“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You have a duty of care as my professor.” She rolls her eyes.
“No!” I shout, taking her face in my hands, forcing her to look up at me. “Not just because of that. Because I fuckingcareabout you, alright?”
Quinn’s eyes widen as she stares up at me. “What?”
“I care about you, Quinn, more than I should. When that bartender called me, telling me where you were and that you were drunk, I was so worried that something bad had happened. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”
“You... You care about me?” she asks, her eyes swimming in tears.
“Yes.”
“Then what’s the problem?” she asks, stepping closer so we’re toe to toe. And just like the last time, her lips are on mine quicker than I can blink.
I should stop it.
This is wrong, wrong on so many levels, so why can’t I stop?
What is it about this girl that has me wanting to break every single rule, every moral code not just made by the school but to myself?
I can feel the ice around my heart begin to crack as her warmth seeps in. I get lost in her, her lips gliding over mine as if we were made for each other.
This can’t happen again. I can’t allow it.
I pull back. “Quinn...” I breathe out, taking her face in my hands. “I’m sorry.” Her shoulders sag in disappointment. “Let me take you home, you can’t walk alone in the middle of the night.”
After a moment she nods, her gaze not leaving the floor as we make our way to my car.
Somewhere during the drive home, she falls asleep, so when we pull up outside her building, I don’t bother to wake her. Instead, I pull her into my arms and carry her up to apartment. She’s not heavy, so it’s not a physical struggle, the struggle I’m facing is having to let her go.
She feels so good in my arms that I want her to stay like this forever, but it can’t happen.
I manage to get her door open and carry her through her apartment and into her bedroom, where I drop her down onto the bed gently, hoping not to wake her up. I pull off her shoes and drape a blanket over her body. I stand at the side of her bed for a moment and watch her sleep.
God, she’s so beautiful.
I press a gentle kiss to her forehead and close her bedroom door behind me quietly. I head into the kitchen and find a notepad where I scribble a note and leave it on the coffee table for when she wakes up.
Chapter 18
Quinn
The past few days I’ve spent my time either at work or burying my head in my assignments, the majority of them overdue,anythingto occupy my mind.
After my little escapade at the bar the other night, I woke up with the worst hangover I could ever have thought possible, so bad in fact it felt as though my eyes were going to pop out of their sockets if I opened them even a crack. My head felt as though a stampede of elephants were trampling on my skull and the thought of food literally turned my stomach.
I’d never experienced a hangover before, and I’m positive I never want to feel one again.
That morning I’d woken up fully dressed with no memory of how I got there, but the second I finally pulled myself out of bed and left my bedroom, I found a note on the coffee table next to a glass of water and two aspirins.
Quinn,
I hope you’re feeling better this morning, I’m sorry for everything, the last thing I wanted was to cause you pain.
I’ll see you in class.
Dwight.
And just like that, the memories had come flooding back. The guy in the bar, Dwight and I arguing, kissing him…
