Swipe.
Dane having his eyes only on my girl and taking care of her while I’m getting us a room.
He swipes again and this time it’s Dane, his face exposed as he lifts his mask, peering down at his phone with a smirk as he texts me back. A glint of pure joy in his eyes as he responds and it takes everything in me not to smile.
“I didn’t think anything of it, until I saw her hideous scar and I knew immediately who it was. He’s fucking your girlfriend, Ethan. Stealing her from right under your nose.”
I pause, trying to articulate words. How do I tell him? How do I tell him we’re all involved? I want to spit out the words,I’m bisexual. They’re there.Right there.
My heart rate picks up as my pulse pounds in my ears. I swallow thickly, taking in a deep breath. I need to tell him, there’s no other way.
This is the first time he’s shown any concern for me, for something that could affect me so dramatically. He seems worried about me, like he’s on my side. I still feel skeptical though.
“It’s not what you think,” the words come out a whisper that he doesn’t even hear.
“He’s fucking one of his students. That’s a huge problem for him.” He pauses and I almost blurt out my secret. I open my mouth but he quickly spits out, “It’s great for us.”
“What?” I reply, confused.
“He’s fucking a student. If that gets out it will destroy his reputation and credibility. Hannah will be ruined, she’ll lose her course credits and will need to start over—if any other University will even let her in.”
I’m stunned as I take in his words. He’s not concerned for me or worried about Hannah. His words are sharp, confident. Intentional.
“I don’t think he cares much about Hannah, but he sure as hell wouldn’t want this getting out. We’ll be using this to our advantage,” he states, factually as if were part of a strategy in his first quarter projection report.
Jesus Christ. I knew my father was a horrible, disgusting man. I never knew he would go to these lengths, ruining everyone around him solely for his own benefit.
“You can’t do that,” are the only words I can manage to muster as my thought process explodes into a sea of confusion.
How do I stop this?
If I tell him the three of us are…What are we? A thing? Together? In love?
That will make it worse. He’ll think Dane coerced me into being with him sexually. He’ll attach whatever is owed on Hannah’s medical expenses to her and I hate the stress that will put on her. If he does all this I won’t have to work for him.
A brief moment of relief passes through me knowing I won’t be stuck under my father’s thumb, controlled by him. He won’t be able to hang the money over my head but I hate how selfish that makes me feel.
That makes me just like him.
My scowl is unavoidable as he snaps his neck in my direction.
“I can do whatever the fuck I want!” Thankfully the office is empty, otherwise everyone in the building would have heard him. “I’m going to the Dean with this.”
“Wait. Don’t.” I put my hands up. Everything Hannah worked on this semester, her perfect grade, diminished and everything she stands for, ruined. “I can get him to work with us…with you, without any of this.”
A moment passes between us as he contemplates my words. A look of disgust passes over his face. “You’re weak for her son. Women aren’t worth it.”
“Just let me take care of it. Give me a week.”
He pauses again. Appraising me. He’s right. I’m weak for Hannah. For Dane. I’m weak but not in the way he thinks. I just need time to figure out how to get out of this mess without anyone getting hurt. Specifically Hannah and Dane.
“Your classes start back up next week?” he asks.
I nod.
It’s the last semester. We don’t have Dane’s class anymore, he’s teaching the same course to a new group of students, but Hannah still has two more courses that she needs credits for. I have just one more.
“Get his accounts here with us in a week and I won’t say anything about this. But that doesn’t mean you should let this go. Once a cheater, always a cheater.”
