Chapter Six
SIX
Aidan
Jason glances at me after sipping from his beer bottle. “You okay?”
I nod.
He frowns at me. “Seriously though. Are you?”
I sigh. “I’m fine, Jason.”
He shakes his head like he doesn’t believe me. Which is understandable because I’m lying.
I take a drink from my water glass while pretending to watch the game on the TV above us at the sports bar we’re at. But I have a hell of a time paying attention. My focus is shot. It has been ever since Micah and I got into it this morning within earshot of the entire English department.
“Micah was pretty harsh with you, man,” Jason says. “The way she called your bluff.” He lets out a low whistle and shakes his head. His shaggy blond hair sways with the movement.
I frown at him. “I don’t need a play-by-play. I was there when it happened.”
He pats my shoulder. “Sorry, man. You tried your best to get one over on her. You’ve got my respect for that. But she won this time.”
“We don’t need to keep talking about this.”
I still can’t believe Micah had the nerve to call me out like that. I mean, I guess she was within her right to do that. I had nothing on her to get her fired. Still though. It sucked being ridiculed, especially by someone who hates me. And who I know, without a doubt, wants to get me fired, no matter what she claims.
But the weirdest part about what happened? Part of me was kind of…excited by it.
When I think about my argument with Micah from this morning, I have to fight back a cringe. Yeah, it was unprofessional of me to complain loudly about her and to suggest that we get her fired, but I was at my wits’ end. Micah clearly has it out for me. It’s obvious from how apathetic she was when she observed my class that she doesn’t actually care about how well I do my job or how much the students enjoy my class. All she cares about is numbers. Enrollment, attendance, retention, tuition. And if that’s all she uses to evaluate me as a teacher—if she’s going to ignore my actual teaching methods and the rapport I have with my students—then there’s no point in ever trying to get her to see my point. She’ll always be against me.
I think back to how she called my bluff and offered her phone up to me to call her boss. I was so thrown off, I couldn’t think of anything to say. So I just stood there and took in the visual of this woman—this gorgeous, feisty woman, going toe-to-toe with me and handing me my ass…
An unfamiliar restlessness courses through me when I think about that moment. It’s the same restlessness that hit me when she and I went toe-to-toe in my classroom after the students left…when we were standing so close to each other that I could feel the tension sparking in the air between us…
A strange, excited feeling whooshes through me. What the hell?
I can feel my face heat with shame even as I think about it now. Jesus, what does that say about the kind of person I am? What kind of guy gets excited when an attractive woman who can’t stand him tells him off?
Just then, Kendall, our friend and fellow English professor, walks into the bar and spots us. We wave her over. She swipes her dark brown hair out of her face and sits down on the stool next to me.
She aims a pitying expression at me. “How are you holding up?”
I let out a frustrated laugh. “God, did everyone in the English department hear Micah rip me a new asshole? Did you tell all the other departments about it too?”
The server stops by, and Kendall orders a beer and three shots of tequila.
She pats my arm. “We’re going to toast to you with tequila. You were brave enough to take on the big bad auditor, and for that we salute you.”
I chuckle and tell her thanks.
“You were just brave enough to say what we all were thinking,” Jason says to me.
Kendall nods in agreement. “I’ve been racking my brain to think of a legitimate way to get rid of Micah so we can save our jobs.”
“Well, if you think of it, let me know. I know how to get ahold of her boss,” I joke.
Jason and Kendall offer sad chuckles. The server drops off a beer for Kendall and the tequila shots.
She raises her shot glass and looks at me. “To Aidan, for taking on the evil auditor.”
“To you, man,” Jason says as he raises his shot glass.
I raise mine too. “Thanks, guys.”
Together we knock back the shots and set our empty glasses on the tabletop.
“So how was Micah when she observed your class this afternoon?” I ask Kendall.
She groans, her expression twisted like she’s in pain. “Awful. She grilled me about my attendance rates and how many students have dropped my class so far this semester.”
I nod once. “Sounds about right.” I pat her shoulder. “Sorry.”
“She’s terrifying. She didn’t smile once in my class,” Kendall says. “And I was teaching comedy writing in my composition class today. All the students were laughing. But her? Not even once. I even tried to bond with her. We’re both Filipino, so I made a joke about karaoke. She didn’t even smile.”
Her shoulders sink.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“Yeah, sorry, Kendall.” Jason winces.
She takes a long pull of her beer.
As Jason and Kendall talk about their plans for spring break in a couple of months, I grab my phone and pull up the Scribble Share app. I check on my latest story, which I posted this afternoon, after my fight with Micah.
I was so tense and worked up, and writing was the only way I could expend that energy. I had a free hour between classes, so I holed up in my office and wrote a scene where Rome defends Jia against an attacker. And as weird as it sounds, I felt a lot better after writing it.
