Page 72 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
"Whose side are you on anyway?"
"Yours, of course. But I also know how stubborn you can be. And maybe you shouldn't let go of a good thing just because it suddenly got tough."
It wasn't just hard. It was horrible, immoral, disgusting. I just wanted the conversation to end, so I nodded my head. "Maybe you're right."
Melissa smiled. She loved being right.
"How's Josh?"
"He's good." She bit her lip. I could tell she was holding something back.
"What?" I asked.
"He invited me to the Sigma Pi formal." She couldn't hold back her smile.
"That's awesome."
"Mhm. Penny, I really like him."
"I know. And I'm really happy for you guys." I was able to say it sincerely despite my dreadful mood.
Temptation - Chapter 38
Wednesday
Professor Hunter lifted his shirt over his head and stared down at me. His tanned abs made desire explode through my body, all the tension between us gone. He leaned over me, his strong arms on either side of me. I wanted him. Why wasn't he kissing me? I ran my hand through his hair.
"Penny." He rubbed my cheek with the side of his hand. "I'm not yours to touch," he said seductively. "I told you it had to be a one-time thing."
***
I woke up panting. Professor Hunter could even arouse me in my dreams. My heart was racing. He had warned me. Kind of. He had wanted it to be a one-time thing. He had told me he thought if he gave in to temptation he could forget about me. He didn't just want to forget about me, he needed to. I pictured the suitcase in his office. He was probably traveling back and forth to visit his wife.Shit.And he had told me he didn't want me to know what kind of man he was. There were so many signs. And I had thrown myself at him without thinking twice about any of them. I had acted like a slut. I pulled my phone off my desk and opened up the message I had ignored last night.
"Penny, I had a wonderful day with you. And a wonderful night. If there's something that I've done to upset you, I'll fix it. Just tell me what it is."
I typed out, "I'll talk to you after class," and pressed send. Melissa was right, we needed to talk. Mostly I needed to apologize for tempting him to cheat on his wife. He shouldn't have done it, but I was to blame too. I needed to tell him it was over before it got any worse. I rolled out of bed and began getting ready.
As I pulled the textbooks out of my bag, my fingers brushed against soft petals. Tyler. I picked up the flattened rose from the bottom of my backpack. Maybe Professor Hunter was right. There wasn't such a thing as a friendship rose. I opened up my closet and looked at the beautiful roses that Professor Hunter had sent me. The one in my hand was wilted and sad looking in comparison. I closed the door, poured some water in a cup, and put Tyler's rose in it on my desk. Despite its appearance, that rose was without a question the sweetest. Once I ended things with Professor Hunter, maybe I could finally give Tyler a fair chance.
But this was going to be hard. I put on waterproof mascara just in case. Even though I was mad at Professor Hunter, I still loved him. It was going to be a while before I could shake those feelings. I had thought that Austin had broken my heart. But that didn't even compare to this. I actually felt a pain in my chest. And my stomach hurt. My Chinese food fix hadn't helped at all.
I pulled my backpack over my shoulder and left my dorm room. The air was chilly again today. A few leaves were even turning yellow and red. It was time for a fresh start. This whole time I had thought Professor Hunter was just a dream. Now he needed to become one. I strolled into Smith and up the stairs to Professor Hunter's classroom. No, the Comm classroom. I needed to change my way of thinking about things.
I made my way to my usual seat. My heart was already pounding. I smiled as Tyler walked in. He came over to me and sat down.
"Want to grab lunch with me today?" he asked.
"Definitely."
"How about Grottos again? That was delicious."
"That sounds perfect."
"I actually have some news to share with you."
"Yeah? What's up?"
Professor Hunter walked into the room and I stopped breathing.
