Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
EMMA
“Okay, people! We have counted the votes for all six open positions. Everyone who applied for these positions wrote down that they’d be honored to act as editor in chief.” Amelia rolls her eyes. “Not that that’s much of a surprise.”
“Wait, six?” I ask Ben. “I thought there were only five.”
“Didn’t you hear? A—”
“Ben and Emma, put a lid on it,” Amelia calls out.
We both fall quiet like children who have been scolded by their mother.
Amelia told me last week that only five positions on the editorial board were open.
It was disappointing when I saw that the only other editorial position I was interested in was in opinions, since features wasn’t available.
It’s not ideal, but it will look great on my résumé.
Everyone submitted their portfolios and a self-edited sample piece on Monday.
Since then, we’ve been waiting three days for everyone to vote.
I was surprised when Samantha threw her hat in the ring.
She hasn’t had a front-page piece in a month and has gotten kind of lazy.
“Let’s announce the one that everyone’s been waiting for, shall we?” Amelia opens the envelope and smiles. “Next semester’s editor in chief of the Driscoll Wolf Weekly is Oliver Jones.”
Well, shoot. Oliver is wide-eyed next to Amelia while everyone cheers him on. I smile because the little bastard deserves it. I clap along with everyone else, happy for Oliver.
“Sorry,” Ben says in my ear. “I know you wanted it.”
I shrug. “He wanted it and deserved it more.”
Ben doesn’t disagree, knowing I’m right. My phone buzzes in my pocket, briefly distracting me as Amelia calls out the new assistant news editor.
Scooby Gang:
Kami: Did you get it?
Levi: She’s probably busy.
Jake: She’ll tell us once she knows.
Jake: Are we still going to Roxy’s later?
I roll my eyes at Jake’s message. A hand grips my shoulder, almost causing me to drop my phone.
“Jesus, Ben. What the hell?”
His grin is so wide that it terrifies me.
“Emma,” Amelia calls from where she’s leaning on her desk.
I swivel my head in her direction and find everyone who’s gathered around us staring at me. What did I miss?
She looks at me, confused, and then rolls her eyes. “I’ll say it again. You are next semester’s new features editor at the Driscoll Wolf Weekly.”
My body freezes in confusion, shock, and a million other emotions.
“I am? What about Aby?”
“She quit,” Ben says. “She’s changing her major. Took us all by surprise. It’s been the gossip of the week—”
“Shut up, Ben.” Amelia throws her hand in the air, dismissing him. “Now that we’re done with Emma, let’s keep going.” She gives me a quick glance and a small nod. Somehow, I manage to do the same. “As for the science editor…”
I block out her voice as Ben takes my arm and brings me to the back of the crowd.
He has complete control over my body at the moment.
My mind is still going haywire and trying to figure out how this happened—how I got the editing position in the field I’ve always been most interested in, but didn’t think I could have.
“Emma.” Ben snaps his fingers, grabbing my attention. “How did you not know about Aby?”
I swallow past the knot in my throat, building from the happy tears I’m about to shed.
“I’ve been busy and all over the place. No time for gossip, really.
” It’s the truth. With the long weekend, finals coming up, making plans with friends, and hanging out with Grayson as much as I can, I haven’t had much time to myself the past couple of days.
Grayson. He’s the first person I want to call to share the good news.
Not Kamila, Jake, or Levi.
Him.
Finally, I knock myself out of my stupor and place a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “I need to go.”
“What? You aren’t going to wait to hear if Samantha got a position or not?”
“And the final editing position for lifestyle is…Paula Ruiz.”
I cringe. “Ouch. Now everyone knows that Samantha will never be an editor on the Driscoll Wolf Weekly.” Which doesn’t bring me any joy.
It’s been months since the Simone’s incident, and I got over it in a couple of days.
Although Samantha is most certainly not a good person, I feel a bit bad for her.
“I already submitted everything I needed for tomorrow. Happy Friday. Gotta go.” I run to my desk, grab my purse, and leave the room to exit the building while putting on my coat.
Luckily, I got out just before six p.m. and have time to grab a good matcha latte at The Howler, which is a fairly short walk.
The Howler and the café in my dorm are the only two places on campus where a girl can get a good matcha latte.
Although I enjoy a regular latte, coffee isn’t my first choice.
Never has been, and ever since I told Grayson that, he’s taken the time to make me one whenever we’ve seen each other.
