“I appreciate the consideration,” I said simply, trying to strain all unnecessary emotion from my voice.
But Ronan’s gaze burned into mine with an almost roguish amusement. As though despite my attempts at covering up my attraction to him, he could see straight through my charade and was poking at the mask.
“I’d like to invite you out to discuss this in more detail over drinks. Next Friday, The Blind Tiger at, say, seven?”
I hesitated even though my immediate response was to say yes. Was that because of the potential for a career boost or because being this close to Ronan made the air between us feel like it was crackling with electricity? I didn’t know.
But this was the year I was supposed to be taking chances. Overthinking didn’t fall into the equation.
“The Blind Tiger at seven,” I confirmed. An off-campus bar, and not exactly the cheapest option.
He inclined his head in greeting. “See you then, June.”
With that, he promptly turned and left, leaving me bubbling over with questions I didn’t really want the answers to.
8
~
Lucas
“I can’t believe you actually own a button-down,” Ronan said, pretending to eye me up and down as he, Oren and I made our way up the steps to the faculty mixer venue. “And then of course you had to wear them with desert boots. You came so close.”
We all had to dress up for the occasion, something our HOD insisted on despite the fact that previous mixers tended to err on the latter part of the “business-casual” card.
“You’re wearing a damn scarf,” I pointed out sarcastically. “And the day you outgrow those old-man cardigans you’re so fond of is the day you get to comment on my style.”
“What style?” he shot back. “Ask Oren what he thinks.”
“I’d like to stay out of this conversation, thank you both,” Oren said, ever the peace-keeper. He shook his head. “You’re like children.”
“The gray hair attests to the contrary,” Ronan countered.
“What gray hair?” I asked, matching his tone from earlier. “I see only one between us who fits that description.”
Ronan raised a brow at me. “Keep up with the stress and working yourself half to death and you’ll get there sooner than you think, Lucas.”
I knew that he was still only jesting, but the reality of what he said carried some bite to it. And maybe he was right; I’d been thefirst in my family to graduate and to secure a prestigious career, let alone at my age. That was a lot of pressure.
Maybe it would eventually age me even quicker. There were times when Ronan seemed younger than I was, like he lived in a more colorful reality than the one I confined myself to. But I’d staked so much of who I was on what I was able to accomplish, and that was a hard thing to gamble for anything as fickle as happiness.
I rarely unleashed the part of me that wanted and needed more than that. And the only recent time I’d done that was…
I cleared my throat, trying to banish thoughts of the boathouse from my mind. But I could still seeherwrithing above me. I could still taste her on my tongue, still feel the softness of her body in my hands and hardness of the floor beneath my knees as I gave into my impulses and let myself drown in her.
That was a sort of happiness still all too fucking vivid.
But we’d discussed it, and I’d promised that it would never happen again. I was simply going to have to relearn abnegation, as quickly as I’d managed to forget it.
Oren’s low whistle drew my attention back to the present. “They picked a fancy place this year, didn’t they?”
And that it was. The building they’d chosen was a modern rendition of baroque opulence, all glass and golden stones and marble. If anything, we were probablyunderdressed.
Ronan clicked his tongue. “How much do you want to bet Abe managed to wiggle his way into having a say in the venue? The man is nothing if not proactive in his delusions of grandeur.”
“You don’t like him very much, do you?” Oren asked.
Ronan’s face twisted. “You’ll discover for yourselves why the majority of faculty members choose to give him a wide berth.There are snakes and then there’s Abe Halliwell. I’ve yet to see anyone match their self-preservation with their lack of integrity as closely as he does. It’s rather impressive, actually.”
