Page 41 of Wish You Were Mine
“So, how’s the online dating thing going, anyway?” Ian leaned back on the couch and gave me a once-over, the kind only a smug, happily engaged man could pull off.
We were camped out in his living room after dinner—Maddie’s homemade chicken enchiladas still sitting warmly in my stomach. Maddie had disappeared upstairs a few minutes ago, tucking in Grant for the night, leaving us with a few minutes of guy talk.
“You on your way to locking down a plus-one for the wedding?”
“For a wedding that’s not till June?” I snorted. “Yeah…no. I definitely haven’t found anyone I see myself with five months from now.”
“I thought you had a few dates lined up, though?”
“I went on a couple of dates in December,” I said, thinking of the girl I’d taken to dinner and the one I’d awkwardly escorted to her company’s Christmas party. “But nothing came from them.”
“Ah, dang.” Ian scratched his jaw. “You been matching with anyone, at least? You said it’s just a numbers game, right?”
“That’s what I’ve been telling myself.” I shrugged. “Sadly, though, it’s easier said than done.”
“Well, I guess you could always do what I did.” Ian grinned. “Kiss a random girl at the club, then find out she’s your assistant the next Monday. Worked for me.”
It sure did. Lucky dog.
“Yeah…” I hesitated, then laughed under my breath and rubbed the back of my neck. “I, uh…actually did something like that already.”
“What?” He furrowed his brow.
“Yeah, so, crazy story.” I let out a humorless chuckle. “I kissed a girl at Ky’s New Year’s Eve party and well…when I showed up to teach my class on Monday, I discovered that the girl I’d kissed in a hot tub is actually a student.”
“No way.” His eyes went wide. “You’re joking, right?”
“I wish I was.”
“Dude.”
“Oh, it gets better.” I held up a finger. “Turns out she’s Theo’s sister.”
Ian blinked. “Theo has a sister in college?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She’s actually on the gymnastics team.”
“Nice,” Ian said, looking like he was mentally running through every gymnast stereotype imaginable. “I never dated a gymnast…”
“Don’t go there.” I gave him a flat look. Since yeah…I’d been trying to keep my brain from going there myself.
“Hey, I’m a happily engaged man.” He held up his hands, grinning. “I was just thinking of the perks foryou, buddy.”
“She’s only twenty-one,” I said. “And there’s also the fun little complication that I could get fired for having a romantic relationship with a student. Not to mention the fact that her dad is President Archibald.”
“Oh shoot.” Ian’s jaw dropped, like he was only just realizing how bad that could be for me.
“Exactly.”
“If that gets out?—”
“I’m screwed,” I finished for him. “Career-ending levels of screwed.”
“Dang.” He let out a low whistle. “And I thought things were complicated when Maddie turned out to be my assistant. But at least my livelihood wasn’t on the line.”
“Yeah.” I released a heavy sigh, feeling the stress of my situation all over again.
“But it was just a kiss, right? It’s not like you did anything after that, did you?”
