Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Eve
When I wake up, Carter is still sleeping. I sneak out of bed and dress quickly. This morning, I’m on a mission. I sneak out of the house and head to campus, my heart racing with fear, despite my determination.
Outside of the financial aid office, I pause to catch my breath. My paperwork for my campus job is here, ready to be picked up. This is my first real step toward independence. I can’t help but beam as I ask the secretary for my work packet.
Rifling through the packet, I find a note from Clarissa.
Eve, I think this is the perfect job for you. Good luck!
How lucky am I to have someone like Clarissa on my side? The prospect of finally being free from my father’s tyranny feels amazing. But even better is that I will work in an actual lab. I’m blessed.
I get coffee from a coffee cart on campus, a skip in my step. Throwing my normal caution to the wind, I get a mocha latte with extra whipped cream on top. No one is monitoring my diet anymore. And there will be no one checking if I’ve exercised enough to make every last calorie disappear, either.
That in itself is a truly joyous occasion. I raise my hands in the air and add a little shimmy as I walk. That’s my idea of a victory dance.
As I walk and sip my mocha, my mind turns back to Carter. We’d spent the whole night making love and hadn’t stopped to talk much before drifting off to sleep in each other’s arms.
I was quickly growing to love sleeping next to Carter.
I’d never felt so loved, so safe, so happy.
As I cross the little footbridge that leads back onto campus an hour later, I pull my phone from my pocket and send him a quick text.
I can still feel your hands on me.
I shove my phone back in my pocket and try to get my head right. I need to put my poker face on, so to speak. Being in Carter’s class now was going to be extra hard. Now that I know what it feels like when his cock is sliding into my pussy. Now that I know what it feels like when his tongue is fluttering against my clit.
Now that I know how sexy he looks when he sleeps, naked in my bed under the moonlight…
Yeah, it’s going to be really fucking hard being there. Let alone keeping a straight face.
I practice on Vi when I arrive. She’s sitting outside the door with everyone else, waiting for Carter to unlock the classroom.
“Hey,” I say, sinking down onto the floor next to her.
“What’s up?” She asks. “You’ve been quiet the last few days. What have you been doing?”
“Oh, nothing,” I lie, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. I hate that that happens to me. Every single time. It’s always been a dead giveaway that my emotions were flaring.
Vi notices right away. She squints. Cocks her head to the side. Studies me intently.
“You got laid.”
Her announcement is not only blunt, it’s terribly loud. Several other students turn our way and stare curiously.
“Shhh!” I protest, hitting her arm. “God! What is wrong with you?”
“Well, you did, right?”
“Oh, my god. You’re crazy.” I use all my strength to keep my face expressionless.
“That’s not a denial.”
She waits a beat for me to confess, but I keep quiet.
“So, who was it? Did you get fucked properly? God, I hope so. Not some halfway asshole who’s afraid of pussy, right?”
“Vi!”
“Well, it’s important to find a partner that knows how to please you.”
It feels like my cheeks are downright bursting into flames.
“But you look pretty fucking satiated, so I’m gonna say yes.”
“You’re terrible,” I say. She’ll never get a confession out of me.
“Well, I got laid three times since I’ve seen you and I don’t think I look as happy as you do.”
“I’m happy for you!” I laugh.
“Right,” she scoffs. “Where the fuck is Professor Hottie?”
She gestures to the lock door. I look at my phone and see it’s five minutes since time for class to start and Carter still hasn’t texted me back.
“I don’t know,” I mumble. Where the fuck IS Professor Hottie, I wonder? He was still sleeping this morning, but I’d assumed he’d just get himself up on time.
My stomach flipped with anxiety.
What if he’d gotten fired? Had he told admin about us already? Suddenly, I felt very paranoid. Maybe I shouldn’t be here.
“Maybe he got caught in traffic or something.”
People were getting antsy now. Some were gathering their things and eyeing the building’s exit. Annoyance trickled across their faces.
“How long should we wait?” Vi asks.
“I don’t know.”
She shrugged. “Whatever. I’m bailing. I was only here to see what pants Professor Hottie was wearing today anyway.”
Her words irritated me, but I did my best not to show it. When she stood up and picked up her bag, I gave her a quick wave. She was just turning to walk away when a bespectacled woman came rushing down the hallway towards us. She held an outstretched key in her hand and looked entirely flustered.
“Sorry, sorry, everybody!” She muttered as she hurried to Carter’s classroom door. “There’s been a change in faculty and we’re all scrambling a little to right the ship.”
“What happened?” Vi asks.
“You’re going to have a new professor for this class. I’m not sure who it will be, but I’m subbing in the meantime. I’m Dr. Davenport.”
“Why?” Vi asks.
“I’m not able to disclose that information, unfortunately.”
The student standing next to me smirks, and says loudly, “I heard he was banging a student.”
“Again?” someone else asks.
“Right? These professors can’t keep it in their pants, huh?”
“Well, at least this professor was hot,” Vi says, laughing. “I mean, hell, I would have hit that.”
They all laugh at their own jokes while I’m frozen with fear. My heart sinks in my chest. My knees are weak.
The worst has happened. Well, maybe. Was Carter fired or just moved?
And why the hell hasn’t he texted me back?
“I, uh…I gotta go,” I mutter, grabbing my backpack and rushing down the hallway. I know it looks bad. So much for discretion. But fuck it.
If Carter is already gone, what does it matter?
I don’t know where he is, but I have to find him. I check the campus first, running to his office only to find it completely cleared out, confirming that, in fact, the worst has indeed happened.
Carter has been fired. And it’s all my fault.
He must be absolutely devastated, I think to myself. Worry and fear fills my heart. I have to find him. I have to find a way to comfort him and console him, to assure him that I have his back, no matter what.
He did this for me. And now, he has nothing.
Well, that’s not true. He has me. He has us.
And together, we have our future. We can face any storm life throws our way. I just know it. Carter and I are meant to be together and nothing is going to stop that.
The urge to tell him all of this overwhelms me and I break out into a jog, heading off campus and towards his house.
I need to make him understand that I recognize the severity of what he’s given up for me.
I just have to find him first.