“I know I’m panicked right now. But this doesn’t change how great last night was.” She leaned forward and gave me a long, passionate kiss.
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks for a wonderful night, Lila.”
“Call me Professor Carrington,” she said with a wink. “Mind if I borrow a sweatshirt?”
Without waiting for an answer, she opened my closet and rummaged around before finding a red Smokey Mountain State University hoodie. “I’ll give this back,” she said, pulling it on and then flipping the hood up to cover her face.
She blew me a kiss, opened the door to make sure the coast was clear, then disappeared into the hall.
I got out of bed, put some underwear on, then went to the window. Lila was exiting the dorm down below, then quickly followed the path to the street and turned left. I kept watching until she disappeared behind the Chemistry building.
As incredible as last night was, I could only think about one thing.
She wants to do it again.
My crush on Professor Carrington definitely wasn’t going away any time soon.
37
Lila
It had been alongtime since I’d had to do a walk of shame.
Even longer since I had to do one on campus.
Fortunately, it was still mostly dark outside, and Cam’s hoodie made me practically anonymous. The only people who passed me on the way back to my car was the women’s cross country team, who flew past me without so much as a second glance.
My car was still double-parked on a side street behind Brock’s bar. I got inside, then checked my phone.
I had a dozen texts.
Brock: I just got off work and saw that your car is still here. Are you all right?
Brock: Hey, call me when you get this. I just want to make sure you got home safe.
Jace: You good? Brock says you left the bar but your car is still there.
Brock: I pulled the bar footage. It looks like you walked back toward campus. Jace is going to check your office.
Jace: You’re not in your office. I hope you took an Uber home.
There were a few more messages like that. I instantly felt guilty for making them worry, and spent a moment texting to let them know I was okay.
When I got home, I showered and changed into comfortable clothes. Only then did I finally relax and feel like I was back where I belonged.
While making myself breakfast, I replayed everything from last night in my head. Leaving the bar and wandering around campus until I ended up at Cam’s dorm. Sneaking inside and banging on his door. Confronting him about Joshua Davenport…
And then everything else that happened.
It was reckless. It was insane. It broke all the rules I claimed to care about.
But I didn’t feel any regret. Not even a little bit.
Because last night wasamazing.
As I pulled out my bag and began grading papers, I wondered if I was an adrenaline junkie now. Clearly I was thrilled by the thought of doing something wrong, or I wouldn’t have kept doing this.
Where would it end?
