After last night, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what had happened. No matter how much I tried to ignore Linda’s rumors, they were starting to drip into other aspects of my life. And I needed to talk to someone.
Mom was out of the picture, as I didn’t want to worry her right now.
Serena had already heard it all.
Michael was stressed out.
So, I only had one more option left. I sat in my psychology class, waiting patiently for it to end. It was three minutes until noon, and students were already packing up to leave. I pulled out my phone and messaged Serena, unsure if I’d see her before she talked to Melissa.
Me: Good luck tonight. xx Please talk some sense into Melissa.
She responded almost immediately.
Serena: Thanks. Gonna need it.
When Dr. Xiao dismissed everyone, I lingered behind and walked up to her desk. She smiled at me and sat down.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” she said, nodding to a chair in front of her. “Take a seat.”
I hesitantly sat down, my knees bouncing wildly, and opened my mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. What was I supposed to say? I didn’t want things to get even worse with these rumors.
But Dr. Xiao didn’t say a word. She sipped on her coffee and urged me to say something.
I clasped my hands together and looked at the ground. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors going around our town.”
She furrowed her brows. “No, I haven’t.”
“About Michael Bryne?” I asked quietly.
“Michael Bryne? He’s an architect, correct, working on the towers down in the city?”
I hesitantly nodded and took a deep breath. It didn’t seem like she knew what I was talking about at all, which made me feel so much better. At least we weren’t the talk of the town yet. Some people didn’t know.
“Yes … and I’m dating him.” I paused for a moment, letting my emotions overtake me. “We have a huge age gap between us, and his ex-wife is becoming a burden, spreading rumors about us, hurting our relationship …” Tears welled up in my eyes. It felt so good to get this out to someone I could trust.
She moved from behind her desk toward me. “Mia—”
“And he’s my ex–best friend’s dad,” I said, unable to hold myself back. “And my mom can’t form new memories. My ex-boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend. My life is a mess, Dr. Xiao.”
Her brown eyes widened, and she pulled me into a tight hug. “Mia, I had no idea.” She held me for a few moments, and then she pulled back and smiled at me. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve heard my fair share of rumors about my relationship. My husband’s fifteen years older than me, and so many people hated it. When we first started dating, my parents refused to meet him and even stopped talking to me for the longest time.”
She pushed a strand of hair from my face. “But when you’re in love, you’re in love.” She let out a sigh. “You can’t help it, and you can’t stop it. If it’s true and real … don’t mind the rumors. Who cares? You know what’s real, what’s true. Don’t let small minds mess with it.”
I nodded and gave her a small smile back. “Thank you,” I whispered.
She shrugged her shoulders and patted my knee. “I know you’re going through a lot right now, but things will get better. Trust in yourself and your relationship. It’ll be all right.”
And in that moment, I had hope. Hope that one day, these rumors would die off. Hope that one day, I’d finally have that happily ever after with Michael. Hope that Linda would stop ruining everything Michael had tried so hard to achieve.
CHAPTER13
MICHAEL
“Michael,” Mia mumbled into the pillow, her voice light with laughter.
I snaked my hand around her waist and rubbed the front of her underwear with my fingers. They were soaked, drenched, just wanting to be ripped off. She let out another laugh and arched her back, rubbing her ass against my dick.
“We don’t have enough time.”
