Abigail shrugged. "I would do it."
Melanie gasped, shocked because she knew whatever Abigail said, she meant, and Abigail laughed. "This isn't a sixteen-year hormonal kid. You call him a boy, but trust, he's anything but that, Melanie. He might not necessarily be a man yet, but then again, most men our ages aren't men yet either. If he's over 19, I don't see what the problem is."
"The problem is that he's my student."
"So, what if you met him now, but you weren't teaching him?"
That made Melanie pause. And for a second, her mind drifted before she quickly shut that door down. She wouldn't even think about it. She liked Noah, but not in the way she would like a man. She liked his company, and out of all of her students, she hated to say it, but he was her favorite, though there was no way in this lifetime that she would ever admit that to someone as arrogant as Noah. She wouldn't think of him in that way because it didn't matter about the ifs. It didn't change the fact that he was her student, and that she didn't see him that way at all.
"It doesn't matter."
"Suit yourself," Abigail said with a shrug. "But, still, we really need to get you laid. Did you use the app yet?"
Melanie shook her head as she placed her paperwork into her drawer before locking it up. She grabbed her phone and purse and headed towards the door.
"Let's go while I still have my patience," Melanie said, grumpily. She always felt slightly sensitive whenever her failures of love were brought up. In everything else in life, she was a winner, but this was the one task that she could not beat. Why was love so hard?
"You're going to the game with me, right? So, you can see your favorite student? I know you said you didn't want to go, but maybe after our conversation, you want to go now." Abigail wiggled a brow suggestively, and Melanie glared at her.
"That's it!" Melanie exclaimed. "You're going tolunchon your own, and tothe gameon your own."
"Aww," Abigail said, glumping herself onto Melanie, kissing her cheek. "Don't be that way. You can't let me eat alone. Okay. Fine. You don't have to go to the game."
"I don't even know why I'm friends with you," Melanie grumbled, and Abigail squeezed her tighter.
"Because you love me!"
CHAPTER
18
MELANIE
B
EFORE THE GAME EVEN STARTED, THE SCREAMS WERE LOUD AND BOISTEROUS. Feet banged against the steps of the bleachers as people clapped loudly, amped up on the high of the night. But when the players came out, the crowd became louder, screams at an ear pitching high, nearly making Melanie regret letting her friend goad her into coming here.
Melanie sat, purse nestled against her stomach like armor while attempting to shake the jitter in her legs. Though she liked basketball, she had never gone to a game before. Now, she was here in a packed stadium, and she felt out of her element. She wished Abigail would come back soon from picking up some snacks from the concession stand, but Melanie had a feeling that would take a while, judging by the line she saw earlier.
"Which team are you here for?"
It was only a second later that Melanie realized the man sitting next to her was speaking to her. She looked at him, slightly perplexed by why he was suddenly talking to her, only to notice that he was quite handsome. Dark chocolate skin, a nice goatee that complemented his pearly white teeth, and he was also clean-shaven that let Melanie know he was a man that took care of himself. And best of all was his smile. He wasn't just quite handsome, he was very handsome, and he was smiling at her. She hadn't even noticed him when she first sat down because she had been so busy responding to emails from her students.
"Oh, I'm here for the Falcons," Melanie said and then cringed, wondering if she had said it right. She didn't even know the mascot for the university she worked at though she had a few students a part of sports teams who always wore their jerseys with the school's mascot on it. How could she not remember that? And, why didn’t she just say Weston? Melanie cursed herself for being so shy around men.
"Me too," the man said, a crinkle around his eye as he smiled. "I couldn't tell if you were here for the other team or not. For a second, I thought you might have been a recruiter."
"Why is that?"
"You're dressed up in a suit," he said, gesturing to her heels and dress pants. Since she had never planned on going, Melanie never had time to change. She was positive at first that she was going to go straight home after eating with Abigail, but Melanie should have known that Abigail would have found a way to drag her here against her will with all her sob talk about Noah needing support. Noah probably wouldn't even notice she was here nor care.
"Oh," Melanie responded meekly, pushing up her glasses, not sure of what else to say. She had never been a good talker around handsome men because it made her nervous.
"I told her we should stop by her house so she can change first," Abigail said, joining the conversation as she sat down with a drink in her hand and a box of candy. "I'm Abigail, and you are?" she asked, offering her hand.
The man did not hesitate and eagerly shook her hand, Melanie noticed. He was the social type. That wasn't a bad personality trait to have. "I'm Damon," he said. The name matched him, and his deep voice. Melanie liked it.
"And you are?" he asked, looking pointedly at Melanie.
