Shame (Ruin 3)

“No, but—”

“Do you truly believe I care what you do during your personal time?

And should that personal time directly affect your ability to be at class at the scheduled hour?”

Shaking my head, I found my voice. “No, my personal time isn’t important, but if you would just listen—”

“I think we’ve all heard enough. Now, if you’re done giving me excuses and interrupting my time, the time I use to teach, you can find your seat. If this truly is becoming your habit, then you’re more than welcome to find the door.”

He dismissed me with his hand, just as I was trying to set the note on his desk. It fluttered to the ground. Instead of picking it up, I turned on my heel and went to the closest desk possible so I could disappear. Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I kept them in. For the next hour, I kept them in and took notes, never once looking up from the desk.

When class was dismissed, I grabbed my bag and bolted for the door. A hand gripped my arm.

“Rough.” It was Jack, and his easy smile put me at ease. “The guy really hates you.”

“Wow, that was encouraging,” I murmured. “Thanks.”

“Tell you what.” Jack fell into step beside me. “Let me buy you coffee, and I’ll walk you to your next class.”

“Um, I don’t really think that’s a good idea. I don’t want to be late to another class and—”

“Coffee?” His brown eyes twinkled. “I swear, nothing more. You can even take the coffee and bolt, but you look like you could really use it, and I’ll let you in on a little secret.” He leaned in and whispered, “I work at Starbucks, so I have the power of the employee discount.”

At that I laughed. “Wow, you’re like the president.”

“Only better looking.” He winked. “So what do you say? And before you answer, just remember, nobody should ever say no to coffee. It’s a crime punishable by law.” He nodded and took a step back. “Okay, your verdict?”

I took in his gray hoodie and fitted jeans. He was cute, a boyish cute, his hair dark and messy. Something about the way he smiled made me think I knew him, which probably meant I’d seen him around campus and never actually seen him.

I checked my phone and nodded. “Fine. One quick cup, but we need to go fast.”

“I ran track for four years in high school… My middle name was Flash.”

“Seriously?”

“Not an athletic bone in this body,” he joked. “But I figured you were one for playful banter, so I went with it. Good move?”

I laughed with him. “Good move.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

She didn’t stay at my penthouse that night… pretty sure she went home and cried.

When I checked the website, I noticed we’d gotten a surge of hits over the last week because of the guy I’d embarrassed. What a loser. The guy had pulled his Facebook profile, Twitter account — everything. After a few quick empty searches, I felt confident I’d at least embarrassed him enough to get him to stay away from Mel. That had been the number one reason… competition, well, that and boredom, but it was the fact that he’d stared at her. Granted, she’d rejected him, but still. Nobody touched what was mine. Ever. —The Journal of Taylor B.

Tristan

CLASSES WERE GRUELING; my focus was completely off. By the time I was finished teaching for the day, all I really wanted was to escape. I lifted my briefcase from the floor and frowned. A white slip must have fallen off my desk.

When I picked it up, I felt my entire body shake with rage. It was a note of excuse from campus security — on Lisa’s behalf.

Cursing, I stomped my way across campus until I reached her dorm. When I noticed that the door was still broken and just wedged shut, I went from angry to full-on pissed.

I knocked loudly. Twice.

When the door didn’t open, the rage was replaced with sheer panic that something had happened to her.

I was just getting ready to break down the door when it swung open. Gabe stood on the other side. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Tristan, what up, man? You make house calls now?”