Jeff leaned in, whispering so no one else could hear, “You might want to fix your hair, Dr. J,” he said, his voice tight in a way Liam had never heard it before, Jeff’s eyes darting between Liam and Min. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had sex hair.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Two words. Two words and the guilt in her stomach threatened to overtake her.
Liam:Jeff knows.
When Min found those two little words on her cell phone after rehearsal, she stared in disbelief.It must be a joke. But why would Liam joke about a thing like that?She squeezed her eyes shut. She shouldn’t have had sex with Liam in the dressing room. She’d known it at the time, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. How could she resist when he was looking at her like he wanted to eat her alive? And, if she was honest, shelikedthe danger of fucking him on campus. The possibility that they could be caught made everything so much more intense – that had even been the fantasy he’d spun for her. But it was just supposed to be a fantasy. They weren’t supposed to actually get caught – by her best friend no less.
When she entered the apartment, it was quiet. Jeff’s car was in the driveway but Maria’s wasn’t. She slipped into her room to gather a change of clothes and was headed to the bathroom when Jeff stepped out of his bedroom, shutting the door gently behind him. She caught a glimpse of Henry’s naked back where he sprawled in Jeff’s bed as the door closed. Jeff’s face was blank, unreadable except for the tell-tale ticking of his jaw. She knew better, though – Jeff’s expression was only blank when he was furious.
“Hey,” she said with false cheerfulness. “I was just gonna take a shower.”
“Work up a sweat at rehearsal?” he asked in a way that said he already knew the answer. She hesitated and he scoffed, pushing past her into the living room.
“Jeff –”
He spun on her. “Are you fucking Dr. Jacobs?” he hissed.
She swallowed hard, her mouth going dry and avoiding his eyes as she felt the blood draining from her face. “Let me explain.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he roared before walking away again, shaking his head like he couldn’t even look at her. Her throat tightened around tears she refused to shed. “What are you doing, Mel?” he demanded.
“It’s not what you think.”
He laughed but there was no joy in the sound. “Are you having sex with our professor?” She stared at him, unable to deny it. “Jesus, Mel! So he’s Mystery Man? That’s why you couldn’t introduce me – or hell, even tell me his name.”
“I didn’t know –”
“How long?” he demanded, cutting her off. “Just the last few weeks, or has it been going on for longer than that?”
“Why are you so angry?” she asked in a small voice. She hated that he was angry with her, but she could feel her own indignation building as well.
“You didn’t tell me!”
She blinked. Of all the things her best friend could have said to her in that moment, all the reasons he could be upset with her, it had never occurred to her that the thing that would bother him the most was her keeping this secret. Jeff dropped onto the couch, his elbows braced on his knees.
“This huge fucking thing is happening with you and you didn’t even tell me. You’ve beenlyingto me.”
Min rushed to his side, sitting next to him on the couch and gripping his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to keep this from you. I just… I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“This can’t end well. You know that, right?”
“Why not?”
She could feel the lump forming in her throat. Jeff gave her an exasperated look. It was a stupid question. She knew all the reasons it couldn’t end well, but she’d gotten good at ignoring them.
Jeff just shook his head and asked, “When did this start?”
And she told him everything, all the way back to meeting him in the lobby of the opera. It was such a relief to finally tell someone.
“You seem happy,” he said.
“I am.”
“This isn’t like you – breaking the rules, sneaking around.”
“I know, but if I want to be with him, then that’s the way it has to be,” she said. “At least for now.”
