“Quinn, you can’t say stuff like that,” he says, cutting me off.
“It’s the truth.”
“I’m your professor. This…” he gestures between us, “we can’t happen. I never wanted to hurt you, but you have to see it’s for the best.”
“The best for who? I know it’s wrong to want you, but I can’t help how I feel, and deep down, I think you feel the same.”
“I’m not gonna lie and say that being with you doesn’t ease some of my own pain, but you have to see that we can never be together, no matter how much we both want it.” I don’t think he meant to say that last part out loud, because he curses under his breath, his lips pulling tight over his gritted teeth.
“So you want it… me, I mean?”
His eyes meet mine, and something within him snaps. He starts forward, his steps closing the space between us and slams me back against the wall, caging me in with his arms either side of my head. His face just centimetres above mine. “Of course I fucking do. You’re all I think about.”
My heart is crashing against my ribs, and I reach up, wrapping my hands around his wrists. “Dwight, I don’t care that you’re my professor.”
“It’s not just about that. Quinn, you are young, and smart... you can do so much better than me.”
“Lie to me... lie to yourself and say that it feels wrong because it doesn’t, not to me, and I don’t think it does to you either.”
He breathes out deeply, and drops his head to mine. “We can’t.”
I nod sadly, accepting his words though they were the last thing that I wanted to hear.
“Quinn, you have to promise to come back to class, you can’t jeopardise your future, you’re too bright to let it slip away.”
I nod slowly. “Alright.”
“I’m sorry it has to be like this, Quinn. In any other lifetime, if I weren’t your professor we’d be having a completely different conversation. But we can’t do this, whatever this is between us, it ends here.”
The fight to hold back my tears is hard, but somehow I manage to hold it together without completely falling apart. Deep down I know he’s right. We could never work, but it still hurts all the same.
He leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead tentatively. “Goodbye, Quinn,” he says softly before stepping back and walking away.
Chapter 21
Dwight
I’m in the middle of my third coffee of the morning when the front door slams shut and a few second later, a weary Logan wanders into the kitchen, but despite the fact that he looks exhausted, he’s sporting a triumphant grin, clearly pleased with himself.
“Morning,” I say, lifting the cup to my lips and taking a swig.
“Beautiful day isn’t it?” he replies dreamily.
“So… I’m guessing by the state of you, you had a good night last night.”
“Man, when we got to her apartment last night, the girl pounced on me, likeliterallypounced on me. That girl has more energy than a kid who ate too much sugar. I’ve been going at it all night, I’m surprised my cock didn’t fall off the rate we were going.”
“Complaining about too much sex? Who are you and what have you done with the old Logan?” I laugh.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love sex, but a man can only take so much.” He lets out a yawn. “What happened with you and Jen?”
“I put her in a cab not long after you left.”
“What? Why?”
“Why do you think? I don’t appreciate being set up like that, Logan.”
“What the hell you talking about?” he laughs off, pouring himself a coffee.
