I type in my password and open the project file. Then I pull up all previously saved versions and swing my laptop around so the professor can see. “I started this three weeks ago and have saved copies every step of the way. Does the other student have that?”
His lips purse again, a flicker of doubt entering his expression.
“I didn’t steal anyone’s work. I know this subject matter.” I wait a beat, praying he can look past his preconceived notions of me to recognize I’m speaking the truth. “Have me redo the project during office hours if you want. But don’t penalize me for someone else’s error.”
The professor doesn’t speak for the longest time. “You’ll both be suspended from my class for the week while these allegations are looked into. Send me these files.”
Letting out a resigned breath, I upload my project files, as well as my entire folder for the class dating back to the start of the semester. Hopefully, he’ll look through my past work aswell to see Idoknow his course material. I have no reason to plagiarize.
Once done, the professor dismisses me curtly, and I head out into the hall, knowing there’s nothing else I can do. I showed him my work. I offered to redo it under his supervision. I just have to pray the other student doesn’t have a false paper trail.
Walking outside, I stop at a fountain shooting a plume of water into the air. There’s a cement bench surrounding its perimeter, and I take a seat, pulling out my phone to check the time.
Isaac should be done with his class by now.
He sounds confused when he answers my call. “Trevor? Is something wrong?”
I huff a small breath. “Why do you assume that?”
“Because I don’t think you’ve ever called me, only texted. Wait… No, no. You haven’t. What’s wrong?”
I can’t stop the smile on my face or the warmth that envelops my chest, even as the reminder of my meeting minutes ago sours my mood. “Maybe I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Yeah, something’s definitely wrong. Where are you at?”
“The university.”
There’s a long pause before Isaac makes a short sound. “Perfectly descript. I’ll just walk around until I find you, shall I?Where, Trevor?”
I chuckle. “You don’t need to—”
“Meet me at the library?” he cuts in, likely knowing I won’t refuse any direct request he makes. Not if it’s within my power to grant.
I ease out a breath. “Sure.”
I’m fairly certain I hear, “Didn’t think I was dealing with a stubborn man,” before the call ends. Feeling a touch lighter, I pocket my phone and make my way toward the central library.
Isaac is waiting for me inside the stairwell on the third floor. Without a word, he pushes off from the wall and opens the door. I follow him through the common spaces and stacks until we reach the private rooms.
He enters an empty one, shutting the door once I’m inside and then bodily steering me toward a chair in the center of the small space. He strips off my backpack before plopping me onto the seat. I’m about to make a joke about his interrogation tactics when Isaac climbs onto my lap, rendering me speechless.
He nestles himself against me, his arms around my shoulders as my own come around his back. My heart beats heavily as his hair brushes my cheek, his head beside my own.
“Here’s how this is going to go,” he says, voice soft. “You’re going to tell me what’s wrong. Because I’m not good at guessing that shit. I can’t promise I’ll be very good at fixing it, either. But I can listen.”
I tighten my arms around him, my eyes closing as I breathe him in. “You’re better at it than you think.”
“I haven’t even done anything yet.”
My huff is small. “I’ve been suspended from one of my classes on allegations of plagiarism.”
Isaac sucks in a breath. “That’s bullshit.”
“You don’t even know the whole story.”
He pulls back enough to glare at me, his expression making me bite my tongue. “I knowyou. And you have too much integrity to pass someone’s work off as your own. It has to be a mistake. Or…or someone else stoleyours. Whose ass do I need to kick?”
Isaac jolts when I kiss him, but then he melts, his head resting lax in my hand, his fingers flexing at my nape. He’s warm and fierce, and the fact that he’s on my side without question, that he trusts my intentions implicitly, has my worry taking a back seat.
