“Merry Christmas, Mr. E!” Bodie hops off the couch and puffs out his chest. “What do you think of my new shirt?”
My dad’s scrutinizing gaze drifts over Bodie’s shirt, his dark brows scrunching in clear disapproval, like he can’t fathom why anyone would choose to wear something so eccentric. “Very interesting choice, Mr. Thompson.”
“We should actually get going,” says Erin as she stands and slides her arms through the straps of her new backpack. “I think Jackson said he’s heading out soon too.”
“Oh?”
I almost roll my eyes at the curious arch of my dad’s brow, but I stop myself. He’s been a lot more inquisitive and intrusive since I’ve moved back home, especially after that evening I found him sitting in the kitchen. Even now, his gaze flits around the guesthouse, and I kind of wish I had put the nutcracker back in its box.
“Yeah, I’m just going to see some other friends.”
As Bodie passes by me on the way to the door, he throws me a knowing wink. Fortunately, his back is facing my dad. However, I can hear the air quotes in his voice when he says, “Have fun with your otherfriends.”
I confided in Bodie and Erin and told them about my little tryst with Professor Kendall, so I didn’t feel the need to hidethe other present that’s sitting on the kitchen counter. When the door closes behind them, my dad’s eyes fall on the box wrapped in red and gold paper, the name written on the tag.
“Isaac?”
“Uh, yeah. Just one of my other friends.”
“Hmm.”
I try to ignore whatever that might mean as I grab the box and place it in my bag before pulling on my hoodie. But when he continues to stare at where the gift is with his lips pursed, I can’t shrug it off, like I can see all the suspicions swimming around in his mind. I may not be ready to come out to him—let alone tell him one of my professors was responsible for my bi-awakening—but I also don’t have any intention of letting him give me shit for it if he figures it out for himself first.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” He gives me one of those tight-lipped smiles that don’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ll let you get out of here. Have fun.”
“Thanks.”
My dad opens the door and walks out first. I lock up while I watch him go back into the house before I head around to the driveaway.
As I get into my car, thoughts of my dad fall away and are replaced by Isaac. It happens quickly since that’s where my mind has usually been wanting to go for the past couple of months. It wasn’t difficult to get his address, so I start the engine and back out of the driveway.
The roads are mostly empty, blanketed in frost and dying daylight, and every mile I put between myself and home feels like a confession I’m finally ready to make.
I’m done pretending Isaac Kendall is just my professor.
I stand in front ofIsaac’s front door, staring into the swirls of the dark wood grain until I feel a little dizzy. My nerves were going haywire on the drive over, but I didn’t consider how much worse it would get once I was actually here, how my pulse would feel like it’s trying to claw its way out of my throat. I’m nervous to see where we end up after two months apart, and I can only hope he stillwantsto see me after I ignored his email last week, worried he read my silence as rejection and already moved on.
My leg won’t stop bouncing, and I’ve already raised my fist twice without knocking.
This is ridiculous.
Raising my hand for a third time, I finally tap twice against the door.
About twenty seconds later—or twenty years if we’re asking my anxiety—the door opens.
Isaac stands on the other side, and…well,fuck me.
I thought his suit vests were sexy, but I think they have some serious competition with the gray sweatpants hanging low on his hips and the white Henley that’s just tight enough to show all the ridges and dips of hard muscle beneath.
“Um.” I’m pretty sure I’ve lost the ability to speak, but I swallow and manage another single syllable. “Hi.”
He stares at me in silence for a few seconds before his gaze moves behind me as though he’s checking to see if I came alone.
“I’m sorry for just showing up. I didn’t know—”
My words get lost somewhere on the way up as he grabs me by the front of my hoodie and drags me inside his house before slamming the door shut and pressing my back against it.
