I shook my head. “I’ve just come for a few drinks. Not really in a socializing mood.”
“Everything okay?”
The two words I’d told my mother wanted to topple out of my mouth again, but this was Coop and he’d confided in me, so I felt as though I could tell him everything wasn’t fine. “Just dealing with a breakup.”
“Oh wow. I’m sorry to hear that.” He frowned slightly.
“Thanks, man.”
“You said you don’t want to socialize, but I’m here if you want to talk about it.” The bartender placed Coop’s beer in front of him and Coop took a sip.
“That’s …” I hesitated.
I hadn’t talked to anyone about my break-up and maybe that was why I was having such a hard time. A month after Jonah died, I started seeing a therapist. Having someone listen and let me get my hurt out was freeing. Of course, it took much longer to get over Jonah’s death and I didn’t think I would ever truly be okay with his passing, but having the means to voice my pain had been liberating. And maybe that was what I needed. Maybe telling someone I was hurting would be a relief and allow me to pick up the pieces of my heart and start gluing them back together. I wasn’t sure if Coop would understand mine and Tyler’s dynamics, but at least I could get it off my chest.
I stepped to the corner of the bar, which stood against the wall, and motioned for Coop to follow. He slid his beer over and I asked, “Remember how I told you I was a professor at Hawkins University?” Coop nodded, and I continued. “Well, one night I went out to a club, hooked up with a total stranger. We didn’t share names, but then four days later, he walked into my class at the start of the semester.”
“Oh shit,” he breathed.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “We tried to stay away from each other, but we had this undeniable attraction. Eventually, we couldn’t resist each other any longer and started messing around. That led to us dating and then …” I paused and closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I went on. “And then his ex, who goes to Hawkins too, saw us out together. I decided we needed to call things off. Good thing too, because that guy went to the dean and reported me.”
“Oh shit,” Coop gasped.
“I know.” I downed my whiskey in one giant gulp.
“I’m so sorry.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I have no idea what you’re going through, but it can’t be easy. You’re still having to see him in class, huh?”
“Today was the last one. He’ll be graduating and moving back to California.”
“But if school is over, then you’ll no longer be his professor, right?”
“Once I turn in his final grade I won’t be.”
“Then why not get back together?” he wondered. “He doesn’t have to move back to California, does he?”
“He got a job working for Flirting with Fire. They’re based in LA, but are headed out on tour for six months.”
Coop’s eyes widened. “Wasn’t that the band that performed at the softball game?”
I nodded. “It was.”
“Damn, and I bet you’re busy with your work here.”
“Yep. Working on eighty-one home games for the Red Sox. Baseball is my busiest season.”
“And there’s no way for a long-distance thing to work?”
I shook my head. “Not sure he’d want that since I broke his heart.”
“There has to be some way.”
“I don’t know. We have internships atThe Hub, but I can’t ask him to give up his dream job for me.”
“Maybe you should tell him about it, and let him make the choice.”
* * *
I would liketo say the last few weeks had flown by, but the reality was, no matter how much I immersed myself in work or grading my students’ final portfolios, Tyler was always on my mind. When I’d seen his final project arrive in my inbox, I wanted to mark it as “read” and then move on to the next and just give him an A+. But not only was it unethical to do that, I was curious to see what he had submitted.
