Page 206 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
"Yeah, it took freaking forever." He glanced at the clock. "I'm going to go. Text me, okay?" He stood up and grabbed his backpack.
"Tyler?" I didn't care how I was supposed to act around him. He was so sweet and thoughtful. I stood up and hugged him.
"I wish I had met you first." His voice sounded tight. He rested his chin on top of my head as he wrapped his arms around me. "I'd do anything to have a little longer with you. But I'll never forget our night together. And I don't want to."
"I don't want to either." My tears were making his shirt damp.
"I have to go." He kissed my forehead and pulled away from me. He walked out of the classroom without looking back at me.
Why did it feel like every time we saw each other recently we were ending our relationship? Over and over again. And each time felt more painful. Could we ever go back to just being friends? My hand was clenched around the keychain. I opened it and looked down at the keychain on my palm. I wiped my eyeswith the back of my other hand and sat down. I grabbed my clutch and slipped the keychain on next to my dorm key.
I took a few deep breaths and wiped my eyes again. People were starting to arrive to class. The girls a few rows in front of me were whispering, but I overheard their conversation. There was a brunette and a blonde. The blonde girl was talking about how she wished she was sleeping with Professor Hunter. And the brunette was busy trying to figure out why James had chosen me to bang. I could feel their eyes on me. The phrase, "She's such a slut," seemed to be their favorite thing to say.
I knew people finding out would be bad. I just needed to ignore them. I pulled out my phone to pretend to be busy. There was a text from Professor Hunter:
"I hope that you're holding up okay. Can I convince you to come back to the apartment instead of listening to speeches?"
Seeing his words made me feel a little better. He had resigned for me. It was ridiculous for me to feel alone. He was trying to protect me. He had always said that. And his priority was to fix it for me, not himself. I typed out a response. "I want to face this. Waiting will make it worse. How did the rest of your conversation with the dean go?"
"I just had to sign a few papers. Can we at least meet for lunch? We really need to talk."
We need to talk?It was a line I had heard countless times in romantic comedies. It was synonymous with "we need to break up." I swallowed hard.What did the dean say to him?The feeling of being alone quickly returned. "Okay," I typed out and pressed send.
I looked up from my phone. Everyone seemed to be talking in hushed voices and staring at me. I looked back down at my phone.Text me back.I needed to hear that he loved me. I needed to hear that we were okay. I thought about how pissed he was at me in the dean's office. Would he really break up with me because I tried to save his job? Or maybe he realized that I had just ruined his life.
"Hey, Penny," someone said. I looked up as Raymond Asher sat down on top of Tyler's desk.
"Hi," I said and looked back down at my phone.Leave me alone.
He leaned forward slightly. "So, what is the going rate?"
I could hear a few people snickering.
"Excuse me?"
He shrugged. "I heard you were a hooker."
Seriously?I couldn't believe he was saying that to me. There was nothing in the article about that. "I'm not." I looked back down at my phone.
"What, you just sucked his dick for good grades?"
"It wasn't like that."Get the fuck away from me.What an asshole.
"I think it was exactly like that." The desk squeaked and I could feel his shadow over me. "Unless you just love sucking cock. Maybe you could give me a taste."
"Dude, back the fuck off." I looked behind me. Tyler had walked back in the room.
"What, is she banging you too?" Raymond asked.
"I said back the fuck off."
"Whatever, man." He laughed and walked back to his seat.
Tyler sat down next to me.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Yeah, well that piece of shit doesn't know anything about it."
