By the third time his assistant appeared outside my lecture hall that afternoon, even the professors began to notice.
“Professor Rhodes,” the young woman said once class ended, “the dean would like to see you again.”
She was beautiful, with amber hair, long legs, and a narrow waist beneath her coat. She looked younger than me, and the thought that crossed my mind was ugly and made me still.
Was he feeding her the same lies he had once fed me?
Jealousy rose before I could stop it. A ripple of curiosity passed through the room as several students gathered their belongings.
I closed my notes slowly, already feeling the familiar tension tightening in my chest. The walk to the administrative wing felt longer than usual. Every step down the hallway carried the uncomfortable awareness that I had become part of some strange, unspoken game neither of us had acknowledged openly.
Hide and seek.
Except Hayden was not trying particularly hard to hide.
I knocked once before opening the door.
He looked up as soon as I entered, as if he had been waiting.
“Professor Rhodes,” he said.
“Dean Stone.”
The title felt strange on my tongue. His mouth twitched as he leaned back in his chair, a cigarette resting between his fingers again, the faint smell of smoke clinging to the room.
“You don’t have to sound so cold every time you say my name.”
“I’m maintaining professional boundaries.”
“Bullshit.”
He said it under his breath, almost amused, which somehow made it worse.
“You asked to see me,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And the reason?”
He leaned back in the chair, watching me with the same focus that had followed me through every encounter since last week. His cigarette rested in the ashtray now, smoke curling between us, and he picked up his eyeglasses from the desk, turning them once between his fingers before setting them down again. The gesture should not have affected me.
It did. Something low in my stomach fluttered, unwanted and humiliating.
“Curiosity,” he said.
“That’s not a professional reason.”
“It is when the dean asks.”
I crossed my arms. “If you called me here just to satisfy your curiosity, I have other responsibilities.”
“Relax,” he said. “You’re not the only person I’ve been meeting today.”
“Then maybe you should go back to them,” I said, the words leaving my mouth before I could soften them. “Or spend more time with your pretty new assistant. What was her name again?”
His smile appeared slowly, and I hated how much I noticed it.
“What?” he asked. “Are you jealous?”
