Dr. Guong wraps up her speech, but before she can introduce the dean, I slip out the back exit of the room. I can’t stand to be in there for one more moment. The hallway is covered in Haulton memorabilia and wood paneling as I stride down it. Soft steps thud against the dark carpet behind me, and before I even look over my shoulder, I know who it is following me.
Her presence feels like a second skin wrapped around my own. She holds her head high, determined, as she quickly closesthe gap between us. We reach the end of the hallway, and I pull her into one of the open doorways.The coat check room.
She cries out softly but cuts it off when I pin her with my stare. “Why did you follow me?”
She hesitates. “I—I don’t know.”
“Yes you do.” We both do.
“I didn’t want to be in there without you,” she breathes. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
A weak excuse and we both know it.
Her gaze drops from mine and scans the cut of my suit, the dusting of hair on my jaw, the tightness of my pants around my thighs. The look is a gentle caress I feel down to my very bones.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I grit.
She narrows her eyes on me and takes a small step forward. “Like what?”
“You know what.”
Her chest rises and falls, pushing her breasts against the confines of her dress. I’ve never seen this much exposed skin on her. Every creamy inch of it taunts me, baits me into looking where I shouldn’t.
By the sly look on her face, she knows it too. The toes of our shoes brush each other, and I survey the open doorway over the top of her head. No one else is out here, but that could change at any moment.
“You should back up,” I order.
“Maybe you should.”Fucking brat.
“I’m not the one with the boyfriend. Would he like it if he knew what you’re doing right now?”
She leans closer and fuck it, so do I. “And what exactly am I doing right now?” Her voice is low but thick with something I don’t want to put a name to, because god I feel it too.
Desire.
“Don’t play dumb, Lennon.”
She swallows and rolls her red lips between her teeth. “He’s not my boyfriend, you know.”
“It doesn’t matter?—”
“He never was,” she continues. “We’re just friends. I mean, we’ve been more than friends, but it was just hooking up. And it’s over now. I haven’t been with him in months.”
The swift relief is something I didn’t realize I had been holding out for. Jealousy that once sat like a thick stone in my throat dissipates, and it kind of pisses me off because what the hell was I doing being jealous of a college kid anyway? I’m thirty-three. A grown-ass man.
It’s ridiculous, but I’ll still take the consolation.
“Take your jacket, and go home, Lennon.” It’s an order and plea in one.
“Why?”
“Because.”
She licks her lips. “Because why?”
I step forward until her back is flush against the wall next to the door. “Because I need you to leave before we both do something stupid.”
“Like what?” She’s breathless, and the temptation of her words teases my last nerve.