The first time he did it, his eyes shone with excitement and nerves, waiting to see what I’d say and whether I liked it.
My chest filled with so many emotions at the small yet meaningful gesture that I set the cup down and gave him the deepest kiss to date.
And a blow job.
As soon as I enter the warm building, order, and am handed the cup, I jog to the back door that leads to the parking lot, where no one is around, and dial Grayson’s number, knowing that the lecture he’s substituting for isn’t ready to start for another ten minutes.
He answers on the second ring. “Did you get it?” he whispers.
It’s clear he’s already in the lecture room, judging by the loud chatter of students on the other end.
“No,” I say cheerfully.
“Then why do you sound so happy?”
“Because you’re talking to the new features editor of the Driscoll Wolf Weekly!” I squeal.
A quiet laugh comes from the other end. “You making me deaf was completely worth it to hear that reaction from you.” I jump around out of excitement. “Congratulations, Princess, you got the position you wanted over editor in chief.”
“I didn’t think it was available, and thanks. I’m meeting up with the guys at Roxy’s to tell them the good news. I know your lecture’s about to start, so I won’t text you until later tonight.” There are puffs of cold air as I speak each word. Shit, it’s getting cold out here.
The sound of fingers on a keyboard comes from his end, letting me know that he’s logging into his portal to gain access and bring the projector down. “Why don’t I pick you up from Roxy’s?”
I stop mid-sip. “Isn’t that a little too public?”
“Not if I park behind the bookstore down the block that’s already closed.”
His tone is filled with amusement and a touch of seductiveness.
“Are you going to take me to another lake, Professor?”
He lowers his voice. “I was thinking we could skip the lake part and I’d gag you, then cover your nipples in whipped cream—”
“You had me at nipples.”
He laughs, and I groan at the fact that I’ve only been able to see him once this week because of our hectic schedules.
We had a cute little date at his house. He made me pasta from scratch with a spicy tomato lobster sauce that I currently can’t remember the name of.
Grayson told me he didn’t cook much when he was working in his restaurants.
With the hours being so hectic, he relied on cereal, granola bars, and precooked meals.
Now that he has more time, he’s decided to cook Italian food regularly, knowing it’s my favorite cuisine, even if it’s basic.
He even made chocolate-covered strawberries, bought champagne, and after some mind-blowing sex, we watched a movie and fell asleep like any other normal couple.
The odd thing is, it didn’t feel odd at all—like that’s what we should’ve been doing all along.
“I’ll pick you up at nine, then?”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
Grayson hangs up, and I squeal once again at how amazing the past week and a half has been and will continue to be. Tomorrow, my article is being printed, and my gut tells me it’s going to do great.
“I didn’t want a huge scoop of ice cream on top of my milkshake!” I yell at Jake.
“They changed the look of their milkshakes, Em,” Levi sighs.
“Since when?” I slam my hands down.
“I heard that they started putting a ton of toppings on them about two weeks ago,” Kami responds.
I frown at my glass that has two giant straws sticking out and a big ball of vanilla ice cream on top of a strawberry milkshake with sprinkles all around the rim, which appears to be covered in white chocolate. I’m not sure, but whatever this contraption is, it’s not what I signed up for.
Groaning, I pick up a spoon, trying to stop the ice cream that’s starting to melt from dripping over the glass. I wasn’t very hungry, so I only ordered a milkshake and fries, while the group ordered burgers and sandwiches.
“Think of it as you celebrating your new position. You’re getting something extra special,” Levi says, waggling his eyebrows. “Makes it sound better, right?”
Pouting, I slowly shake my head.
“Why don’t you just order a new one?” Jake asks.
“Because then they’ll throw it out, and I hate wasting food.”
Kami shrugs. “Then we’ll pay for two—”
“To hell with it.” Jake then does the last thing any of us expected him to: he grabs the entire ball of ice cream with his bare hand, takes a bite of it, and puts it down on the empty side of his plate. The three of us stop moving and just stare at him as he licks his fingers. “Problem solved.”
Levi is the first to break, and Kamila and I follow. We keel over when we see the waitstaff looking at Jake as if he just committed the ultimate sin.
Kamila’s head falls onto my shoulder as the three of us wipe tears from our eyes. Jake simply smiles and keeps eating as if he didn’t just grab ice cream like it was a snowball.