“Don’t give me that. You knew Quinn worked there didn’t you? You took us there on purpose. Why?”
His shoulders drop slightly, accepting that he’s been caught. “Okay, fine, I admit it. I knew she worked here.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re being a complete asshole who can’t see what’s right in front of him. I saw Quinn in the graveyard the other day, talked to her. She feels ashamed about kissing you, thinks she’s done something wrong. That girl is fucking crazy for you man and you’re letting her slip away.”
“It’s none of your fucking business, Lo.”
“It is when my brother is being a total dick and missing out on a chance to be happy.”
“Look, I love that you care about me, but this wasn’t the way to handle it. God, you should have seen her face when she saw fucking Jennifer hangingall over me. She looked crushed.”
“Tell me something and answer me honestly. Forget about her age and her being your student. Do you want her?”
“Yes,” I confess, my voice almost a whisper.
“Then go find her. This whole‘her being my student and being off-limits’is all bullshit. The only thing standing between the two of you isyou. Stop making shit excuses to not be with her, you’ll only end up making both of you even more miserable. Deny it all you want, but you’re falling for that girl, even I can see that, and love is definitelynotmy forte. Stop thinking with your head and start listening to your heart. You could deny your feelings for her ‘til you’re blue in the face, but your heart never lies.” He takes his cup of coffee and leaves the room.
Is he right?
Am I falling in love with her?
I miss that feeling. The feeling of being in love. Of being so completely and utterly consumed by someone else that being without them for even a second is the worst kind of torture.
The only time I’ve felt like this was for my wife.
Quinn pops into my head and my heart warms as I picture her in my arms, staring up at me with love in her eyes, a huge smile on her face, happy with just being there with me.
Could it work between us?
Is everything I’ve said to justify us not being able to be together all in my head? Problems that I’ve created myself?
Sure, I’m her professor, but she’s not a kid. It may not be allowed at the school, having had to sign a contract that prohibits sexual relations with the students on my first day, but technically, it’s not illegal. She’s nineteen years old, well over the age of consent. She’s an adult with her own mind.
Fuck, I really have screwed everything up and hurt us both in the process.
Chapter 22
Quinn
Textbooks and pieces of paper litter the couch and my lap as I sit cross-legged with my laptop open. I never leave homework until the last minute, and every second that passes has my anxiety through the roof. I have less than an hour before I have to leave for work and I still have ages to go before my assignments could ever pass for complete.
I’m already dreading coming face to face with him again after the other night at the restaurant. He said nothing can happen between us, and I just have to accept that, but it’s going to take a while. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. No one has ever made me feel the way he does. I even hoped that somehow after losing his wife and for being alone for so long since, that I could be the one to help him move on, to even help him learn to love again.
Stupid, right?
I'm packing up my things when my phone begins to ring beside me, it's Samantha, and my stomach drops. She never calls me.
“Hey, Quinn, it's Samantha.”
“Hi, is everything okay?”
“Not exactly. I was wondering if you could come into work early? I know you’re not supposed to start for another couple hours, but Ashley called in sick and we could use an extra pair of hands.”
Shit.
“Um… I’m actually meant to be in college soon, so…”
