Page 15 of Bewitched By the Mountain Man
“Don’t say a word,” I warn. “This doesn’t change anything. You’re my student. This was a lapse. Never again.”
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
"Is it?"
The door above us rattles. A key turns in the lock.
"Step back," I tell her, and she does, moving to the opposite wall, fixing her clothes as I zip up.
By the time the maintenance guy opens the door, we're standing apart, professional distance between us. He's holding a toolbox and looking apologetic.
"Sorry about that, folks. Door jams sometimes during alarms. You two okay?"
"Fine. Thank you."
Tessa just nods.
We file out past him, and I force myself not to look at her or reach for her. Not to drag her into the nearest empty room and go again and again.
But as we reach the building exit, she pauses, turning back to me. Her eyes hold everything we can't say out loud.
Then she walks away, disappearing into the rain.
5
TESSA
My phone buzzes for the third time in an hour. I stare at the screen, at the name I thought I'd deleted from my life, and my stomach twists.
Derek.My ex.
I silence it and go back to my textbook. Or try to. The words blur together, meaningless paragraphs about cognitive dissonance and moral reasoning that I can't seem to absorb, because all I can think about is Lachlan.
My phone buzzes again. Derek. Again.
"What the hell," I mutter, declining the call. What could he possibly want?
I turn the phone face-down and force myself to focus on the chapter about ethical decision-making in extreme circumstances. The irony isn't lost on me. I'm literally studying the psychology of why people cross moral boundaries while actively crossing every boundary imaginable with my professor.
My mind drifts back to the stairwell. I close my eyes, heat stirring between my thighs at the memory.
My phone lights up with a text this time.
Derek: Were you at some kind of sex club the other night?
What. The. Fuck.
How would he know that? How could he possibly know that? I was wearing a mask. Everyone was wearing masks. That was the whole point.
I block his number before he can respond, my heart hammering against my ribs.
I can't think straight. The apartment walls feel like they're closing in. I need air. I need to move. I need to not be sitting here spiraling about my ex somehow knowing about the sex club, and how he could possibly know that.
My phone rings, and I nearly jump out of my skin.
Madison.
