Shaking those thoughts away, I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans as I approach Professor Grant’s office.
As nervous as I am, I’m looking forward to all of this being over. I’m tired of hiding. I want to be able to go out on actual dates. I just have to get through this first, this interview that I expect a lack of questions and a lot more accusations.
Considering I’m determined to go in there and not let this guy intimidate me like he did last time, I force myself to knock the second I’m standing in front of his door.
I won’t hesitate, and I won’t show weakness.
“Come in.”
I open the door and step inside, closing it behind me.
Professor Grant doesn’t even look up from his computer screen as he motions to the chairs on the opposite side of his desk. “Have a seat, Mr. Ellis.”
I really wish I didn’t have to. My ass is still sore as hell from last night—courtesy of another round from Isaac’s crop—that it hurts like a bitch every time I’ve had to sit down today. But I know I won’t get away with standing, so I take a seat, biting back a wince.
After sitting there for several seconds, the only sound that of his keyboard as he types, he still hasn’t looked at me. I know exactly what he’s doing, well aware of the tactic he’s using. He’s trying to sweat me out, but I won’t let him. I wait patiently.
“Sorry about that,” he says, finally turning to face me about two minutes later. “I had to get that email out before five.”
“No problem.”
“We’ll keep this quick, Mr. Ellis. The tenure committee always wants to make sure that any relationships formed between staff and students isn’t because anyone is abusing their position of power.”
I lean back in the chair and shrug. “Then there shouldn’t be a problem. He used to be my teacher, sure, but he’s not anymore. He didn’t abuse anything.”
Except my ass last night.
Not that I’m complaining. And not that that’s what I should be thinking about right now, but it’s difficult with how much said ass hurts.
“Still, sometimes we’re forced to do investigations, which is exactly what I intend to do. The reputation of the university must also be taken into account.”
“The school allows these kinds of relationships, so unless we started ours while he was still my teacher—which we didn’t—then there shouldn’t be an issue.”
“There’s that, sure. However, there are…other things to consider as well.”
Something heavy and unpleasant settles in my gut at the tone of his voice. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, Mr. Ellis, that Iwillfind evidence. And when I do, Professor Kendall will undoubtedly lose his tenure. And his job at this university.”
It must be an inherited quality, speaking in a way that makes it all too easy to read between the lines. I noticed that pretty quickly about Pierce, and now it seems his daddy has the same habit. Whether it’s intentional or not, I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter.
“You mean you’ll fabricate evidence?”
He shrugs, his eyes cold. “If that’s what I have to do to protect the reputation of this school and this town.”
“We weren’t together while I was enrolled in his class.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
The answer is in the dread that was creeping up on me, not something that hits me all at once.
“It’s because we’re both men.”
This time, it’s not a question.
“You know the temperature of this town as well as I do. So very few people here are accepting of that kind of…lifestyle.”
He stands and rounds his desk, coming to sit in the empty chair beside me. His knee brushes mine.
