“And you won’t get bored once it’s no longer taboo?” I asked. “When I’m no longer your professor?”
There were a few seconds of silence as they considered that.
“I can’t promise anything, but I don’t think so,” Cam said. “There are like a dozen reasons I’m into you, and your status as my super hot professor is only one of them.”
Jace was nodding along. “And if our dynamic does change, I think it will change for the better. Relationships evolve over time. Strengthening, deepening. That’s totally normal.”
“And we can still role play in the bedroom,” Cam suggested. His cheeks turned bright red immediately. “You know. If we want to tap into the forbidden relationship aspect again.”
“I’d love that.” I turned to Brock next to me. “You’ve been awfully quiet for most of this conversation.”
Brock smiled. “I’ll wait until after finals to pour my heart out. It’ll depend on how difficult you make the exam.”
“Exams are easy when you’ve properly studied the material,” I replied.
Brock glared playfully. “Such a professorial answer.”
Jace cleared his throat and gave Brock a look.
Brock swallowed hard, then ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not great at expressing my emotions. Especially not in front of other people. But… here goes nothing. Lila. It terrifies me just howinto youI am. You can give me an F on the final, but my feelings won’t change. We have something special. All of us.”
I hugged him, and savored the way he squeezed me tight like he never wanted to let go. Then Jace and Cam were leaning across the booth and joining us in a group hug.
“Should we get some drinks to celebrate the way we neutralized Jerry?” Brock asked.
“You don’t think it’s premature?” I said. “Celebrating before we know he’s going to actually listen to us?”
“He’ll listen,” Cam said firmly.
“We should probably lay low, like, in general,” I said. “Until final exams are over. Just to be safe.”
“Agreed,” Jace said.
Brock and Cam nodded.
“But for now, a celebratory drink sounds excellent! As long as you make them,” I quickly added, “and not Kayla.”
Brock beamed. “I’m going to tell her you said that. She insists her drinks are better. And she’s wrong.”
Cam watched him walk away, then turned back to the rest of us. “I have a confession. I don’t like Brock’s drinks. They’re always too strong or too weak.”
Jace sputtered a laugh, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from making a scene.
“I’m going to hold that over you,” Jace said.
“Try it and I’ll take a deep dive intoyourbrowser history,” Cam warned with a smile.
Jace scowled. “Let’s forget I said anything.”
“Good call.” Cam turned and winked at me.
Yeah. The four of us were going to be okay.
Morethan okay.
45
Brock
