Protector: A Billionaire Step-Brother Romance

Immediately I went into a minor panic. It was silly to worry about her, honestly, because these things she did never morphed into anything very dangerous. She liked a good thrill, but not even Jessica was dumb enough to take the kind of risks you don’t recover from. Still, I couldn’t help but be concerned sometimes. After all, she was my best friend—my only friend.

“Hey, don’t scare me. What’s going on? Who is it?” I asked. Before I could force myself to chill out, I added, “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

She gave me a sympathetic cluck of her tongue and sat next to me on the bed. “No, Mackenzie. It’s nothing that bad. Just something we have to keep on the down-low, ‘kay?”

I heaved a sigh and leaned into her shoulder. “Tell me.”

“You know how I signed up for that dumb biochemistry course for the summer session?” she began.

I nodded, already fearing where she was going with this one.

“Well,” she said softly, “I haven’t been doing so hot. Turns out science isn’t my jam.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, Jess? I mean, I’m no chemist either but I could have helped you make flash cards or something,” I told her, and I meant it.

“Nah, it’s fine. I figured out my own way to get by.”

“Are you cheating?” I asked, feeling a little queasy. I was reminded of a secret I’d been harboring for quite awhile.

“Ha!” she scoffed. “No. But he sure is.”

I felt the blood drain from my face and I blinked dubiously at Jessica. “What? You’re not telling me that you’re… you’re…”

“Fucking my professor?” she finished. “Oh yeah. It’s happening.”

“Jessica!” I gasped, pushing back from her in shock. “That’s crazy!”

“Oh, come on. It’s not the craziest thing I’ve ever done. Is it?” she asked, and for a split second there seemed to be genuine concern in her voice. But she quickly reassumed her usual cool demeanor and shrugged. “Whatever. If I don’t make an A, my dad will stop paying my bills, and I am definitely not gonna let that happen.”

“What if someone finds out? Won’t you be expelled? He’d get fired!” I spluttered.

“Shhh!” she hissed, glancing around nervously. “Nobody is going to find out.”

I forced myself to calm down a little bit before asking tentatively, “Well, is he at l

east good-looking? He’s not super old, is he?”

“Oh god, no. I mean, my grades are super important, obviously, but even that wouldn’t convince me to sleep with some gross old man, Kenzie. He’s, like, thirty-six? I think? Dark hair, tattoos on his back. Big dick!” she added with a giggle.

“Just be careful, Jess,” I said emphatically. “Seriously.”

“Ugh, I will be. It’s fine. It’s more fun than cheating on the tests, that’s for sure.”

I gulped. There it was. After a few moments of heavy silence, Jessica peered over at me with a frown. “What?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly. Wrong move, I realized too late.

Jessica crossed her legs and moved closer. “No it’s not. You got all quiet. Are you mad?”

“No, no,” I insisted.

She lifted one eyebrow and gave me her sternest, most disapproving look. “Mackenzie Renee Mason. You’re doing that thing you do when you have something you’re not sharing with the class. You’re shaking your leg. I can tell you’re holding something back.”

I noticed that she was right: my left leg was jiggling nervously. Finally, after what seemed like forever with her eyes boring holes in the side of my head, I caved. “Okay, okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

She looked positively gleeful. “Well, well, well! Are you fucking a teacher, too?”

“No,” I groaned.