I should have been afraid, but I was mad more than anything. It wasn’t like I was a dog for her to speak to me as she pleased. I didn’t complain, though, because I knew she had more on me than I did on her.
“Fine,” I muttered, glaring.
She smirked in satisfaction. “As long as you understand, professor.”
I glared at her back as she turned and left my apartment. I locked it, then once again headed for the bedroom, feeling my exhaustion about to drag me down. Then, my phone rang. I walked into my bedroom and got on the bed, then pulled my phone out and lay down. It was Dad.
Dammit, why was everything happening today? Could I not be allowed to rest?
“Hello, Dad,” I answered the call, speaking calmly. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Sorry, was I interrupting something? I can call back later if that’s the case. You sound tired.”
I was a little surprised that he could tell through the phone. I leaned back against the headboard and covered a yawn with my hand.
“No, you’re fine, Dad, go ahead. I was just going to take a nap.”
He hummed. “Alright. Anyway, remember when I told you I was getting married? Anyway, she’s been trying to get ahold of her son, Ben, to ask if we could all get together for lunch. I’ve already met them, so we can just introduce you to them together. Would you be free next weekend for lunch?”
I frowned. “Ben?”
What a coincidence that the woman my dad was going to marry had a son called Ben as well. It was a common enough name, but hearing it come from Dad still made me pause.
“Yes. Ben is actually in your school,” he said, astonishing me further. “He’s young, and he’s an athlete. Oh, he’s also a business major, so he could be in one of your classes, he should be in his senior year this year.”
My mouth had already dropped open, and I was gaping at my empty room. The words dad just said were still going around in my head, and I didn’t want to believe them.
“A student?” I breathed out, feeling like I’d been punched in the chest. “Why would her son be my student, Dad? That makes him really young. I thought you said she was a student at the same time as you?”
I remembered him saying they were in the same class. On the other hand, she could have chosen to have her child later, but by more than ten years?
Dad gave a sheepish laugh. “Well, I might have exaggerated that a little bit.”
“Don’t tell me you were already a professor by then!” I blurted out.
“Okay, yes,” he admitted. “I was a professor when she and I met, and we did try to date, but she was younger than most of her peers even back then, so we could only put the relationship aside. Then I was with your mother, and she got pregnant with you, so we got married. I didn’t want to say anything, so you wouldn’t think of me as a pervert. I met her about twenty years ago, not thirty, I think she got married right out of college and had her son. He got into school early as well, so he’s only twenty-one.”
“Oh, Dad,” I murmured, blinking my eyes as I felt them start to sting.
There were no such coincidences. If there were two people with that description named Ben in any of my classes, then I would hunt this other Ben down, but I wasn’t stupid. I’d already made the connection. The woman Dad was going to marry had to be his mom.
“Do you know him, Angela? Also, why does your voice sound so strange?”
I cleared my throat, swallowing down the lump that got stuck there.
“Okay, Dad,” I murmured, tilting my head back and closing my eyes. “Yes, I know Ben. He’s the only one in my class, so I think it should be him. I’m really tired right now, so I’m going to sleep, okay? You can tell me about lunch later.”
I hung up without waiting on his word.
Crap.
Could things get any worse today?
My phone vibrated, and I saw it was a text from Ben. I ignored it, feeling the growing lump in my throat once more, but I just buried myself under the covers and ignored it.Chapter Nineteen
AngelaA few days passed, and I did my best to avoid Ben. Now that I knew our parents were going to get married, it changed things. Majorly. I didn’t know if he knew already since Dad had said Ben met with Dad and his mom before. Did Ben know? Did Dad mention he had a daughter who happened to be a professor at his school?
I wasn’t sure he did, and that just made it worse, because I didn’t want to be the one to tell him that we were going to be stepbrother and sister soon.