Page 114 of Devoured

"Touché." Penny was a good girl. For me. At least most of the time. But she was also kinky as hell. I loved every side of her.

Her eyes locked with mine. "I don't care if people think this is wrong."

I reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "We should probably talk about that."

"Isabella's threat? You think she'll really reveal our relationship?"

There was nothing stopping Isabella now. She’d already signed the papers. She’d gotten half of what was mine. She could tell anyone whatever she wanted without any repercussions. And I knew she came off looking better in this scenario than I did. Especially with her spin on the “facts.” I didn’t want to get into a media war with her. I didn’t want anything to do with her. So I needed to get out in front of this thing. "I think it would be best if we go to the dean in the morning."

"But..."

"It's better if he hears it from us." We’d agreed that we were all in. And I meant it. I also knew what that meant. We needed to tell the dean. We needed to tell her parents. We just needed to come clean to everyone.

"I don't want you to get fired."

I swallowed hard. "Yeah, me either.” Just thinking about not teaching anymore made my chest feel weird. Coming here had saved me. Teaching had saved me. And I didn’t know what would happen if I had to walk away. But getting ahead of this would hopefully mean I didn’t have to. “I know you're worried about what will happen. I told you it's not explicitly against the rules. And I don't think that anyone's complained."

"So you think nothing will happen?"

"I hope nothing happens. But I don't want you to worry about it." This was all on me, not her. I kissed her forehead and climbed out of bed. I pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms.

"Where are you going?"

"Get some sleep. I need to make a phone call."

"To who?"

"My lawyer." My eyes trailed down her naked body. "I won't let anything happen to you. We'll figure this out." If I’d had any lingering doubts, tonight would have confirmed everything for me. Penny and I were meant to be. And I’d promised myself I’d protect her. That meant getting in front of this situation.

Chapter 28

Tuesday

“I’m sorry, you did what?” my lawyer Litt said.

I sighed and sat down behind my desk. “Are you really going to make me repeat myself?”

“You slept with a student?”

What was he not getting here? “Yes. And I want to disclose it to the dean tomorrow.”

“I need a lot more information than that.”

“Look, the details don’t matter…”

“The details absolutely do matter here, James.”

Breathe.“I had Ian check out the university’s policies. And there’s nothing explicitly listed against it.”

“Well, Ian’s not a lawyer. You should have called me weeks ago.”

“That’s why I’m calling you now. I just want to know what the next steps should be.”

“The next steps? James, stop sleeping with your students.”

“Student. Singular.” Why did everyone just assume I was fucking all my students? Shit, the dean would probably just assume the same thing. “I’m forwarding you a copy of the university’s code of ethics.” I sent off the email. “I just need you to comb through it and help me out here.”

“Does Isabella know?”

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