“Damn,” I mumble. “Did you plagiarize? Use one of those online generator things?”
Molly’s eyes go wide, her hands flying up in the air. “No! Why would I do that? I triedreallyhard.”
“Okay, well…” My voice trails off, trying to remember that this is devastating for my daughter. She’s had the privilege of living the kind of life that a bad grade is the worst she’s ever faced. “Set up a meeting and see what you can do to help it. It’ll be okay.”
Molly’s shoulders fall, her olive-green sweater wrinkling around her frame. “You have to come with me.”
“You are nineteen years old?—”
“Dad, please. You don’t have to say anything. You don’t even have to go inside the office with me. Just stand in the hallway.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, knowing I should tell her to do this on her own.
“Please.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Fine.But I’m hallway material only.”
She smiles. “Deal.”
Chapter 8
Jenna
Molly’s essaysits on my desk, all marked up by my red pen. It’s truly fucked up to fail her essay—when at worst, it might’ve been a B.
But it is what it is. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I straighten my shoulders as the knock on the door hits precisely five minutes early. She’s a punctual student, which shows her dedication.
And that’s exactly why she should be open to tutoring.
It’s still a risk, yeah. But calculated.
“Come in,” I call out when the knock comes a second time. I keep the smile on my face as the door swings open. However, my heart instantly skips a beat as my eyes meet a pair of stark blues beneath a black a cowboy hat.
What the fuck?
I barely even register that Molly has entered the room or that I’m not breathing, as his eyes bore into mine.
“Dr. Williams, this is my dad, Calvin Bradford.” Molly’s voice sounds distant. “I just brought him for moral support, if that’s okay…”
I snap my face back to hers, realizing that she’s already sitting in the chair across from me—the same one I was in when I first met her. “Oh, yeah… Of course.”
“He’ll just stand in the hallway,” Molly says, her tone rushed and nervous as her knee bounces across from me. “I just have never had something like this happen. He’s moral support only. He didn’t even want to come.”
I take a deep breath, and collect myself, giving her a sympathetic look. “He’s more than welcome to join us.” I force my eyes to bounce to the man, hovering outside the open doorway. “In fact, maybe it would be good for you to actually join us instead of loitering outside… Mr. Bradford, I assume?” It feels robotic, what I’m doing, while internally, I’m about to lose it.
Iknowthis man knows my brother.
Could he know me, too? Has Cade mentioned anything about me?
The man steps forward into the room, and closes the door behind him, sucking all the oxygen out of here with him. His hat is low on his head, casting a dark shadow across his face that’s intimidating in and of itself.
I can hardly focus, as he leans his back against the door, his hands shoved in the front of his black jacket. And then his eyes laser in on me.
He cocks a brow. “You’re the new professor, huh?”
I clear my throat, feeling a bead of sweat roll down my spine. “Yeah, I’m just here while Dr. Shannon is gone on maternity leave.”
