Professor

I gave him a grateful smile before reaching out and taking it, downing half of it before coming up for air.

He didn’t say anything as he leaned back in the chair and reached for his coffee mug. I could see steam rising above it, and I stared at him as he took a long sip while he watched me.

He set the mug down but stayed silent for a second. “You should eat something. You’ll feel better.”

I looked down at the plate. “Everything looks delicious, but my hangover is making my appetite next to none.” He stood after a second and went over the cupboard, reaching in for a bottle of what I thought was aspirin.

He came back over and opened it, pouring out a couple of pills into his palm, and handing them over to me.

“Thank you,” I said softly and took the pills, popping them in my mouth and washing them down with the rest of the water.

When he sat back down across from me, his focus was trained on me, his stare making me feel exposed in all the right ways.

“Just try and eat something.” He picked up his fork and started eating his omelet. The clank of the silverware on the plates spurred me to pick up mine and start eating as well.

Although I really wasn’t hungry, I knew that putting something in my stomach might go a long way in helping me.

He poured me a glass of orange juice, and we sat and finished our meal in silence. It was awkward, and I felt a little uncomfortable given the fact he was my professor, but I figured he’d seen me at my worst, so from this point on it could only get better, right?

When I was finished eating as much as I could, I pushed my plate away slightly, reached for my glass of orange juice and finished it off. I felt him staring at me and looked up from underneath my lashes.

God, it should be illegal for a man to look that good, especially this early in the morning. He leaned back in the chair, one arm braced over it, the other resting on the table. He had his fingers wrapped around his coffee mug, the digits moving up and down slowly over the ceramic. It shouldn’t have been as sexy as it was.

“You didn’t ask me many questions last night,” he finally said, his voice this baritone timbre that had me clenching my thighs together.

I’d never been this close to him before, the setting so intimate that it almost felt as if we were a … couple. I’d slept in his bed, and he’d made me breakfast. It all seemed so personal.

I nodded once although I didn’t know what I was agreeing to. I did remember last night, but it was a little bit hazy.

“I probably shouldn’t be admitting this, but I got drunk off one drink.” I felt my cheeks heat and chanced a full look up at him. “Although in my defense it was a pretty strong drink, maybe even a couple in one.” God, this was mortifying.

I cleared my throat and looked around, knowing that what I needed to do was get out of here. I needed to go home, finish sleeping off this hangover, and then maybe move to a different town, enroll in a different school. I could’ve snorted at my thoughts. I had to face this head-on. I couldn’t run from my problems or embarrassment.

I thought about all the things I should’ve asked him last night, things that had come to mind, but I hadn’t cared about knowing the answers at the time. Even though right now I still didn’t care because the pounding behind my head was taking priority, this might be the only chance I really got to ask them.

“Why were you at the club?”

He brought his cup to his mouth and took another long sip before setting it down and exhaling slowly. “I was there because of you.”

I felt my heart literally stop in my chest. I gripped the edge of my chair, my nails digging against the wood. I heard him clearly, but I wasn’t sure if I knew what he actually meant.

“You were there because of me?” I licked my lips and took a deep breath in. “What does that mean?”

He didn’t answer for several seconds, but the way he watched me was almost intense, as if he were studying my reaction to his words.

“It means exactly what it means.” He leaned forward and clasped his hands together on top of the table, his forearms parallel with each other. He looked me directly in the eyes. “I overheard you talking about going there, about what time you’d be there, when I was at the coffee shop. So I followed you, Grace. I can only imagine what happens at clubs, and I was right. I was there because of you, because I wanted to protect you.”