I pocketed my phone and had the hostess show me to our table. Reed greeted me with a smile and a back slap before reclaiming his seat. It wasn’t until our food came that he began harassing me.
“Hey, you never told me what happened with the girl from our last lunch. Please tell me you actually called her and went on a date.”
“You’ll be happy to know I went on two dates with her.”
“Did you fuck her? If I remember correctly, she had a nice rack.”
“You’re fucking married.”
“A man can notice. Karen knows I’m all hers,” he said with a shrug. “So?”
“No, I didn’t. And it’s a good thing because she works with me and that would have been hell.”
“What, you’ve never banged anyone you worked with?”
I glared at him as I rotated my beer bottle until the logo faced me. “The only women I work with who are single are an older receptionist and a new student aide.”
“A new physics major? In the middle of the semester? I thought you weren’t getting another student aide until next year.”
“No. She’s a bio major and does student work in their department too. She needed help paying for her tuition and is trying to pick up extra hours.” My lips twitched as I considered how impressed I was with her work ethic. I’d seen better people give up easier than Oaklyn. “She’s tenacious. Smart. Determined.”
“Oh, fuck no,” Reed said, bringing my attention back to him.
“What?” I asked. But I knew. Reed knew me too well to not pick up on the feelings I was sure were pouring out of me no matter how hard I tried to hold them in.
“You fucking like her. A student.” His voice rose with incredulity.
My stomach dropped at just hearing it said aloud. “Would you keep it the fuck down? People I work with could be here and what would they think if they heard you?”
“Then don’t like your fucking student,” he shot back, eyes narrowed in concern.
“I don’t like her. Okay?” I tugged at the collar of my shirt, trying to give myself more room to breathe.
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit,” I said harder than I intended. I lifted my drink to my dry mouth to give myself a second to think of my next words. “She’s a student and that’s that. I would never cross that line. She’s too young, and she’s my student.”
“Yeah, you said that already. Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
We stared at each other, and I knew I wasn’t leaving that restaurant without at least admitting something.
I finished the last half of my beer in one go and set it down before looking back at Reed.
“Fine,” I admitted through a clenched jaw. “I like her. She’s beautiful and funny. Fuck does she make me laugh.” And she makes me forget, I wanted to say. My chest warmed just thinking of the ways to describe her. “She just. . . Just makes me feel good.”
“Fuck, dude. I was hoping you’d tell me she had a tight ass and huge tits. I wasn’t expecting you to wax poetic about how she makes you feel.” He finished his beer too, probably feeling the severity of my admission. “I would have been a hell of a lot less worried if that was the case.”
“I know,” I said miserably.
“So, you met her in the office?”
I thought about telling him she worked at Voyeur, and I’d seen her there first, but I wanted to protect her. I didn’t want Reed to judge her.
“No, she’s my student. So, I saw her in class first.”
“Cal, what are you going to do?”
“Nothing.” My tone was hard and brokered no doubt. “She’s my student. I would never exploit that. And no matter how I feel about her, I just bury it.”
“Okay,” he said. Simple. Which with Reed, the less he said, the more concerned he was. But no one could have been more concerned than me. I felt like I was constantly on the edge of a precipice with Oaklyn.
“Just be careful, Cal.”
Be careful.
It was easier said than done.
12
Oaklyn
It was a miracle.
I had a night off from work and was all caught up on my homework. Even a little ahead. Which was the only reason I’d let Olivia talk me into going out to “act like a typical college girl.” She’d rattled on and on about how much fun it would be to experience a frat party even if it sucked. She explained how we at least needed to cross it off our list.
She bounced in the passenger seat as she slicked on a coat of lip stain. Her excitement both sparked my own and reminded me how tired I was. But she was right. I wanted college and everything that came with it. I was working my ass off to earn it, so why not take it.