I smile when I see how many likes it’s gotten so far. It’s early evening, so it’s only been up a few hours.
I do a quick skim of the comments.
Pure hotness! WOW WOW WOW!
Yes, Rome! Fight for your woman!
I don’t care what anyone says, it’s always super hot when a man is willing to throw down and protect you without hesitation
Hottest thing on the planet is when a man goes in full-on feral protector mode and defends his lady
My mood instantly lifts. The readers on this platform are the best. Always supportive and kind.
I put my phone away so I don’t come off as that jerk who is glued to his phone when he should be paying attention to his friends. A hand claps on my shoulder. I look up and see my little brother, Liam, grinning down at me.
I should probably stop calling him little. At six foot three, he’s an inch taller and has at least twenty-five pounds of muscle on me.
“Hey.” I smile up at him. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting some drinks with the guys after practice.” He nods to the far side of the bar, where a few of his hockey teammates are.
“I didn’t know guzzling alcohol was part of your pro-athlete regimen.”
Liam laughs and pats his stomach. “It is for as long as I can get away with it.”
I roll my eyes. “You and your twenty-eight-year-old metabolism can fuck right off,” I joke.
He bursts out laughing. “Aww, come on, big brother. You’re not that much older than me.”
He frowns at the top of my head. “Actually, I take that back. I think I see some gray hairs. Damn, I didn’t know you could have gray hair at thirty-two.”
I chuckle. “You asshole.”
My brother runs a hand through his wavy dark blond hair. “Good thing I got the blond genes in the family. Gray blends way better with blond,” he teases.
I shove him, and he laughs. Jason laughs too. I notice Kendall frowning at Liam.
Liam notices too because he grins at her. “You miss me, darlin’? I mean, I can’t blame you. It has been a few months since we’ve seen each other.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Shut up, Liam.”
My brother clutches his chest with his hand and stumbles back a step. “You know just what to say to get me going, firecracker.”
When she flips him off, I roll my eyes.
Despite the fact that Kendall can’t stand Liam, he still constantly teases her. These two have been like this ever since we were all enrolled in at the same college together. I was in graduate school and became friends with Kendall, who was in undergrad at the time. When she and Liam first met, they got along fine.
Then we all went to a house party together thrown by one of his hockey teammates after a big win during the season. Everyone got pretty wasted, and the next morning Kendall was giving Liam the cold shoulder. When I asked her what was up, she said it was nothing. That was years ago, and I haven’t pried since.
I just figured my brother’s obnoxious personality finally got to her. I don’t blame her. He’s always joking and doesn’t take a damn thing seriously. I could see how he would get on someone’s nerves. He gets on mine constantly.
Kendall’s frown deepens when Liam sits down on the stool next to me.
“Won’t your teammates notice you’re gone?” I ask.
“Nah, they’re all pretty drunk,” he says.
Kendall makes an annoyed sound. “I have to pee.”
When she gets up to leave and walks off, I notice Liam’s gaze following her.
I elbow him. “You should really stop giving her such a hard time. She clearly hates it.”
He flashes a lopsided grin. “Nah. I like it when she’s mean to me. It gets me hot.”
“You’re a pig,” I mutter.
“So what’s new with you guys?” Liam asks.
“We’re being audited at the university,” Jason says. “We’ll probably get fired.”
Liam’s brow hits his hairline. He turns to me. “Seriously?”
“It’s too soon to tell what’s going to happen, but it’s not great news. It feels like we’re all auditioning to keep our jobs.”
I explain to Liam about Micah and how she’s been hired by the university to observe our department to see where the school can make cuts to save money.
He looks dazed as he shakes his head. “Sorry, dude. That really sucks.”
“Yeah. It does.” I down more beer.
“So this auditor…” Liam says while stretching out his shoulder. “Is she hot?”
I roll my eyes. My brother is an idiot. But given the fact that next to hockey, his second-favorite activity is hooking up with any woman who gives him an enthusiastic yes, I shouldn’t be surprised by his question.
I look at him. “What does that have to do with anything?”
He shrugs. “Just curious.”
“She is really pretty,” Jason says. “She’s also terrifying. A total hard ass. She gives off this vibe that if you cross her, she’ll tear you to shreds.”
Liam grins. “That’s kinda sexy.”
Frowning, I shake my head at him. “You are a caveman.”
My brother shrugs. “I can’t help it. I love it when a gorgeous woman isn’t afraid to fight with me. It means she’s passionate. And that keeps things fun and exciting, if you know what I mean.” He winks at me, and I punch his shoulder.
But as I let my mind wander to earlier today and think about how attracted I was to Micah during our fight, I silently admit that maybe my little brother has a point.