“Damn. I’m really sorry, James. If there’s anything you need from me, just let me know, okay?”
“Well, that’s why I’m calling. I’m going to try to get Penny to skip class today. But in case she shows up…can you look out for her today? I’m worried about how the other students are going to react.”
“Yeah, this is going to be a shit show. What does she look like?”
“She has red hair and she sits in the back row. You can’t miss her.” That was the whole problem I had when I was trying to be a good professor and keep my distance. My eyes were always drawn to her.
“I’ll do my best to look after her,” he said.
“It is probably best if she drops the class though, don’t you think?” I asked. There were a few reasons why I wanted her to drop the class. But there was one beyond the obvious of other students being assholes to her once they found out. I hated the idea of her sitting with Tyler without me there. And there was that dick in the front row that would probably give her a hard time. Raymond Asher. He was always joking around, but he was going to jump all over this. I hated that kid.
“Let’s see how today goes. But I promise I’ll look after her.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
I ended the call and texted Penny: "I hope that you're holding up okay. Can I convince you to come back to the apartment instead of listening to speeches?" She really didn’t need to be there today.
My phone immediately buzzed with her reply. "I want to face this. Waiting will make it worse. How did the rest of your conversation with the dean go?"
I really hated that she wouldn’t listen to me. Going to class was a mistake. But I couldn’t force her to skip it. "I just had to sign a few papers. Can we at least meet for lunch? We really need to talk." I wanted to at least try to convince her to not go to the rest of her classes in the afternoon.
"Okay.”
I took a deep breath.Good.I slid my phone back into my pocket. There were students walking around campus now. I was used to the stares. But there were definitely more today. And lots more whispering too.
I tried to keep my head down as I made my way to my car.
“Professor Hunter!” someone yelled.
I turned around.Oh, fuck me.
Chapter 5
Wednesday
Kristen ran over, stopping way too close to me. She was wearing a sports bra that was definitely a size too small, because her breasts were practically pouring out. She wiped some sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.
I silently cursed in my head. I’d been thinking about my stalker earlier and it was like I’d just willed her into existence again.
She gave me a sad smile. “I heard what happened. I can’t believe it. Are you alright?”
AmIalright? I wasn’t the one she should be worried about.I’dbroken the rules.I’dslept with a student.Iwas the monster in this situation. It didn’t matter whether I was alright or not. I just stared at her.
“Some women, am I right?” She touched my shoulder.
I wasn’t sure if she was talking about Isabella or Penny. And I didn’t really care. I shifted my shoulder back so Kristen’s hand would drop. The last thing I needed was for there to be a picture circulating of me talking to Kristen. I looked around at the other students staring at us.
And no one looked mad at me. They looked more like Kristen. Sympathetic. And I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. They weren’t blaming me for this. They thought this was Penny’s fault.For fuck’s sake.
The article was pretty damning against me. And yet…I’d been worried about this. That some people would blame Penny. People really were ridiculous.
“I’m good, Kristen. If you’ll excuse me.”
“Well if you need anything.” She placed her hand on the center of my chest. “Anything at all. Even just a workout buddy to get rid of some of the stress of all this.”
Did she mean an actual workout buddy? Or like a…workout by having wild sex? By the way she was staring at me, it was definitely a sex thing. I’d slept with a student, yes. But it was singular. Why did everyone just assume that I’d slept with a ton of them?
