Chapter 20
Twenty
Daphne
Brooks was gone when I woke up.
Last night could’ve passed for a dream if my bed didn’t smell like Brooks and his bloody clothes weren’t scattered across my bathroom floor.
So, me cuddling him—and him pulling me closer in the middle of the night—hadn’t been a dream either.
As I got ready for class, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
He’d barely been able to walk without help.
Should I have taken him to the hospital?
Then I wondered how bad Cory looked.
During my first class, my thoughts went from Brooks to my Initiation.
Two days.
I had two freaking days, and I wasn’t ready. If Brooks looked that bad after Cory’s Initiation—and Cory looked even worse—what the hell was waiting for me?
Blair and my mom both swore the Fawn Initiation wasn’t physical. Just psychological.
Because that sounded so much better.
My spiraling thoughts ended when Headmaster Arisono walked into the lecture hall. She wore another one of her signature pantsuits. Blue today.
She stopped beside the professor’s desk, and her attention landed on me instantly. “Miss Kenward, I need to speak to you in my office.”
Great.
My morning had already sucked. My professor had denied the extension I’d begged for after not writing my paper last night. And now this.
Arisono tapped the toe of her Chanel heel while I collected my belongings.
I shoved them into my bag and hurried down the stairs. I followed her across the vestibule toward her office.
Definitely not my first trip here. Probably not my last either.
When we were inside her office, she shut the door and motioned for me to sit. I did, my ass halfway off the edge of the chair.
I’d known Arisono before coming to Saint Vale. She came from one of the First Benefactor families and had attended SVU with my parents.
She took a seat behind her desk. “Professor Sinclair said he asked you to stop by his office yesterday and you never did.”
The latte I’d chugged earlier threatened to come back up all over her pristine office.
“Crap.” I smacked my forehead. “I completely forgot.”
“You forgot?” she repeated slowly.
I nodded.
“That’s unacceptable, Miss Kenward. He stated you were disruptive to his class. I expect you in his office by the end of the day. If I find out you didn’t go, it’ll be a suspension. We’ll also have to reconsider whether Saint Vale is the right fit for you.”
I nodded again. “Okay. May I go?”
“I suppose.” She waved me away dismissively.
I stood and practically raced out of her office.
One perk of becoming a Fawn?
Soon, I’d have a little more power than her.
And that? I liked.
I stormed into Professor Sinclair’s office and found him behind his desk.
“Did you seriously run to Arisono because I didn’t come to your office yesterday?” I hissed.
He jerked upright in his chair and snapped his laptop shut, like a teenage kid caught watching porn.
“You ignored my request.” He frowned. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
I threw my arms up. “Maybe not ask me to come here for some bullshit reason.”
Professor Sinclair was handsome and always the answer to the question, Which Saint Vale professor would you happily fuck?
He was pushing his thirties but still had that boyish look going with a head of unruly brown curls and dimples.
When he spoke to you, it was always easy and comfortable, like you were the only student he enjoyed talking to. I’d learned too late that it was all an act.
He rounded the desk, and I should’ve fled when he locked the door.
There was a reason I hadn’t closed it when I came in.
The same reason I hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place.
“You’re ignoring my texts,” he said, as if that were the ultimate insult.
I didn’t move even though every instinct told me to. “I blocked you.”
“Daphne.” He laughed once, but there wasn’t any humor in it.
There went the nice-guy act. My name sounded gross coming from him now.
He stalked toward me. I retreated until my back hit the bookshelf. Shit. I’d let myself get trapped.
He closed the distance until there wasn’t an inch of space between us. I turned my face before he could kiss me.
“Move,” I warned, shoving at his shoulder. “Or I’ll scream.”
“Lies.” His lips slid over my cheek. “You won’t risk anyone finding out you slept with a professor.”
I tried to push him away, but he caught both my wrists with one hand and pinned them above my head.
“Oh, come on, Daphne.” His voice sounded almost playful. “We had fun together. I just want another chance.”
“I told you it was never happening again.”
“One kiss,” he pleaded. “Just one.”
“I don’t kiss married men.”
“You’ve already crossed that line.” He tipped his chin toward the couch. “We did a hell of a lot more than kiss. Right there. Remember?”
I twisted against his grip, trying to wrench one hand free. “That was before I found out you had a wife and kids. Now that I do? I’d rather die. Enjoy whatever circle of hell is reserved for cheating husbands.”
He tightened his grip on my wrists. “And here I thought that you were mature for your age.”
“I’m not.” I struggled against his hold. “Now leave me the hell alone.”
He lowered his head to my neck and sucked at my skin. Slowly, his grip loosened on my wrists.
“Get off me.”
When he didn’t, I wrenched one hand free, buried it in his curls, and pulled hard.
“Ouch! Fuck!” He grabbed my wrist in a bruising grip, trying to pry my fingers loose, and I shoved my shoulder forward.
I only pulled harder, and when I had the right angle, drove my knee straight between his legs.
“Fuck!” he cried out.
I let go of his hair, and he doubled over, clutching himself as he dropped to his knees.
“Stay the fuck away from me.” I backed toward the door as he groaned behind me. “Go home to your wife before I tell her everything.”
I bolted from his office so fast that my platform loafers nearly came off. I didn’t stop until I reached my dorm, my legs shaking like I’d sprinted across campus and not just the building.
I trudged toward my bed and collapsed face-first onto the pillow Brooks had slept on. For some insane reason, his scent comforted me.
I lay there, humming “No Scrubs” for ten minutes, breathing in Brooks’s scent, mixed with the body wash I’d used to clean him up.
A month ago, I’d emailed Professor Sinclair for help with a paper. He replied within minutes and invited me to his office.
We’d talked about the assignment for maybe five minutes before he offered me a glass of wine from the bottle he kept hidden in his desk. After a few drinks, he kissed me, then more. One mistake turned into several.
It ended when his phone rang while I was getting dressed.
Wife calling flashed on the screen over a picture of him and his family at Disney World. I threw up in the trash can beside his desk.
I’d ended things that day, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about his wife. I’d made plenty of bad decisions in my life. Being a home-wrecker would never be one. That was karma you couldn’t even sage away.
I reached for my box of sage, only to find it empty.
“Damn it!” I slammed the box shut and shoved it back onto the shelf.
I need to get out of here.
I grabbed my phone and texted Adelina.
Me: Done with my meeting. Where are you? Want to hang out?
She answered within seconds.
Adelina: Devil’s Lair.
Adelina: Get your ass over here.
Adelina: We have … and chicken wings, but there’s no emoji for that.
Adelina: Oh! And ranch!
Me: On my way.