I yelp as I'm yanked into a supply closet, the door slamming shut behind me. A hand covers my mouth as I open it to scream, and I’m pulled back against a hard chest, an arm circling my waist, holding me tight.
Panic flares until I hear his voice, low and frantic in my ear. “Sophie. It’s me.”
He’s lucky he speaks when he does, because I was about five seconds away from sinking my teeth into his hand without hesitation.
I shove away from him and he flicks on the light, revealing Theo standing there, looking stricken and wild-eyed. My chest aches at the sight of him, and I hate that it does.
“What do you want?” I snap, my voice sharp and cold.
He inhales sharply, his face twisting. “Sophie, listen to me?—”
“No,” I cut him off. “I don’t need to hear whatever bullshit you’re about to spin. I saw it. I saw you with her.”
“You’re wrong,” he says, his voice cracking. “It’s not what you think. She showed up uninvited. I didn’t want her there. I didn’t invite her. I didn’t touch her.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “Really? Because it sure looked cozy from where I was standing.”
“But it’s not?—”
“Save it,” I say, shaking my head. “I've had enough of liars to last a lifetime. I can’t do this.”
I move to shove past him again, but he reaches out, cupping the back of my head gently but firmly, forcing me to look at him.
“Sophie,” he says, voice thick with sorrow, breaking, “I need you to be quiet. I need you to hear me when I say this, because it’s the only thing that’s kept me breathing for the past forty-eight hours.”
He grips my face, his hands trembling against my cheeks.
“I would never betray you. Not in a million fucking years. Evelyn is nothing to me. What you saw was her being desperate, clawing at something that’s long dead. I didn’t invite her. I didn’t want her. I stayed as far from her as I could while I waited for her damn Uber. Because the only person I want inmy life—” he breaks off, sucking in a shaky breath, “—is you.”
I blink up at him, frozen, his words slamming into me like fists.
“I’m falling in love with you, Sophie,” he says, almost like he can’t believe it himself. “And yeah, it’s too soon. And yeah, you’re my student, and yeah, the world will lose its fucking mind if they ever find out. But I don’t give a damn about any of it.”
He pulls me closer, our foreheads touching, his voice rough and raw.
“I don’t care about the rules. I don’t care about the risks. I would burn my whole life to the ground if it meant being with you. You’re everything I never dared to want, everything I never thought I deserved, and now that I have you...” His voice shatters. “I’m terrified of losing you.”
He lets out a rough, helpless laugh.
“I thought I was strong. I thought I was untouchable. Then you showed up and ruined me, and fuck, Sophie, I don’t want to be put back together if it’s without you.”
He shakes his head, emotion pouring from him in waves.
“I’ll do anything, okay? I’ll get on my fucking knees right here if that’s what it takes. I’ll walk out into the hallway and scream it at the top of my lungs?—”
He turns, reaching toward the doorknob, his voice rising.
“I love Sophie Wilson! I love her! I love her, and I don’t give a fuck who knows it!”
And he means it. Every word.
Something inside me snaps wide open.
I crash my mouth into his, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down to me. We collide like an explosion, frantic and desperate, everything we've been holding back finally breaking loose.
His hands grip my waist, sliding down to my hips, thenlower, grabbing me and lifting me up as I wrap my legs tightly around his waist. He slams me back against the wall, hard enough to rattle the shelves, but I don't care. I can't get close enough. I don't want space. I don't want air. I want him.
He grinds against me, his body hot and solid between my thighs, and a low groan rumbles from deep in his chest when I move against him in return. The friction is delicious, torturous, and not nearly enough.
