're lucky I don't hate you,” Penny said. “Or maybe I would have pulled a prank like that on you. I wonder what you would have done if you came into class and there were obscene things all over your chalkboard?"

"I probably would have thought you were giving me suggestions of what I should do to you next." I raised my eyebrow at her and she laughed. That was one of the many things that made this all worth it. I was pretty sure I was obsessed with the sound of her laughter.

I pulled the car out of the parking spot and exited the parking garage. As soon as my car emerged on the street, cameras started flashing.

Penny held her hand up in front of her face. "So are they here because you're a rich, eligible bachelor or would this really normally be that big of a deal?"

"I don't know. I'm sure my name doesn't help the situation." I maneuvered around the chaos and sped off down Main Street. It was early and there was barely anyone out. But soon the campus would be filled with gossiping students. "I want you to let me do the talking, okay? I'm going to fix this for you. That's my top priority." I pulled into a spot outside the dean’s office. There weren't any news vans outside. If the reporters actually cared about the story, they’d be here too. This wasn’t about a breaking story. It was about me. And I hated that I’d dragged Penny into this shit.

"I wish you had just been a student,” she said.

I laughed, even though it was forced. "I think you love that you're dating your professor."

"I do. Let's get this over with." She reached for the door handle.

"Hey." I grabbed her chin in my hand. "We got this, okay?" I pressed my lips against hers. It really was going to be okay. As long as the two of us were okay.

I started to pull away, but Penny grabbed a fistful of my hair and deepened the kiss. She needed reassurance. That this was real. I’d give her all the reassurance she needed.

God, but the way she was kissing me… I groaned and pulled back. "We need to stop or I won't be able to go in there. Having an erection during our meeting with the dean would probably be frowned upon."

She laughed and kissed my cheek. "I love you."

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