Hi Princess,
Please know that I needed to see you one more time before the investigation. I never expected it to end with us in bed together, but it was one of the most amazing quiet nights I’ve ever had.
Stay safe. I’ll be in touch once I’ve sorted some things out.
Wait for me.
- Grayson
Chapter Thirty-Seven
EMMA
“You guys just had sex? You didn’t talk at all?” Kamila pops a Tater Tots in her mouth and takes a sip of her juice.
Shaking my head, I pick at the scrambled eggs on my plate. It’s Sunday morning, and only earlier today did I wake up to find Grayson’s note. I caught her and the guys up on our Sunday brunch in the dining hall, and they told me what had happened before I got to the room yesterday. All they said was that Grayson came to check on me. He was worried about me, like I was about him.
My friends look at me nervously, just as anxious as I feel for Grayson and myself.
I’ll be in touch once I’ve sorted some things out.
What does he need to sort out, and how long will it take? A week? Two? A month?
My eyes are puffy from crying in the shower, but thank goodness for makeup that has helped. Still, when I came out of the bathroom this morning, Kamila noticed. She came back to get clothes before we walked to the dining hall in silence. My best friend knew what I needed was to breathe the fresh air and try toclear my mind, no matter how pointless it seems every time I try.
Levi angrily stabs at his pancakes. “What kind of person would do this to you?”
“Who else knew you were going to be there?” Jake asks.
I sit up straight and take a sip of my apple juice. “No one that I know of.”
He and Levi exchange a look, reaching some sort of silent agreement.
Jake then takes his phone out and dials a number. “I have a job for you.” He gets up and walks away. I don’t bother asking him who it is; he wouldn’t tell me either way, and this is the way things are with Jake. He gets shit done, and we don’t ask how.
I bite my lip. “Grayson also left this for me.” Levi and Kamila read the folded note and look back at me. “What if I got him fired, you guys? What if he starts to hate me for pushing him into this, and last night was our last night together?”
“No,” Levi says with finality, his dark blue eyes narrowing. “This was a riskbothof you took.”
“There is one way you could fix this, Emma,” Kamila blurts out, then looks at me with regret. “Your parents. They could make some sort of donation…”
I’m taken aback by her suggestion. That hadn’t crossed my mind once. “Are you being serious right now?” She’s the last person I thought would ever say that.
“I know, I know.” She grabs my hand across the table. “But your parents have connections here, and it might help. You could be looking at expulsion here, Emma.” My hand tightens around hers. The word alone terrifies me. “I’d rather you use those connections than lose everything you’ve worked so hard for.”
“I agree, Ems.” Levi takes my other hand. “You shouldn’t be punished over something like this.”
Shutting my eyes, I whisper, “I really like him, you guys.”
They both nod, and I begin to wonder whether what I felt lastnight was something akin to love. It was the closest I’ve ever come to it…I think.
It might have just been the sex. I’ve never been in love with anyone, ever.
How is it supposed to feel?
Like, I care more about his future than mine at the moment? That I’m prioritizing our relationship and considering Kamila’s suggestion because it’d make everything easier?
“What if my parents’ connections only help me? What about Grayson?” I turn to Kami, then Levi.
