“I’m sorry.”
My head snapped quickly to the doorway, where a bloody Jonah stood in the entry. I whispered, “What?”
“I’m sorry,” he said again, a drop of blood dripping off his head.
I shot upright, my breaths coming in long gasps as I struggled to wake up. Sweat coated my entire body and my heart raced as I realized I was having a nightmare—the same one I’d had for the last three years since my boyfriend Jonah died in a car accident after he stormed out of my house because we’d gotten in a fight.
Peering across the room to the window, I saw through the slits on the side of the curtains that it was still dark outside. A glance at my alarm clock on the nightstand confirmed it was 4:34 a.m., and I had about thirty minutes to either try to get more sleep or start my morning.
Since it was the first day of the spring semester, I chose to get up. I had a busy class ahead of me. As I made my way to my en-suite, a piece of string on the floor caught my eye on my bedroom floor.
Picking it up, I realized it wasn’t just a string, but a friendship bracelet made of embroidery thread. I hadn’t seen such a thing since I was in middle school twenty-plus years ago, so how the hell did it get into my house? And then it hit me.
The guy from Thursday night.
The one I had brought back to my place and failed to exchange names or any other info with.
The one with the perfect mouth and tight hole that made my dick hard just thinking about him.
The one who left with none of the awkward bullshit that could come with one-night stands.
The one I wouldn’t mind seeing again.
And maybe that was why I didn’t throw the chevron-patterned bracelet into the garbage. Instead, I walked back over to my bed and put it into the top drawer of my nightstand. I didn’t know why, because what grown-ass man wore a friendship bracelet? Then again, I knew nothing about him other than he hadn’t been much shorter than my six-foot-two stature, had silky, finger-length dark brown hair that I had tugged on more than once, piercing blue eyes, and a five-o’clock shadow.
It wasn’t like me to think about my one-night stands after they left my house, but this guy—something drew me to him. If I saw him again at Chrome, I wouldn’t mind bringing him back to my place again.
The thought made me pause. I hadn’t wanted more than one night with someone since Jonah. I tried to tell myself it was because I kept so busy with teaching and working as a photojournalist, that I only had time for casual hookups. The truth was, I wasn’t ready to know any new guy’s name. To go on first dates and learn how they took their coffee. I’d had all of that with Jonah and it had ended in an instant, leaving my heart broken and never feeling whole again.
Taking a deep breath, I shuffled to the bathroom and got ready for work.
* * *
Pullingmy white Infiniti QX60 into my parking space at Hawkins University, I grabbed my briefcase and camera bag and stepped out of the SUV. HU was my alma mater, and when I decided I wanted to have more of a nine-to-five job instead of covering multiple sports teams that kept me away from home, I’d applied. I hadn’t been offered a position until after Jonah died. Getting the teaching job was supposed to let me be at home with him every night after he retired, but after a lot of consideration, I still decided to take the job. It was for one class a week and it still worked with my schedule. Plus, I found out I loved teaching. Since I had no one at home waiting for me, I chose to continue working for my family’s news agency.
Just as I started across the parking lot, Charlotte Ross, a fellow professor, parked her Mercedes in her spot. I waited a few moments for her to grab her belongings and then she quickly made her way toward me.
“Good morning,” she sang.
“You’re chipper for the first day of the spring semester.”
We fell into step.
“Yeah, well, getting engaged over winter break will do that to a woman.”
We both stopped walking and turned to each other as she held out her left hand; the massive rock on her finger sparkled in the early morning sunlight.
“Oh wow. Congrats.”
We hugged briefly.
“Thank you. I’m still in shock.”
“Really? You and Mitch have been together for how many years?” I had only been teaching for two and a half years and they had been together before I met Charlotte.
“It’s been four, but I just had no idea he would do it over break.”
We fell into step again.
