“I’m going to go get some air,” I told Fallon.
He nodded, and I made my way to the front door. When I got outside, I pulled up the rideshare app and put in the address for the nightclub.
* * *
It wasa little before midnight when my ride dropped me off. It took me twenty minutes to get through the line, and, not surprisingly, Chrome was even more packed than the last time I was here.
While walking through the club, I searched for the man I wanted to see, but didn’t spot him anywhere. I made my way to the bar and found an open seat and rushed to it.
“Nice to see you back.” The bartender from last time stood in front of me. “What can I get you?”
Since I had started the night with beer, I decided to stick with that. “I’ll take a Sam Adams.”
He grabbed a glass and pulled the handle to pour my drink.
“You here alone, or is that handsome man from the other night with you?”
It seemed like I wasn’t the only one who my professor had made an impression on, and the thought bothered me more than it should have. Of course, I had no claim on him, but since I was at the club looking for him, I didn’t want anyone getting in my way.
“It’s just me tonight.”
“Interesting.” He winked and then walked away to take another order.
I thought about moving to the other side of the bar where another bartender worked, so he wouldn’t get the idea that I reciprocated his interest, but I stayed put because my seat provided an excellent view of the door.
Two beers and an hour later, there was still no sign of my teacher. Knowing he was unlikely to show up this close to last call, I downed the rest of my drink and headed out.
4
HAYDEN
When I had started teaching,I hadn’t been this nervous or anxious, orscared.
That first day at Hawkins U, my nerves had run high because I had been worried about stumbling over my words, forgetting something basic like putting a memory card into the camera, or that class would be boring, and my students wouldn’t learn anything.
What I felt when I woke up this Monday morning was a different kind of fear—it was trepidation. What had happened with Tyler Statler could ruin everything I’d worked for.
Once everyone had left class the week before, Isabelle handed me the seating chart and then exited the room too. I immediately looked to the spot where Tyler had been sitting and read his name, not realizing how satisfying it would be to put a name to his face.
Usually when I hooked up with someone, we shared our names at some point, but that night at Chrome, it had never come up between me and Tyler. And I had been okay with it until he walked into my classroom and changed everything.
When I pulled into the staff parking lot, Charlotte’s car was already there. It was early in the morning with an hour before my class started and I needed some insight from my friend. She was the only one I could trust. And even though I was worried about the dean or the school finding out, I had to pick her brain.
I knocked on her open door and she glanced up from her computer and smiled.
“Good morning, Char. How are you?” I walked inside.
“I need more caffeine. Planning a wedding is time consuming. I think I only get like five hours of sleep a night.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I teased. “But maybe you can mark a photographer off your to-do list.”
Her hazel eyes lit up. “No! I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You aren’t. I’d be more than happy to. All of your wedding needs. Engagement party, engagement photos, the wedding. Heck, I’ll document your bachelor and bachelorette parties if you want.”
“We might not want photographic evidence of those.” We both chuckled. “But if you’re sure—”
“It would be my pleasure.”
