“You wouldn’t be his whore, Oaklyn,” she said exasperated. “And I mean, it’s not like you don’t perform for him anyway. With him paying for school you could continue to perform just for him,” she suggested, her eyebrows bobbing, “and not have the weight of Voyeur hanging over your heads. I honestly don’t see how it could go wrong. You’re tired all the time from working your ass off, I’d get to see you more, you’d be less stressed trying to find time to study. All of these sound like pros.”5
I didn’t even know what to say. My jaw hung open, and I blinked over and over, trying to replace the situation. How could Olivia take his side? “You know why I can’t take money from people. Money ruins relationships.”
“Listen, Oaklyn. You know I love you, and that’s why I’m going to be honest with you. You say having him pay for your school would ruin your relationship,” she hesitated, looking concerned for how I was taking her honesty. “But it seems like it’s ruined anyways.”
My mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to form words.
“Olivia, I—” I didn’t know what to say. It felt wrong. “I can’t let my professor pay for my schooling.”
“But it wouldn’t be your professor paying for school. It would be your boyfriend taking care of his girlfriend.”
“It’s not the same,” I fought.
“It is.”
“It doesn’t feel the same.”
She looked at me with sad eyes. Pitying me.
And I hated admitting it, but putting myself in her shoes, I’d look the same damn way.
I was being stubborn.
I had one thought, and I couldn’t see past it. I was so determined to make it on my own that I’d shot myself in the foot to get there.
“Olivia, I fucked up,” I said, repeating the same words when she opened the door, and began crying all over again.
She held me in her arms, rocking me back and forth, telling me it would be okay. Telling me I’d find a way to fix it.
“How? How do I go back to him after hurting him so much? How do I fix this? What if his offer doesn’t stand? What if he doesn’t want me anymore?”
“Oaklyn,” she breathed a laugh. “I highly doubt he put his career on the line to be with you to change his mind so quickly.”
“But I hurt him.” And he’d been hurt so much before. It made me sick to think I added to it.
“If you make it work, I’m sure you will hurt him again. And again. I’m sure he’ll hurt you at some point. People tend to call that a working, loving relationship,” she said, nodding her head sagely.
Somehow, she made me laugh again. Not much, but it was better than the ache I’d walked in with.
“But, dude,” she said excitedly, shaking my shoulders. “You got the fucking internship.”
“Yeah. I guess I did,” I agreed with a small smile.
“Let’s celebrate.” She crawled off the bed and dug underneath, unearthing a bottle of vodka and cranberry juice. She poured us each a drink, and we sat back on her bed getting comfortable to watch a rom-com.
Between laughing, crying, and getting drunk, I came up with a plan. I wasn’t sure if I could go to Callum and take him up on his offer, but I had other options that I could come to him with to at least try and repair the damage I created because of my pride.
* * *
callum
“Is this the right knob, Dr. Pierce?” Andrea asked. We’d been out under the stars for thirty minutes, but with her flirty voice and constant batting eyelashes, it felt like it was thirty hours.
“I can help you if you need me to,” Kenneth offered as he stared at her ass.
My head pounded as I readjusted the telescopeagainback to where it needed to be. “Just don’t touch it this time, okay?” I was barely holding back my exasperation with the situation.
“But what if I want to touch it?” she asked, trying to portray innocence.
