Page 36 of Wish You Were Mine
Dozens of results popped up. Policy summaries. Forum threads. A few academic scandal exposés that made me feel like I was about to throw up.
I clicked through one that looked semi-reputable. The words blurred a little at the edges of my vision, but I forced myself to read:
“While romantic relationships between professors and students are not illegal in most states, they are generally prohibited under university policy—especially when a direct power dynamic exists. Even consensual relationships may be grounds for disciplinary action or termination…”
Yeah. That tracked.
Professors are expected to maintain ethical boundaries. In cases where the relationship began before the class, disclosure is critical…
Okay…so maybe I wasn’tcompletelydoomed.
Though somehow,"We kissed in a hot tub before either of us knew the truth"didn’t sound like the kind of explanation the administration would appreciate.
Especially not when the girl in question was the university president’s daughter.
I’d only met President Archibald twice—once at the funeral for Theo’s wife a year and a half ago, and again at an open house he and his wife hosted at the president’s mansion this past fall.
Both encounters had been brief, but the man had left an impression. He was sharp. Controlled. Not someone you’d want to disappoint…or piss off.
And though I’d hated hearing it at the time, I suddenly understood exactly why that girl at the beach house had said Lucy’s dad would freak if he knew she’d been “slumming it” with a bartender. Because let’s face it—the Archibalds weren’t exactly known for dating or marrying outside their social class.
They came from old money.Carefully curatedold money.
And even though Theo had struck out on his own during law school—working as a house dad at Eden Falls Academy to earn free room and board—he still ended up marrying Alisha Vanderbilt. An heiress from a family whose hotel empire had made them even more wealthy than the Hastings.
Yeah, suddenly everything I’d overheard on New Year’s made sense.
“Rebellious Archibald Heiress Slums It with No-name Bartender During Wild Night Out.”The exposé practically wrote itself. Just a reckless detour on Lucy’s otherwise well-manicured path.
Something to try once before returning to the guys she was actually expected to end up with—ones who wore tailored suits, inherited legacies, and maybe had a drinking problem or two.
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling, letting the weight of it all settle. The job I’d busted my butt through grad school for? The career I’d just barely started to build? All of it could blow up if anyone found out what happened between us.
Sure, it was technically just a kiss. But I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t meant something. If I said I hadn’t let myself think, just for a second, that maybe Lucy could be more than just one night.
But that second was over now.
I closed my laptop, rested my head in my hands, and muttered to the empty apartment, “I’m so screwed.”
12
LUCY
The sharp bounceof my landing echoed through the gymnastics facility as I stumbled just barely out of bounds, my right foot slipping over the white tape line.
“Dang it,” I muttered, hands on my hips as I tried to catch my breath. Most of the pass had been clean—solid even—but that stupid double layout was still giving me trouble. My feet felt just a little off every time, like my timing was a beat behind where it should be.
“You’re getting closer,” Nora called from across the floor, stretching her arms behind her back. “You’ve just got to trust the takeoff a little more. You’re over-rotating on the second flip.”
“Easier said than done,” I grumbled, walking back toward her as I wiped sweat from my forehead with the back of my arm. “This routine was perfect in December. I don’t know what my problem is this week.”
“First home meet jitters?” she offered.
I shot her a look. “I don’t get jitters.”
“No?” She raised a brow. “Not even when your hotprofessor turns out to be the guy you made out with in a hot tub?”
“Ugh.” I groaned, flopping down onto a nearby mat. “Please don’t remind me.”
