He frowned back at me. His suspicion made me downright giddy.
My students slowly trickled out of the room, turning in their exams as they finished. Jace finished around the middle of the pack, and I gave him a big smile as he left. His scowl deepened. And a few minutes later, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Jace: You’re in a really good mood. Did you hook up with the ant scientist last night?
Me: Maybe.
Jace: I doubt it. You said he was boring.
Me: I can overlook a lot of negative personality traits if a guy has a big dick.
Jace: Or you can go out with a guy who has a big dick and zero negative traits.
Me: True. Hopefully I find one soon.
Jace: I don’t believe that you went out with him again.
Me: You can believe whatever you want. I don’t discuss my personal life with my students. No matter how sexy they are.
Jace: I appreciate the compliment, but I’m still suspicious.
Me: If you delete our Tinder history, and send me a screenshot as proof, then I’ll tell you why I’m so happy.
When Cam arrived to my next class, he gave me a wink in passing before taking his seat at the back of the room. I smiled back at him. It was nice to have an ally.
I was certain that my last text to Jace was blunt enough that he would figure it out. I put my phone on silent during class so that his flurry of angry texts wouldn’t disturb me. When my lecture was over, I checked my phone with the enthusiasm of a child checking the Christmas tree for new presents.
But Jace hadn’t responded.
Damn.
“It was a lot of work, but I got it done,” Cam told me quietly after class. “I trust this settles the matter between us?”
“It does indeed,” I replied. “And I wasn’t judging you for humming theWickedsoundtrack the other day. I’ve seen the stage musical three times. My dad took me to see it with the original cast when I was eight years old.”
“You saw Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel?” Cam whistled between his teeth. “Damn, Professor. I didn’t think you could get any cooler.”
I thanked him, expecting him to leave, but he lingered a moment longer.
“Um.” He shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “I wanted to tell you. Like, to your face. I saw the photo. In the chat thread. I wasn’t trying to snoop, but it was there. I just wanted to… I don’t know, tell you? It seemed weirdnotto tell you.”
I felt my cheeks redden. I knew he might see it when I asked him for the favor, but I had hoped to pretend that he hadn’t. “Thanks for letting me know. Have a good weekend, Mr. Keene.”
He was blushing, too. It was almost adorable. “You too, Professor.”
I had lunch in the cafeteria, then went to my afternoon office hours. I checked Signal again, but there wasn’t anything new from Jace.
My disappointment soured my otherwise cheerful Friday mood. But at least the messages were deleted for good.
One student came to my office hours to discuss a scheduling issue for the second exam, and then I had some time to myself. I decided to prod Jace a little more.
Me: Have you deleted them yet?
Jace: I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Professor.
Me: Just checking. I’ll check again in another hour.
Another student knocked on my office door, and I spent the next five minutes explaining one of the reading assignments to her. While we were still going over the material, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed out in the hall.
