Page 259 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
"Tell me what happened today."
"It wasn't just one thing. It was everything. It was awful."
"Tell me." He put his hand on my cheek. "Please tell me."
"On my way to class I got a text from Professor Nolan telling me not to come to class. And that the investigation went south or something. He said Mr. Vespelli would be calling me with details."
"Well, it's good he told you not to come. I'm sure everyone had a lot of questions. You didn't need to be there for that."
"Yeah. And I ran into Tyler. He took me to breakfast."
James made a face.
"Stop. As friends. He was being nice. He knew I was upset."
"Okay. I'm glad that he was there for you. You could have come home though. I want to be the one that's there for you."
"You are that person. That's why I asked you to come."
He pushed another strand of hair out of my face.
"And at breakfast I talked to Mr. Vespelli. He told me that there were now three girls who accused you of..."
"I know. I talked to him too. Penny, if that's why you're upset, we've talked about this. You know me. You know how I feel about you."
"It did upset me. How could it not upset me? But I know it isn't true. And it was more upsetting that Mr. Vespelli was just going to give up the investigation. I don't understand why they don't want to find the truth. They're going to put it in the paper, James. They're going to tell everyone, and then people will think it's true even though it's not."
"Penny, I want them to stop the investigation. It's fine. It'll make the news vans go away."
"But those girls lied. Clearly they just wanted to get As. Mr. Vespelli even said that they all had bad grades in your classes. It's ridiculous."
"It's fine. The sooner it's over, the sooner things will go back to normal. Isn't that what you want?"
"I'm not sure anything will ever go back to normal."
He sighed. "I know. I told you to take the rest of the semester off. You can switch schools, Penny. You can pick up where you leftoff somewhere new in the spring. It's okay. We can go wherever you want."
"That isn't why I don't think things can go back to normal. At breakfast, Tyler warned me that it was going to be bad. Apparently everyone loves you. Which makes sense. You're very loveable."
He lowered his eyebrows slightly.
"Everyone's mad at me. I was hiding in the bathroom before Psych and I overheard these girls talking. People are upset that your classes are canceled. And it's because of me. Because I'm a slut and a whore. I ruined your career. I ruined your life."
"You saved me. Penny, I was drowning. Don't you see that? I'm not a professor. I was never meant to be a professor. It was an escape from my life back in New York. It was just like everything else I've ever done. It was just another escape."
"But you loved teaching. You were a great professor."
"I didn't love teaching. The only thing I think I've ever truly loved is you."
"I don't want to hold you back from..."
"Stop. Please stop. I don't understand why you won't accept what I'm telling you. You're all I want. You're all I care about."
"I just feel so selfish."
He rubbed my tears away with his thumb. "You're it for me. I don't know how else I can tell you." He ran the tip of his nose down the length of mine.
It comforted me whenever he did that.
