“What am I going to do? The semester just started, and he lives alone in New Jersey,” I whisper, the words garbled against his stiff leather. “Do I move him in with me? What if he needs more help that I can give? I have a full course load and . . .”
The rest of the sentence lodges in my throat, too heavy to say out loud. What if I lost my job because I had to care for him? All my plans and dreams will be wiped away.
His hand clutches my hair, gathering the strands in a tight fist to keep my face pressed into his shoulder. For the first time, the cocky bravado I’ve come to associate with Diego is gone, replaced by something softer, steadier.
“Hey, hey, everything’s going to be okay.” His assuring words vibrate in his chest and against my cheek. “I’ve broken plenty of things, and it’s not life changing. It’s inconvenient, that’s all.”
“What if it’s more than that? What if this is more serious, or they find something else? That happened with my mother, and I can’t . . .”
“Shh, it’s all right. He’ll be okay. It didn’t look broken. I’m sure they won’t find anything else. Just a bit bruised up is all.”
His hand at my waist slides up my back to rub comforting circles as he talks. I want to believe him. I need to because I’m already so worried. My life is tightly coiled around lectures, labs, and lesson plans, not broken limbs, hospitals, and caregiving. I’m so far out of my comfort zone that I’m freaking out.
This is all sorts of wrong.
I’m drawn to him.
Reaching for him to comfort me is crossing lines that shouldn’t be crossed with a student. It’s asking for trouble. I lift my cheek from his shoulder. His hand drops from my hair, but the other palm are on my side as I stare up at him. His touch lingers, the comfort transforming into something else, something worse that crosses forbidden lines.
His eyes drop to my lips, licking his at the same time. His knuckles drag across my cheek, leaving a trail of tingling skin behind.
“I’ve got you. And him.”
The sound of the nurse calling my name breaks the moment. Entranced, I step back and shake my head. The chemistry between us ripped away. Ensuring those lines aren’t crossed.
“I’ll wait for you here.”
Diego gestures to the bank of chairs, holding my gaze until he raises a questioning eyebrow. Ignoring it, I turn away, follow the nurse, and wonder what the hell I’m going to do now.
His presence tonight was an annoyance until it wasn’t. I don’t know what I would have done if he hadn’t been there to help me. It’s a grounding feeling to have someone to rely on for help. Something I’m not used to having aside from my father.
What did I just do?
9
DIEGO
She almost kissed me. Her plump lips were right fucking there. The way she stared at me.
She wanted me.
Needed me.
I felt it.
She felt it.
I’m not fucking delusional. But shit, if she didn’t throw me for a fucking loop. This whole fucking day has been one fucking mess. Waking up with a black eye from another one of Em’s knuckleheaded party stunts. Like Friday night wasn’t enough, they had another on Sunday.
What was supposed to be a simple grilling out with a few people turned into another packed crowd overstuffing their mansion. And with Em, the bigger the crowd, the more attention he receives and the crazier he becomes.
The idiot jumped from the second-floor balcony into the pool and almost killed the guy on a float still in the water. The dude was carted off in an ambulance, but not before his boys went after Emilio to beat his ass.
Not that I blame them.
We’d have done the same.
As always, I had to back up my boy, and an all-out brawl started before the cops arrived with the ambulance. It was fucking fantastic luck that no one was arrested.
