Page 86 of Loved

I nodded. “It’s official. She finally signed the papers.”

“Here’s to the troll going back into her cave where she belongs.” He tapped his beer against mine.

“Here’s to that.” I took a sip of my beer.

“So why exactly aren’t we in that bar that we passed on Main Street?”

“I’m trying to keep a low profile.” I wasn’t happy about the way Joe had handled everything. But it didn’t mean I wanted to give him more hell than he’d already gotten over this.

“Why? You’ve already been sacked.”

“Technically I resigned. But you saw all the news vans. Everyone wants some salacious story, and I don’t want to give it to them.”

“Then you probably shouldn’t have slept with a student,” Rob said with a laugh. “But this bar is lame. There’s literally a student reading in the corner.”

I looked over to where he was pointing. There was a girl with brown hair staring at a textbook on the table. She was surrounded by her friends that were talking and laughing. I couldn’t see her face, but she was completely immersed in whatever she was reading. I actually don’t think I’d ever seen a student look that into a textbook before.

Another girl had just run over to her table, sliding into the booth next to the girl with brown hair. “Daphne!” she yelled and slammed the girl’s bookshut.

“Ah, shit,” I said under my breath.

“What?” Rob asked.

“That girl that just sat down. She’s the one I almost had to get a restraining order against.” What were the odds that Kristen would come tothisbar? Part of the reason I’d skipped the one on Main Street was to avoid her. “We have to go, unless you want to meet my stalker.” I drained the rest of my beer.

“The one with the book?” Rob asked.

“No, the one that just sat down next to her.”

Rob didn’t say anything, but he stayed seated as I stood up.

“Come on, there’s another bar down the street.” Yes, I knew where every bar was in a five-mile radius from apartment. Because I had fucking issues. But my biggest issue right now was Kristen being at this bar. I didn’t want her to see me. I really shouldn’t have left the apartment.

Still Rob didn’t move.

“Rob.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him off the stool.

“Sorry,” he said and looked over his shoulder once more at the table.

“Don’t tell me you have the hots for my stalker,” I said as I led him out of the bar.

“No.” He didn’t offer anything else. And he suddenly seemed…quiet. Which was something I wasn’t used to him being.

“Well you could have fooled me,” I said as we walked back outside.

“Did you see that girl reading?” he asked.

“The one you were just making fun of?”

“What? I wasn’t making fun of her.”

I just stared at him. “You said the bar was lame because she was reading.”

“That was before I got a good look at her. She was fucking gorgeous.”

I’d never seen him look more serious.

“I think we should go back and you can wingman…”

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