She was effectively dating a student.
She hadn’t known. But she was.
Emily couldn’t help but notice the way that her mind went to the past tense.
She had to end it. There was no way that she was going to chance sneaking around and trying to juggle this new job with keeping a secret of that magnitude.
Emily pushed herself out of the chair once all the students had left, knowing that another class would more than likely be coming in any second.
She managed to get back to her office, falling into her chair and covering her face with her hands.
“What a fucking mess,” she muttered to herself.
And once she got over the awful idea of turning into Melissa, of repeating her mistakes, Emily started to think about what ending it with Alex would look like.
And then Emily was left with the prospect of lonely nights, of dinners alone.
She’d been spending so much time with Alex these last few weeks, and her throat ached as she realized the consequences of finding Alex in her classroom just a few minutes ago.
Meeting Alex had completely turned her life upside down in the best possible way.
And now?
Alex was going to shake up her life again, and Emily dreaded the conversation she knew she had to have with her.
16
Alex stared out at the ocean as she sipped her beer, her leg bouncing under the picnic table. A seagull squawked overhead, circling to see if it could snatch what was left of the loaded fries she’d just shared with Maria.
“You know you can dump on me,” Alex said when Maria came back with two more beers. “I feel like I’m always the one complaining about something.”
“Women,” Maria said without hesitation as she sat down across from her.
“Okay, yeah. But you must have something you need to get off your chest.”
“No. Thankfully. And we’re not done talking about you,” Maria said, propping her chin up on her hand. “I still can’t believe it.”
“Well, that makes two of us.” Alex took a swig of beer. “This is almost as bad as dating a married woman.”
Maria made a face. “Not quite. But have you talked to her?”
“No.” Alex exhaled. “I just scurried out of the classroom. I couldn’t even look at her. She probably thinks I’m immature now. I just couldn’t. And what would I even have said?”
“That you had no idea,” Maria offered.
“Oh shit.” Alex wiped her hand over her mouth. “You don’t think, that she thinks, that I knew, and I didn’t tell her?” Alex asked, thinking out loud as she put together the pieces of an even worse situation.
“No.” Maria shrugged. “I mean, maybe.”
Alex groaned. “When can I have a normal relationship?”
Maria reached across the table and covered her hand. “Come to the club later. You need to forget about all this and let loose.”
Alex took another drink. “Yeah. Okay.”
She really didn’t want to. Her plans for the night included curling up on the couch with more alcohol and some comedy or horror movie to distract her. But Maria’s idea was probably better for her.
It had been hours since Emily had walked into that classroom, and Alex was still a jittery mess. Emily hadn’t texted, and Alex was afraid to, because again, what would she say?
