“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” He chuckled and headed for his car.
“Arrogant ass,” she muttered. Theo might be sin personified, but he was wrong on this note. She wouldnotbe seeking him out.
Meg headed for the subway, every step leaching out the spark of energy being in Theo’s presence had brought her. By the time she made it home, she wasn’t a woman who’d caught the handsome prince’s eye. She was just a graduate student with more debt than she knew what to do with and no magical solution for how to keep moving forward.
The door to her apartment was perpetually off its level, so she had to throw her shoulder into it to get it both opened and closed. The flimsy deadbolt wouldn’t keep out a mouse determined to break in, but she’d never had a problem with that sort of thing in the years she’d lived here.
A quick shower and she collapsed face-down in her bed. Normally, she worked too damn hard to be anything but completely exhausted at the end of her days and sleep came with little effort, but tonight her mind wouldn’t stop racing.
Impossible not to compare her shitty bed with the one in Theo and Galen’s apartment, the one that had fit all three of them with ease and felt like sleeping on a cloud. Meg rolled over and cursed into her pillow.Stop it, stop it, stop it. There are a thousand and one reasons why staying away from them is the only choice you have, and you know it. Good sex is theonlyreason why saying yes would be great.
Good sex did not outweigh all the bad. It just didn’t.
She had to remember that.
Seconds ticked into minutes into hours as Meg watched the city lights play across her ceiling. She had a meeting in the morning to explore financial options with the college, and she needed not to be totally exhausted for it, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Damn Theo.
At six, she gave up and took a shower. As she got ready, she rehearsed what she’d say to the financial advisor. They saw cases like hers all the time, and unfortunately the college wasn’t in the business of charity. Meg’s financial aid had run dry last year, and she wasn’t in a position to petition for grants at this point. She was up shit creek without a paddle, and that’s exactly what the financial guy would tell her when she sat down with him.
But she had to try.
Worst case, I take a hiatus and spend a year saving money and working my ass off and complete my degree next year.
It wasn’t the end of the world if she had to defer. It just felt that way.
She carefully applied her makeup—a low-key lipstick and eyeshadow meant to look like she wasn’t wearing anything at all—and dressed in her one good professional outfit. A dress she’d rescued from her friend Cara’s donation pile and made adjustments to, and the heels she’d worn when she graduatedhigh school. They weren’t fancy, but the black pumps completed the look better than boots or flip-flops would.
An hour later, she knocked on the door and stepped into the office. “Mr. Taneka?”
“Come in, come in.” He didn’t look up from his computer as she approached the faded chairs situated in front of his desk. They’d only met a few times over the course of her college career, but she was always struck by howsmallMr. Taneka was. Physically, he could only be termed delicate, but that impression didn’t last once he opened his mouth. His voice was a deep bass and his attitude, frankly, sucked. He was fewer than five years out from retirement, and his complete lack of give-a-damn was never more apparent than when she’d asked him for help.
Now, she was here to ask for it again, hopefully with a better outcome.
Meg had nowhere else to turn.
She watched the clock as he finished doing whatever he was doing on his computer. It could have been solitaire for all Meg knew. At ten minutes, she cleared her throat.
Mr. Taneka sighed. “You’re still here?”
“Well… yes.” She clasped her hands together and fought to keep her voice even and neutral. “We haven’t had our meeting yet, Mr. Taneka. Fall tuition is due this week and I’m hoping you have a solution that will help me keep from having to take time off.”
He sighed again, louder this time, and sat back. “Ms. Sanders, I don’t know why you’re wasting both our time.”
“Excuse me?” He’d been blunt before, but this was above and beyond. She pressed her lips together to keep from screaming in his face. What did he have to worry about? He had a cushy office job and his path through retirement and beyond was all but assured.
She didn’t have the luxury.
She didn’t haveanyluxury.
Mr. Taneka gave her a look like she’d escaped a mental ward to storm into his office and ruin his day. “What game are you playing, Ms. Sanders? Your tuition is paid in full.”
Meg blinked. “What? That’s impossible.”
“On the contrary, I have the information right here.” He turned the screen to face her. Sure enough, the balance owed was at zero.
Impossible.
