Page 62 of Private Tutoring
I couldn’t risk turning my back on her, but I did my best to put as much space between us as possible. Suddenly, the wide-open space of my room with its high windows and desks spread out in a half-moon shrank until I felt suffocated. I dropped the eraser in the holder and picked up a marker, working through the first set of equations for my next class. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Except she did. Anger threatened, but I tamped it down. Harmony had told Delilah about us. That was the only thing that made sense. We’d been too careful to get caught.
“You can keep saying that all you want.” Delilah kicked her feet up onto my desk. “I’m here to tell you that Harmony wants nothing more to do with you. Or with any of the Dream Team.”
The anger that had risen fell with a crushing weight that caved my chest.
Matthew had mentioned something a while back about his worry that Harmony was losing interest. After Friday night together, I’d stopped thinking about it. Harmony didn’t act like someone who’d lost interest. Her pleasure wasn’t faked. “Why are you telling me this?” It was as close as I was willing to get to admitting to our relationship.
Because that’s exactly what it was. I’d stipulated a ridiculous rule about not letting feelings get involved. Too late. I already had feelings for Harmony. Strong feelings.
Delilah’s lips puckered, and she stood with a long-suffering sigh. “Poor Professor Harding. You can’t see the truth, but I can.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder in a moveso practiced she might have been auditioning for a shampoo commercial. “Harmony is leaving school.”
I dropped the marker, cursed, and bent to grab it while fixing the shocked expression that gave me away. I was too late on that as well, based on the way Delilah snickered. “I hate to see her leave.” I tried to salvage the situation. “I’m still curious why you’re the one telling me this. And why you’re bothering. Students come and go all the time in my classroom. Harmony was struggling, but she’d brought her grades up.”
“She sure did.” Delilah wiggled her eyebrows. “Thanks to all those tutoring sessions, she’s sailing right through her hardest subject. I wonder how that happened?”
It didn’t take a genius to understand the underlying implications. I finished writing the equation, giving my hands something to do and delaying my answer. “As I said, Harmony has worked hard for her grades.”
“Yes. It’s a shame she’s leaving. I’m sure everyone is devastated.” She swung her legs around and slapped her feet to the floor, standing with a grim smile. “But you need to let her go. All of you.”
“I’m curious why you think I would have any thoughts about Harmony outside of my classroom.”
Even up to this point, she’d blatantly stated she knew we were sleeping together, but she hadn’t offered any proof. Anyone could make an accusation. Without proof, it mattered about as much as a parachute in a tornado.
“That’s cute. If I didn’t know better, I might believe you.” Delilah stayed by my desk, and I counted that as a blessing. “It wouldn’t be good for Harmony or for any of you if word got out about what you were doing.”
“Are you trying to threaten me?” The question popped out amid my fear as anger took over. I’d prided myself on beingeven-keeled and difficult to knock off-balance, but this threw me for a loop. I never saw it coming.
Walking around my desk, one finger on the wood as she watched me with that solemn smile, raised my blood pressure. She cocked her head to the side. “I’m not one to make threats. I’m just saying that Harmony is my friend. And if I know about you all, it’s bound to get around to someone who won’t be as polite as I am.”
Polite my ass. She reminded me of a shark, all cold stares and vague threats. She’d still managed to shock me. Why in hell would Harmony have told her about us? That was the whole point of it being a secret, so we didn’t have to worry about some asshole trying to blackmail us.
What did Delilah want, exactly? She suggested I stay away from Harmony and stated Harmony didn’t want anything to do with us. I could possibly believe one or both of her claims, but I’d trust them coming from a rat’s ass before I trusted Delilah.
How had Harmony become friends with someone like her? She’d seemed sweet, but every instinct I possessed told me to get away from her. Now. “Thank you for having the courage to come speak to me. I’m sorry you believe that there has been any inappropriate behavior.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Going to keep denying it, huh? Well. That’s fine. I’m here on Harmony’s behalf. She wants you to leave her alone.”
I bit my tongue to keep from lashing out with a demand that Harmony tell us that herself if it was what she really wanted. I reined in the temper pulsing hot and thick enough to goad me into the mistake that would prove to Delilah we had something to hide.
“Well, you’ve informed me of her wishes.” I checked my watch. “I have other business.”
“Right.” She smirked and turned on her heel. Bending at the waist in a move that showed her ass as she picked up her bag, she glanced at me over her shoulder.
I’d seen the movement from the corner of my eye and shifted my entire attention to finishing the equations on the board in front of me. I had no desire to see any part of Delilah. Harmony, on the other hand, I could not get enough of.
I waited for Delilah to leave, wrote a note for my next class to work the problems on the board until I returned, and bolted out the back door. I had to find Matthew and Roberto. They could help me unravel the mystery Delilah threw in my face. My chest burned from holding my emotions in check for so long. Every stride that carried me toward Roberto’s classroom felt like a mile. I was never going to get there.
Images of Harmony flashed on repeat in my mind. So many questions, all of them unanswered unless we spoke to her. Did we risk it after Delilah’s visit? If only I hadn’t left my phone at home, I could call her. Or Matthew or Roberto. One of us could figure out a way to talk to Harmony. The shy student she’d been at the beginning of the semester still existed. It was possible she hadn’t had the courage to tell us face-to-face.
Because we would have tried to talk her out of it. Fuck. Were we really like that?
I ran every interaction through my mind, doing my best to look at it clearly. Had we ever cajoled or tried to convince her of anything? Had she tried to break things off and we had refused to listen?
The way she’d shut down our tutoring sessions bombarded me with truth. That had been Harmony trying to say goodbye.
She didn’t want us anymore. Fuck I was so confused. If she didn’t want us, why had she reacted so well on Friday?
