The Dating Lesson

“You’re worth the risk too,” I say, and I mean it. I’m not going to sacrifice being with Leo to stay at this school. There are plenty of other schools I can go to. I can be with the man I love and be a lawyer. I’m determined not to let anything stop me.

He pushes hard into me and kisses me deeply before I feel his cock start to throb. His cum fills me so completely inside. I feel myself smile. I have everything I want and I won’t let anyone or any rumor destroy it.5Despite the rumors, the school doesn’t get involved with my relationship with Leo. We are never called in for a review. His job isn’t threatened and neither is my scholarship. It’s too risky for me to see him at my dorm—we don’t want to push our luck. There’s no point in us living apart anymore since we plan to be married soon anyways.

I’m packing my dorm room, shoving the rest of my belongings into my little SUV, when Leo shows up. He’s holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Are you ready for this?” he asks.

I’m not sure exactly what he means. “Do you mean moving in with you or taking the exam?”

I’m taking my bar exam today as well. Maybe not the best choice in the middle of a move, but you can only take the exam a couple times a year and this is my only chance. If I wait too long, I’ll have to wait until next year. California is only one of four states that will allow someone to take the bar exam before they’ve completed school, and that’s what I plan to do. I’m ready for this. Leo has been helping me study. We spend most of our nights staying up until the early hours of the morning. I’m ready. I can’t let my father and brother continue to rot in jail for the next few years as I finish law school. If I can get admitted to the bar now, I can start working on their behalf. Leo has helped me find a place in a large pro-bono defense law firm providing I pass the test. There’s a lot of pressure sitting on my shoulders, and I feel it in the form of a stress headache.

“For now, the exam.”

“As ready as I can be.”

He smiles warmly. “You’ll do amazing. If there’s anyone who can do it, it’s you. I have all the confidence in the world. You’re the smartest girl I know—and that’s saying something considering I’ve taught some of the greatest minds when it comes to law.”

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. His confidence in me settles the butterflies that have swarmed in my belly.

“I’m going to kill it,” I say.

He chuckles and hugs me tight. “You’re damn right you will.”

We take his car into the city. He holds my trembling hand the whole way and doesn’t let go even though my palms are sweaty. When we get to the testing facility, I feel as though I could vomit.

This is it. The moment of truth. I will either sink or swim. My family’s future depends on it. If I don’t ace this exam today, it will be another year of Mom living on her own, worrying twenty-four hours a day, making those dreaded trips to visit my brother and dad. Another year of their lives lost.

Faking bravery I do not feel, I open the car door and walk up the grand steps leading to the testing hall. As walk through the front doors, I’m surprised to see my mom standing in the lobby, looking a little lost..

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

She gives me one of her wide, comforting smiles. “Leo called me. He felt as though you needed a support team.”

I look at Leo. He hasn’t met my mom yet. Apparently they’ve been talking behind my back. He shrugs. I mouth the words, “I love you”. He does it back.

I run into my mom’s open arms. This is what I needed. My mom and the love of my life. With them here, I can do anything. I stand a little straighter, and now I’m not just faking my bravery. I feel strong. I feel ready. I am going to make this bar exam my bitch.The weeks I wait for my results are some of the toughest of my life. I waver from extreme confidence to absolute certainty that I flunked. When the letter with my results finally arrives, I stare at it on the dining room table for an hour, totally terrified to open it. When Leo comes home, and sees me, staring petrified at the white envelope, he grabs it and rips it open for me. As if my family’s fate weren’t at stake.

“How can you be so cavalier?” I shriek.