30. “Play With Fire” - Sam Tinnesz ft. Yacht Money
“Play With Fire” - Sam Tinnesz ft. Yacht Money
Walker
The beach fucked with my head. It also fucked with my plans, but since there’s little to be done about that, I focus my energy on regaining my mental clarity.
It doesn’t help that I’m still worried about Lux. She responded to my texts saying everything was fine, that Carter had just been in a bad mood because he thought she was coming home the night before, but it does little to ease my anxiety.
It also doesn’t help that I can’t get the scene with Heath on the beach out of my head. Every time I close my eyes, he’s there, moving between my thighs. Every time I open my eyes, he’s there, reading that damn Huntington novel in the back room of the Archives.
I pluck my poet’s blouse away from my chest. Did it get warmer in here?
I have to fix this.
“God, I can’t seem to wake up.” I stifle a large and very fake yawn.
Heath looks up from his book. “Want me to grab some coffee?”
I pretend to ponder this. “Do you mind? ”
“Not at all.” He thumps the book shut and drops it onto the chair. “I’ll be right back.”
There’s a tiny moment when he pauses and I’m afraid he’s going to kiss me, or something equally terrifying, but then he walks out the door like the thought never crossed his mind.
I now have around twenty Heath-free minutes to get as much research done as possible. I grab the three most promising books from the shelf and set them on the table. Opening my notebook to a clean page, I start scribbling as fast as I can.
I’m on my third page of notes when a quiet rap sounds on the door. Standing in the doorway is the last person I expect to see.
“Dr. Riordan!” I jump up.
He’s young for a professor, midthirties maybe, but seeing him outside of his lecture hall makes him appear even younger. His thick black hair curls over his forehead just enough to give him a boyish look.
A blinding grin—white against brown skin—stretches across his face as he takes in the room. “So this is where you’ve been holed up.”
“This is it. An entire room dedicated to G.R. Huntington.”
“Wow.” He pulls a volume off the shelf. “Incredible.”
“What are you doing here?” I say. “I had no idea you were in Wesbourne.”
He looks up and smiles, then reshelves the book. “I just arrived. When you didn’t text me back, I decided to come see for myself what you are up to.”
Something ticks inside me, maybe Heath’s warning that Riordan’s too invested in my work. I did forget to text him back on Sunday. “I’ve been kind of busy.”
“I can see that.” He walks the perimeter of the room, stopping to look at various volumes.
My face heats. I didn’t mean I was busy studying, but there’s no reason for him to know I’ve been spending as much time with my friends as I have at the Archives. “Do you have a membership here?” I ask.
“Oxford professors get honorary one-day passes.” He stops right in front of me. “Can I see what you have so far?”
“Of course.” I reach for my notebook. “I’ve mostly been reading.” And surfing. And getting even. And having sex.
He takes a few minutes to read over my notes. “This is really good, Walker.” He rests his hand on my shoulder as he looks over the last page. “I’m excited to read your dissertation.”
“I still have a lot to do,” I say.
He tosses my notebook back onto the table. “It’s important to not overdo it.” His hand slides across my back to my other shoulder, and he starts giving me a massage. “Are you enjoying yourself too? It can be easy to burn out on a project like this.”
“I—” An involuntary groan slips past my lips. Something about this feels wrong, but he’s my professor, for god’s sake.
“You are very tight.” He kneads my knots with his thumbs. “That comes from bending over a book too long.”
Or from trying not to fall back in love with the guy who broke my heart.
“If you want, we can go somewhere, and I can work to relieve all of this tension,” he says quietly.
Go somewhere? “I’m not sure that would be at all appropriate, Dr. Riordan.” I’m hoping the use of his title will remind him of where he is and who he’s with. I pull away and turn to face him. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.”
His smile returns, and he leans both hands on the back of the chair I vacated when he entered. “I don’t think you understand how worried I was about you, Walker. You are one of my brightest students. Talent like that shouldn’t be wasted.”
“I can assure you, it’s not.” I take a few steps backward. Where is Heath when I need him?
“And yet, you understand that I feel it my duty to make sure.” He scoots the chair under the table and takes a few measured steps in my direction.
I try to back up, but the bookcase prevents me from going any further. I step to the side instead.
“Allow me to help you.” He reaches a hand toward me. “I only have your best interests at heart.”
I retreat to the other side of the room. “I prefer your help from a distance, sir.”
He tilts his head backward and chuckles. “You misunderstand. My help will be mutually beneficial for both of us, I assure you.”
“I don’t know what you’re driving at, sir, but you’re making me uncomfortable.”
Something snaps in him. He takes several long strides toward me, the smile vanishing from his face. Before I have time to dart out of the way, he’s right in front of me, his hands clamped down on my arms.
“Things will only get more uncomfortable if you don’t accept my help.” Spittle lands on my cheek, and I turn my face away from him. His cool fingers pull it back. “We both know how important this work is to you, hmm? And we both know how much of it is riding on my assistance.”
