“Um, I got custody of my siblings this past summer. Nash is my brother. My little sister is Sadie. Nash made the basketball team.” That makes me beam.
“Holy shit, James. You got two whole kids and no one knows?”
“Siblings,” I correct. “And the dean knows. HR too.”
“Siblings that you’re raising.”
“Rain check on this conversation, please?”
“Yes, of course. Jesus, man. You know I’m your friend,right? I tease you and flirt with you, but mostly I just want to be your friend. You can talk to me.”
I nod. The thing is, I believe him. Henry and I couldn’t be more different, but he’s a nice guy, and I know he would be a good friend to me. I’ve just never let myself have it.
“Thanks, Henry.”
“No problem.” He moves toward the door. “Anyway…I’ll let you get back to whoever’s absolutelynotunder your desk. Your secret is safe with me.” Henry winks and disappears from the room, snatching all the air with him.
Once the door is closed, I stumble over to lock it, just as Colton climbs out from his spot.
“I want to kill that guy,” he says.
“Heknows,” I stress. “I’m fucked. My career is over. How will I take care of the kids? What will I—”
“Shh, breathe, baby.”
Every single part of me wants to melt into him, wants to let Colton hold me up, care for me, make me feel loved, but all I can think about is the fact that Henryknows.
“I can’t fucking breathe,” I hiss out, then pull away. “What was I thinking?” I never should have asked him in here. Such a stupid mistake.
“This isn’t your fault. We both messed up. I should have been more careful. I should have said no.”
Oh God. “You’re supposed to be in class,” I remember. I’d lost myself all over the desire for an orgasm? “You have to go. I can’t do this right now.”
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone. We should—”
“Red,” I interrupt him. “Red…for this. For now.”
He flinches, looking hurt, but I can’t do this. We can talk about it later. I need to talk to Henry and figure out what in the hell any of this means.
“Okay.” He nods. “Take that cage off, please.”
Colton picks up his bag, the one leaning against my desk that I’d completely forgotten about, and walks out of the room.
The door closes before he can hear me say, “I’m sorry.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Colton
The first thingI do when I leave James’s office is drop his class. There’s two weeks left before I would get a failing grade for not finishing it, so I count that as a small blessing. I should have already done it. The second James and I decided to continue having sex, it should have been the first thing I did. But I didn’t, and now this.
Me: Are you okay?
I don’t go to any other classes for the day, instead getting in my truck and driving to the shop to see Han.
The moment she sees me enter the bay, she frowns. “What’s wrong?”
I motion toward the office, not wanting to talk in front of Jerome, one of the guys who works with her sometimes.
