Page 60 of Bachelor

She turned and walked away, and in the distance, I saw several other of her friends waiting for her, all of them tittering and giggling like schoolgirls as she approached. They watched me, whispering to each other.

Everyone knew. It had happened. Christian had made good on his threat.

I hurried along, needing to find Jessica, deciding to skip my dinner plans altogether.

I found Jessica at Bill’s shop, alone.

“He and Rhys went a few towns over to pick up some books Bill ordered,” she said, noticing the frantic look in my eyes. “They’re not going to get back until pretty late tonight. Why?”

“Oh, hell,” I whispered, meeting her eyes. “Christian told everyone, Jessica. It’s over.”

Chapter Twenty

Rhys

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IWAS IN MY OFFICEMonday morning when Whitney burst through the door, red in the face. Dan nearly jumped out of his skin. It was only 7:30, and Dan and I had been discussing our plans for midterms, which were coming up quickly, followed by spring break. I had roughly ten days to prepare my graduate students, and I was feeling the weight of that on my shoulders.

But when Whitney came in, we’d been in the middle of another conversation, something I hadn’t wanted to have with anyone.

Judging by the look on Whitney’s face, she’d heard the news too.

“Whitney,” I said, rising from my chair and glancing down at my watch. “You’re early.”

“Oh,” she panted, looking from me to Dan. “I’m sorry for interrupting. I’ll wait.”

“Don’t worry about it, I was just leaving.” Dan gave her a kind smile before turning his attention to me, giving me a cautious look. I nodded, and he stepped past Whitney, closing the door behind him.

Whitney let out her breath in a whoosh, her eyes frantic as she grabbed the back of one of the chairs in front of my desk. Her lips parted, then closed, her brow furrowing as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“I wanted to talk to you about us, Whitney.”

“Rhys, everyone knows.”

“I know,” I breathed, sitting back down. I glanced at the door. Locking it seemed like the smart thing to do, but given that I was in here with Whitney, a student, right before lecture sessions were about to begin and anyone could walk in... “Something was posted in the student activities portal yesterday about it. The post has since been taken down.”

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