“What happened to you last night? I assumed you caught an Uber and headed home?”
“Yeah, about that.” I moistened my lips and started plucking at the edge of the table, scared that I was actually saying this out loud, but also confessing that I had lied to her.
I knew she’d understand, but my bewilderment, the small amount of fear of the scenario had this reluctance setting in me. It had me holding things to myself for far too long. But I hadn’t imagined there was a chance with Professor Baldwin … not until now.
“Gracie, you’re kind of freaking me out. What happened?” She pulled a chair out, the legs scraping over the linoleum floor.
She sat down and pushed the box away so it wasn’t between us anymore. I felt her eye on me and knew that I’d open myself up and just be absolutely honest. I had to be.
I could see the worry on her face, and I hated that I was putting it there. So, I took a huge breath in and basically told her the truth. “At the club, there was a guy getting pretty handsy with me. Like he wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
“What?” She sounded horrified. “God, Grace. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to kick him in the balls.”
I grinned and shook my head. “No, the crowd was too thick, and he was drunk. Hell, I was feeling the alcohol too.” I had my hands in my lap and smoothed them over my legs. “Anyway, before I knew what was happening…” My heart raced. I didn’t know why I was so frightened telling Alexis this. “Professor Baldwin was standing right there, pulling him off me.”
Her eyebrows were pushed down, and bewilderment filled her expression. And then her eyes widened. “Professor Baldwin? As in our Professor Baldwin from class?”
I nodded and licked my lips. It would only get stranger from here for her, I was sure. “Alexis, Professor Baldwin wrapped his hand around his neck and said something to him, something that scared the hell out of the guy who’d been grinding up on me.” My throat felt so constricted, the words coming from me strangely foreign. “Like he all but ran out of there.”
“Oh my God,” Alexis murmured gently.
We sat there for a long minute in quiet, the weight of what I’d just uttered hanging between us. It sounded frightening, I knew that, but the reality was, seeing Seth manage a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer had made me feel something powerful, delightful.
“What happened after that?” She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Like, I can’t even imagine Professor Baldwin in a club let alone handling your would-be assaulting asshole.” She whistled under her breath, and although I thought she would be terrified by what I’d just said, she appeared almost … delighted. “Wish I would’ve been there to see him kick the asshole in the nuts.”
I looked down at my hands, which were curled together on my lap. “That’s not even all of it,” I finally muttered as I gazed back up at her. She lifted a brow and leaned forward, obviously extremely curious.
“Well, if this is going where I think it’s going, you have my full attention.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sex, yeah, that’s a no-go. But he did take me back to his place.” Alexis sucked in a breath. “That one drink had really fucked me up.”
“God, Gracie, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten you that drink.”
I waved off her concern. “It was so not your fault, so don’t go there.” I grinned. “I woke up this morning in his bed, with him making me breakfast.”
“Um, what the fuck?” She sounded amazed. “He was making you breakfast?”
I nodded. “Yeah. It’s almost like he tucked me in, made sure I was safe, and then left me alone.” I knitted my brows, a part of me thankful he’d done that, but another part wishing I’d woken up right next to him, his body wrapped around mine.
“So, he brought you to his house to sleep off being drunk, let you stay in his bed alone, and then made breakfast for you in the morning?” I nodded. She leaned back again. “Huh. What was he doing at the club to begin with?”
“Well, that’s the thing.” I didn’t know why I was so scared, but saying these things out loud to another person was frightening. “He said he was there because of me.”
The thickness in the room became almost unbearable. “He’d overheard us talking about going there when you were at the coffee shop with Craig.”
A perplexed glance crossed her face. “He was at the coffee shop?”
I nodded. She kept silent for a minute as if she were thinking over what I’d just said, rehearsing it in her head over and over.
“So, he’s been stalking you?” Her eyes widened as if that very thought was insane.
I supposed it was, but a part of me actually appreciated the notion he’d been so infatuated with me that he couldn’t stay away. “I don’t know if stalking is the right word. Looking out for me? He wanted to make sure I was, okay?”
She snorted. “Um, no, sounds like stalking, just worded differently. I mean, I’m thrilled he was there, but it’s kind of weird that he followed us. Don’t you think?”
I didn’t answer, because I could see it from her point of view. But she also didn’t know my innermost secret. She also didn’t know the remainder of what Seth had told me.
