“When Hazel returns, tell her you don’t feel well. I’ll take you back to the dorms.”
My belly tightens. My nipples harden. My sex—
“Violet?”
I stiffen in Heath’s arms and jolt forward out of his grip, whipping to my right to face Jim. “Jim, hey! Uh…how are you?” I ask, my voice too shrill. He looks from me to stare down Heath, then brings his eyes back.
“Um…great. I’ve been trying to call you. You missed class today. Everything okay?”
I shake and nod and shake and nod like a damn bobblehead. “Yep. Fine. Great. Just wasn’t feeling well.” Shit, this is awkward.
“So, who’s this?” he asks, and I want to crawl into a hole and hide.
“Oh…um, yeah! This is Hazel’s dad. He’s here visiting.” Jim relaxes, an easy-going smile replacing his confused expression.
“Oh, got it! Phew, I was gonna say, he’s a bit old for you.” He reaches his hand out. “Hey, man, nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Violet’s and your daughter’s.” Heath doesn’t accept his hand, and I start to panic at the impending pissing contest.
“So! What are you doing here?” I ask, trying to break the building tension.
Jim puts his hand down, giving me his full attention. “Same as you, enjoying my Friday night. Hey, wanna go get a drink? I see you don’t have one.” He leans in closer. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad you’re underage.”
He barely gets his sentence out before two hands shove him into a dancing couple. “What the fuck, man?” Jim steadies himself, gaping at Heath.
I throw my hands out to stop Heath, but he’s a bulldozer. “I’m sure it’s frowned upon to hit on students, being a professor and all. Maybe a call to the school board will teach you a fucking lesson.”
“Heath…” I grab at his shoulder, but he doesn’t budge.
“Excuse me?” Jim baits him. “Pretty sure groping your daughter’s roommate is pretty frowned upon as—”
Hazel makes her appearance right on time, hands full of drinks, only to drop them and scream as her dad takes a swing at our psychology professor.
“Dad!” She pushes through the crowd, slamming her hands on his chest to push him back. “What the hell!” she yells, her voice snapping him out of his fury. Mortified, Hazel shakes her head and runs out of the party. Heath chases after her, and I stand there frozen for a second. Jim stares at me with an accusing frown, and I offer an apologetic smile before taking off after them.
“Hazel, slow down. I’m sorry.”
Hazel whips around just as I catch up to them. “Sorry? Dad, you just punched my professor! At a party! Do you know how people are going to talk?”
“That guy was a fucking shit and shouldn’t be hitting on his students.”
“Dad, this is college. A lot worse is going on than a professor hitting on a student. It happens all the time. Worse shit goes on under people’s noses, but you don’t go punching them! God!” She turns on her heel. “Violet, let’s go.”
“Uh…where are we going?” My eyes bounce from her back to Heath.
“Home! Dad, just go back to your hotel. I can’t right now.” Hazel stops for me to catch up and grabs my hand, tugging me with her. I peer back at Heath, and his furious stare makes my stomach uneasy.
Hazel cries herself to sleep. I know she’s embarrassed about what her dad did, but there’s something else going on with her, something she isn’t sharing. Heath never called. And I couldn’t call him. How funny, through all of this, we still haven’t exchanged numbers. Morning comes, and I’ve gotten zero sleep. I hoped he would come to make amends with Hazel, assure me that searing glare was not meant for me. Guilt kept me up, replaying the night, and convincing myself it wasn’t my fault. It’s not until late morning that he shows up with a bouquet of flowers so large, he can barely get them through the door.
“Forgive me?” he says to his daughter as she fights to stay mad. She breaks down and hugs him, and I feel as if I’m intruding on another father-daughter moment.
“Love you, Dad.”
“Love you too, baby girl.” They stay connected for some time and a pit of jealousy forms in my stomach. I want to be the one in his arms, gifted with flowers and apologies. I leave the room, feeling even more confused about where we go from here. How do we continue this—whatever it is—and keep it from Hazel? I don’t want to be his dirty little secret anymore. But I don’t know what happens when we’re exposed. I head into the bathroom, needing to rein in my emotions. I splash some water on my face and almost scream when I raise my head and find Heath at my back.
“What are you—you can’t be in here.”