Sighing, I turn away from my computer and call his name while he’s sorting through some boxes I’d long forgotten from my closet.
Luca jumps, whirling around to look at me with wide, fearful eyes.
Fuck me, I did this. I shouldn’t have listened to Crista and told him everything. I should have kept some parts of myself a secret, at least until he knew I didn’t want to hurt him. He’s the last person I’d hurt and I did it anyway.
Standing slowly, I hold my hand out to him. He takes it, but with a slight hesitation that breaks my heart. “What’s wrong?”
He smiles shakily, stepping closer so he can rest his head on my chest. “Nothing. I’m good. Listen, I have to go. But I’ll… be back.”
Push. Ask where he’s going. Make him talk to you.
I do none of those things. Instead, I wrap an arm around his waist and pull him closer, kissing him gently. Thankfully, he kisses me back with just as much feeling, grabbing on to my shoulders to deepen the kiss for just a moment.
A whine leaves his throat before he hurries away, practically running down the hallway.
I go back to my desk and take a seat, playing back what we did in the theater. Luca was into it. Hell, he had his shirt over his head before I even finished asking him my questions. He watched me with rapt attention as I stroked him, his eyes blazed when I sucked him down, emotion evident in his voice when he reached his peak. What changed from then to just now?
As I try to sus out where I went wrong, my eyes land on Luca’s bag. Checking my phone, I’m startled to see nearly an hour has passed since he left.
Scooping up his bag, I hurry out of the room and head to his dorm. Since it’s Friday, he doesn’t have a class now, so I can show up and hand him his backpack and try to get him to talk to me.
I shouldn’t have let him leave without making sure he was okay. I should have talked to him, assured him I wouldn’t hurt him again and promised that I’d do better to read his body. Though he seemed like he was enjoying what we did. His body language told me he was deep in his lust and he wanted more of what we were doing.
Fear will do that, though.
When I get to his room, I see a sign on the door with a message scrawled on it in Luca’s handwriting.
GOING AWAY FOR THE WEEKEND, ZANDY. DON’T FORGET YOUR KEY.
Where did Luca go? What happened? Is he leaving because of what I did to him?
God, I don’t know what the fuck to do.
I pull out my phone and find his contact. Pressing send, I put my phone to my ear, listening to it ring, and ring and… ring.
Frustration races through me as his voicemail kicks on, reciting his number and telling me to leave a message at the beep.
“Luca, it’s Mad. Call me back. Listen…” I sigh and shove my hand through my hair. “If I did something wrong, please tell me. I’m sorry for hurting you. Please… let’s just talk about it, okay?”
I feel like a fool as I hang up, begging on his voicemail, but he won’t talk to me, so I have no choice.
Still, I shoot him a quick text. Nothing long, just “Call me when you get the chance.” I push out of the building, hoping that I’ll run into Luca on campus, hoping he hasn’t left to go God knows where without us talking first.
“Professor?” I hear from behind me. Turning around, I see Russ pulling headphones from his ears and looking at me curiously.
“Mr. Washington. How are you?”
“Good,” he says, slapping hands with me. “What are you doing at the dorms?”
Thankful I have an excuse, I hold up Luca’s bag. “My TA left his backpack and I’ll be gone for the long weekend. Wanted to return it before I headed out.”
“Who’s your TA? I might know what room they’re in.”
“Luca Archer. He’s?—”
“Lucs!” Russ says with a chuckle. “I’m heading up to his room now.” My eyebrows dip in anger, but Russ confuses it for something else. “Oh no, it’s not like that. Lucs is a nice kid, but he’s not my type. He’s Zander’s roommate.”
I’d completely forgotten Luca had told me that. Probably the “Zandy” he’d left a note for. “I’ll take it up and leave it on his bed if he’s not there.”
