Amelia’s whisper knocks me out of my sex haze. “Um, I wasn’t really focusing on that when I was interviewing him.”
Yeah, like you didn’t just dry hump him in a restaurant bathroom three days ago.
“If I wasn’t taken…”
I gasp. “Amelia!” I whisper-yell.
“Same here,” Kamila responds, handing me a donut.
“And those glasses.” Amelia sighs.
They both laugh when my mouth drops.
“You guys are bad.”But they’re not wrong.I bite into the glazed donut and shake my head.
A flash goes off. “Okay, you can just stand there while I do some test shots.” Ben points to the white tape on the floor in front of Grayson.
The professor fixes his suit. “Got it.”
As he tightens his tie and looks down, all three of us ladies tilt our heads to the side, admiring the view like we’re in the cafeteria watching the best-looking jock talk to his friends.
A snort comes from our right, and I notice Ben’s assistant quietly laughing as he catches us.I know it’s because he thinks we’re being hypocrites, which in a way we are, but one thing is admiring, and another is eye fucking someone while getting hard across the room.
I take a step toward him. “Is there something you want to say?” The guy’s smile falls, and now he looks nervous and embarrassed because everyone’s eyes are on him. When he shakes his head, I say, “Good. Then turn to the screen and don’t waste Professor Hayes’s time.”
The freshman looks forward and fiddles with the mouse as I roll my eyes and stand between Kamila and Amelia again.
I can feel both of them looking at me, and Ben briefly meets my eyes as he laughssilently before shaking his head and turning back to take pictures of Grayson, who I don’t dare to look at.
“I like you, Haywood,” Amelia says from my left. “You don’t take anyone’s bullshit.”
Smiling, I turn to see her typing a message. “Thanks, boss.”
“If everything goes well for the rest of the semester, you should consider running for editor in chief next spring.”
Kamila chokes on her coffee, and I halt my chewing.
“What?” I ask with a full mouth. I’d thought about becoming the features editor, which is my dream position, but this would look better on my résumé.
Amelia locks her phone screen. “There’s still a couple of months left until we vote, but think about it. Anyone who’s been there for at least one semester can add their name to the list, and you’ve been submitting articles to the paper since the spring before becoming an official reporter. If you do well the rest of the semester, having the previous editor’s endorsement would bump you to the top.”
I swallow and feel Kamila squeezing my shoulder with excitement.
“Yeah, yes. I’ll definitely think about it,” I stammer.
“Good.” Amelia nods and turns to where Ben is. “Since it looks like you’ve got everything handled, I’ll head back to the paper to get some work done. It was nice seeing you again, Kamila.”
She sticks her hand out, and Kami takes it. “You too, Amelia.”
And with that, she walks away. The moment she’s out the door, Kamila and I turn to each other and jump in excitement for a second before realizing how loud we’re being. We tone it down to a small, excited dance.
“Emma, you’re going to be an editor.” She wipes a nonexistent tear off her face. “They grow up so fast.”
I cover my ears with the back of my hands. “La la la la la. Don’t jinx it.”
“Hey!” Ben yells. Our heads swivel toward the photo shoot, where I find an annoyed-looking photographer and a serious-looking Grayson. His lips twitch upward when his blue-green eyes meet mine, and I look away before I blush and focus all myattention on Ben. “Would you mind checking the pictures to see if they work with your article?”
“Yes, sorry.” I put my empty cup on the table nearby and stuff the last bit of the donut into my mouth. “I’m coming.” I stand next to the creepy freshman who’s smart enough to lean away from me as he flips through the pictures on the laptop. Most of them are businesslike, which is great, but he looks too serious in all of them. It’d be nice to get some candid shots, but the whole point of a candid is for it to be spontaneous. If I ask Grayson to do them, he’ll either say no or feel out of place.
