I don’t want the moon, I just want to keep him after this semester is finished and he doesn’t need me as a TA anymore.
I’m so lost in thought on how to make that happen that I accidentally bump into someone. My eyes immediately lift. It’s the woman who caught us before—I think Professor Levine called her Crista? She’s tall and slender, pretty, with brown skin that is currentlyglowingin delight as she realizes exactly who bumped into her.
“I’m sorry.” The apology is instant. “I wasn’t paying attention, I was…”
“I’m sure I know what you were thinking about.” The warm tease in her voice drifts through the air and raises color on mycheeks. I’m still not quite over the fact that she caught us in such a precarious position, and it isn’t lost on me that I probably would have been in major trouble if it had been anyone else. “Can you actually come with me for a minute?”
Oh… oh, no. Am I in trouble after all?
Like she can read it on my face, or maybe it’s the way my shoulders instantly pull up to my ears, she laughs. “You’re fine. I just need help with some papers.”
“Oh.” The relief that washes over me is instant. “Okay. Sure, whatever you need.”
She rolls her eyes at my words. “No wonder he likes you so much. Very compliant.”
Thankfully, she turns before the blush completely overtakes my face.
In her office, she starts gathering up a few folders. “I’m glad that you and Maddox are getting along so well.”
My eyes instantly flick to her door, and I carefully nudge it shut. She’s talking so casually, like what we’re doing is justgetting along. When she hears the soft click, she smirks.
“Thank you?” I’m not even sure if that’s the right thing for me to say.
“Honestly, he’s been a temperamental grouch the entire time I’ve known him. You really did fix whatever his last boyfriend broke.” She doesn’t even look up at me as she says it, just continues to casually shuffle the papers in her hands.
Meanwhile, I’m torn between the words “last boyfriend” and the fact that saying that implies I’m his boyfriend now. It’s a war of pleasure and something aching in my chest to know that anyone hurt him.
It makes sense—it always felt like he was holding part of himself back… but…
“Last boyfriend?” I finally prioritize my questions, and her head snaps up.
“Oh, shoot. Has he not told you about that?” I can’t tell if there’s some kind of mock innocence in her tone or if she actually feels bad.
“No… we haven’t really…” I frown, biting my lip. “We haven’t really discussed his past that much.”
“Well, between you and me…” She hands me a stack of papers and I take them automatically. “I think you’re good for him. He was wound so tight before he met you, I was just waiting for him to end up on an episode of a true crime podcast, I swear. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up. Though…” She taps on top of the papers she handed me. “Make sure you stay quiet about it until the semester is over, yeah?”
I nod quickly.
“Of course. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him or jeopardize his career or?—”
“Or yourself, right? You need to worry about you too, Luca.”
Yeah…
“Yeah. I know.”
“Perfect.” She beams, and then taps the papers one more time. “Now that I’ve given you solid advice, can you do me a favor?”
“Of course,” I agree.
“Run these over to Professor Hilman for me, would you? And tell him if he ever asks me to grade his papers again, I’m going to be on a true crime podcast myself.”
I manage to keep my expression from falling as I nod.
I already agreed.
And she’d given me information about Maddox that I didn’t have before… so…