Cold, hard dread sinks in my stomach. Is he threatening my grade?
“What do you want?” I spit out. How did I ever find this man attractive?
He gives me a placating smile, as if I’m a misbehaving child who needs to be corrected and it pains him to do it. “Nothing much. Nothing you won’t enjoy giving, I’m sure,” he says into my ear.
“Get away from me, you sleazebag.” I shove at him. His off-white dress shirt and tie hide his considerable strength. He doesn’t even budge.
“Now, Walker, it doesn’t need to be like this.” Garlic and onion emanate with his breath, likely from the ranch pretzels he accepted on the flight over.
“Oh yeah?” another voice says. “Then what does it need to be like?”
Before Riordan has time to react, Heath grabs him, spins him around, and punches him in the nose. Blood spews from his face and onto the front of Heath’s T-shirt. Riordan doesn’t even have time to draw his arm back before Heath slams his fist into his face again.
“Heath,” I say. “Stop!”
He throws a glance my way, and it’s long enough for Dr. Riordan to land a punch in his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
I gasp and cover my mouth, not wanting to see this but unable to look away.
Heath rears back and socks his fist into Riordan’s gut. The older man stumbles backward into a bookcase. Several books slide off the shelf.
“Stop it!” I say again, but neither of them is paying any attention to me.
Riordan feigns a blow, and Heath ducks to the side. There’s a snap as Heath’s fist connects with Riordan’s jaw. “Don’t ever touch her again,” he growls.
Dr. Riordan slumps backward over the table. At first I’m worried Heath has knocked him out, but eventually he stirs and groans, clamping a hand to his face.
The security guard chooses that moment to enter. He takes one look at the three of us and jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “Out. All of you.”
“But I need to—” I start.
“Ma’am, you’re going to have to leave.”
“Please. I wasn’t even involved,” I say.
He shakes his head and motions to the door once more. “Out. Now. ”
I squeeze my eyes shut for two seconds, then turn to the table for my notebook.
The security guard hauls Dr. Riordan to his feet and ushers him to the door. “You two,” he says to Heath and me. “Get your things, and let’s go.”
We follow him from the room. He takes all of our names, and I understand belatedly that it’s to ban us from reentering.
“Please, sir,” I say. “I need access for my research. I promise—”
“I’m afraid the rules are the rules.” His stoic look doesn’t change. “You won’t be able to come back for a whole year.”
“You don’t understand—”
“Walker, let’s go.” Heath leads me through the front door by the arm.
I jerk away from him once we’re outside. “This is your fault!”
He looks at me like I’m crazy. “I just saved your ass from that predator, and you wanna talk to me about whose fault this is?”
“I had it handled,” I snap.
He blinks and crosses his arms over his chest, then looks down at me and laughs. “You had it handled ?”
“Yes,” I hiss.
“He had his hands on you. What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t come back when I did?”
“I don’t know,” I say, crossing my own arms, “but we’ll never find out because I can’t get back in there .”
“Unbelievable.” He turns away and shakes his head at the sky, like the answers to my absurdity lie up there. “Don’t you carry pepper spray or something?”
“I had no reason to think I’d need it. He’s my professor!”
“I warned you he was bad news.” Heath steps closer as a man in a tweed suit walks past us. The guy throws a wary glance in our direction, as if we’re wild animals who can’t be trusted to behave properly when released.
“Congratulations. You were right,” I say. “I’m not giving you a trophy. You had us thrown out!”
“That was an unexpected consequence.” He runs his fingers through his hair.
“One that you might have considered had you stopped to think before slamming your fist into the guy. How the hell am I supposed to finish my research now?”
“We’ll think of something, okay? I promise.” He reaches for me, but I step away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about what would happen. I was focused on getting him away from you.”
“You cost me a lot more than he did.” I stare at a pair of turtledoves on the pavement picking at a hamburger wrapper. “Did you know he’s married? Dr. Riordan?” I squint up at Heath. “Do you think there are any men left in the world who don’t cheat?”
This has the effect I hoped for. He pinches the bridge of his nose and mumbles something under his breath that sounds like “For fuck’s sake.”
“This couldn’t have been an isolated incident,” I say. “I wonder how long he’s been preying on students.”
Heath kicks at a loose pebble on the pavement. “We need to report him.”
“ We are not doing anything together.”
“Hey.” He stretches his hand toward my face. “Don’t shut me out now.”
I jerk away like he’s burned me. “Don’t touch me.”
His face crumples as if he’d been expecting something different. Did he think I would just put this behind me after he cost me my research project? “Walker, please,” he says quietly. “I want to help.”
“I’ve seen what your help looks like,” I say, “and I’m not interested.”
I head in the direction of my parked car, glad I turned down his offer of a ride this morning, not because I would’ve ridden back with him, but because it packs less of a punch when you walk away to stand at the curb and wait for your Uber.
I should be grateful for Heath’s help. He did keep Riordan from doing anything worse. But his impulsiveness ruined everything.