Chapter 44 #3
“Help me. Please. It’s not your class so it’s not an unfair advantage.”
An amused chuckle escaped him as his eyes scanned over my laptop screen. “Alright. Let’s see…heat exchanger networks.”
“You always know everything I’m learning.” I sighed. I liked it a lot.
“Yeah? Does that turn you on?” he teased.
I gave an exaggerated scowl, face flushing.
“Yes. I’m also kinda cold,” I said, the air conditioning blowing right on me. “Do you have a sweatshirt or something?”
“You’re being incredibly demanding right now. But yes. Wait here.” He stood and disappeared upstairs. I smiled to myself, happiness glowing in my chest.
But the noise of the lock turning on the front door zapped all that joyful glow away in an instant. I froze, turning to stare at the door, icy coldness washing over me. I had no clue who the hell would have a key to his house, and why he wouldn’t tell me beforehand…
The door started to open.
And my heart dropped.
Mason Ashborn, the man who I’d been avoiding after spilling every dark secret in my head, was walking into Micah’s house. Right now.
My mouth popped open for a few seconds, then I snapped it shut, my teeth grinding together while panic clawed at my chest. His eyes were less surprised than I thought they would be, more angry.
So apparently my nightmare knew my professor well enough to have his own key, and to not feel the need to knock. What the hell were the odds of that?
Who are your professors this semester?
I felt like I couldn’t breathe, all the oxygen in the room burning away with the flame of my anxiety. I stared down at the table, tracing a groove in the wood with my fingernail as my two very-separate worlds collided. So much dread and fear was building in my system that I was getting nauseous.
Micah came down the steps and rounded the banister, eyes flicking to mine for an instant. A strange expression pulled on his face, but it was gone before I could identify it.
“This is Mason,” he said, gesturing to the man whose name I already knew. He handed me a thick sweatshirt; I took it stiffly. “Mason, this is Dakota.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed. “She one of your students?”
Micah didn’t answer him, which didn’t matter because Mason already knew the answer to that. They both walked into the kitchen while I remained sitting on the carpet, papers spread out on the coffee table.
Once they were out of sight, I darted upstairs and down the hall into Micah’s bathroom, then hit the knob to turn the faucet on, sticking my wrists under the cold water and staring at myself in his clean mirror. My stomach was cramping with sickness and panic. What. The. Fuck.
Were they actually fucking related?
How could this be happening? How could—
The door swung open, my eyes flaring and rapidly meeting Micah’s in the mirror. I wiped my hands off on the towel and faced him directly, praying he couldn’t pick up on the fact that I already knew his house guest. My fingers were trembling, so I clenched them into fists to mask it.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine. You didn’t tell me someone else would be coming over.
” I tucked my hair behind my ear, breathing through the panic binding my ribs.
Mason wouldn’t do anything to me here, I didn’t think.
He wouldn’t hurt me in front of Micah. He might tell him how we knew each other, though. “Is he your family?”
“No.” The word was short, sharp. I instinctively cowered back a bit, my shoulders rounding. “He’s going to be spending a lot of time here, though. So you will see him around.”
This situation just kept getting worse.
“Okay.” A frown pulled at my lips. “I wish you’d told me.”
Micah stepped fully into the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself. My pulse skipped a few beats, eagerness stirring warmth in my core, breaking through my nerves.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, cupping my jaw with his palm. “I should’ve told you. I didn’t know he’d get here so soon.”
“It’s okay,” I breathed, shaking my head, inhaling his scent. It instantly made me feel better, soothing me in a way. Deep forest shadows wove their way around my bones, filtering through my veins, protecting and steadying me. I want to be lost in him.
Micah ran his lips over mine. A soft sigh whispered out of me, my hands going to his biceps.
“You’ll be on good behavior? You’ll do what I say?”
I nodded, staring up at him. His shallow exhales were mixing with mine, making me dizzy with lust. Some amount of guilt was lingering in the back of my mind, guilt at the knowledge that I’d disappeared on Mason again and was now upstairs, ignoring him, about to kiss someone else.
This weird guilt was becoming a constant fixture in my brain, a constant squeeze in my throat. But I needed Micah.
I needed someone to take care of me.
Leaning up, I pressed my lips to Micah’s warm mouth, my tongue seeking his.
His strong arms wrapped around me and he kissed me deeper, harder, molding my body against him. He would keep my body safe, even if he couldn’t keep my mind safe. I clung to that.