Page 13 of Brat Baby
Realistically, only Derek and I have anything to worry about, since Emmy isn’t in either of their classes. I checked. We’re also the only two who are permanent employees of Newton University. Darcy is doing the guest lecturer thing, and Xavier has a year-to-year contract.
None of us need the work, but it’s more about the time and effort that Derek and I have put in to get onto the tenure track. He is tenured and the head of his department. I’m still a couple of years away.
When neither of them acknowledges that we have arrived, I glance at Darcy. The confusion on his face smooths out into resolution, and he strides over to Derek’s wet bar to get us both a beer.
“So, what’s the plan? Anyone got any ideas?” he calls out to no one in particular as he pops the top off one, then the other beer.
Xavier doesn’t look up from his phone as he responds. “Why does the plan need to change?”
All the pain and fury that has been rolling around inside of me propels me toward the back of the couch. My voice comes out harsh to my own ears, throat screaming as my anger erupts. “She’s a goddamn student, Xavier! And not just any student, but our student. Derek and I could lose everything over this. How could you put us in this situation? How could you not even ask? You played god, and now we are the ones on the hook if anyone finds out. This is so far across the fucking line that I’m not sure if I can forgive you for this. You didn’t see her face staring back at you for two fucking hours. She cried. The entire time. Silently. I don’t even think she realized she was crying. Tears constantly streaming down her cheeks every time I looked at her. It fucking broke me.”
I inhale through my nose as my arms tingle with the urge to hit something. Looking at her had been so fucking hard that I’d avoided it at all costs, only caving when she was taking notes. I’mcertain she believes I was ignoring her, but I wasn’t. It was her tears.
As much as I want her tears, I want them with consent, not pouring from her in an uncontrollable endless stream, displaying her inner turmoil to anyone who sees.
Tension fills the room. Without looking, I know that the other two are staring at us. Heat burns under my skin and my pulse is pounding. An overridingneedto find her, hold her, tell her that I’m sorry for walking away gnaws at my bones. I need to tell her that she is mine and that I’ll fight for her at the expense of everything else.
So fucking slowly that I’m sure that someone has reduced the speed on time, Xavier looks up from his phone and makes direct eye contact with me. “Are you done?”
I lunge at him from over the back of the couch. Something flickers across his eyes, but I’m yanked back and onto my feet before I can decipher it. Arms band around my chest, but that doesn’t stop me from lunging again. “You fucking bastard. You ruined this, for all of us.”
Xavier stares back at me, unblinking, and honestly, I could kill him. I could wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze. I could get his little knife roll and slice him open with each blade.
He has basically made it so that we can never have her. Not unless we walk away from our careers. From our lives. Or force her out of the university.
I sag against the arms holding me up. “I’m good,” I mutter, reaching up to jam my thumb and forefinger into my eyelids.
When a beer is shoved into my hand, presumably from Darcy, I figure it must have been Derek holding me back. Turning, I give him a nod to say thanks for not letting me commit a felony. But also moderately annoyed that he didn’t let me get at least one punch in.
“I actually do have an idea, if you’re all done with your huffing and puffing,” Derek states, pointedly staring at me. “Turning on each other isn’t going to help us.”
I turn to glare at him. “You were choking this asshole up against your office wall just this morning. I think I’m allowed to have a fucking minute.”
When all Derek does is stare back at me, I turn my back on him and put some distance between us by heading over to the wet bar myself. I have a feeling this beer won’t last me very long.
“What’s the idea?” Darcy asks, breaking the silence yet again.
I turn to face the room and prop my shoulder against the cabinetry.
“Thayne gets back from his vacation in three weeks. We go no contact with Emery until we have a chance to talk with him. If anyone knows a way around this situation, it’ll be the dean of the university. I’ve already sent him a text message.”
The last time I saw Thayne was at the collaring ceremony between himself and his two submissives, which was hosted at Obsession, our BDSM club. I’d only ever known the man as a dom-for-hire, never taking on a sub in anything other than a short-term contract where he provided training and guidance for their next dom. That all ended when he met Abigail and Wyatt.
Now the man has two subs and a baby on the way.
“Do you think he’ll help us? He fired O’Shanessey three years ago for sleeping with that TA,” Darcy reminds us all as he picks at the label of his beer.
My mouth moves before I can stop it. “Yeah, but he only did that after a complaint was filed by another TA. They kept it completely secret from everyone else, instead of declaring it. Until this morning, we… well, the majority of us”—I clench my jaw as I work to keep a glare from Xavier—“didn’t know that we had that relationship with Emmy.”
Darcy swallows a mouthful of his beer and nods. “That’s true. Which means that the only person here who continued their relationship with Emmy, knowing she’s a student, is Xav.” He tips his bottle in Xavier’s direction. “So, really, the three of us are in the clear. Xav is the only one who can get fired for this. As for Emmy, if you want to look at it super technically, she wasn’t actually a student until this morning. So, she didn’t fuck her professors over the weekend. And as long as we don’t do it again, now that we know, we should be in the clear.”
I smirk at him as I raise my drink to my lips. “You’re a lawyer now?”
He rolls his eyes at me. “Never. My parents and siblings can have that honor.”
“Anyway,” Derek cuts in before we can derail the conversation any further. “Yay or nay on the keeping our distance for three weeks? I also plan to check the code of conduct and any other policies I can get my hands on without raising any red flags while we wait for Thayne. Once we declare it, we might be able to find a way around all of this and get things back on track with Emery. But until then, no contact. Let’s not make this situation any muddier than it already is.”
I don’t even hesitate. “Yay.”
