Page 51 of Teaching Roman

Chapter Twenty-Three

I agreedto meet Brett alone at Coffee & Cream despite Cassie and Jillian’s protests. The most I was willing to agree to was meeting him in public. The local cafe was neutral ground and always packed. I’d never thought of Brett as dangerous. I still didn’t. But he had lost his temper at the bar, and I couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t get as angry with me as he had with Roman. As soon as I walked through the doors and spotted him waiting for me inside, my confidence vanished. I’d promised Brett that we would talk when I returned from Mexico, but I’d been avoiding that conversation for months. He knew that and now that he’d seen me with Roman, he knew why.

He shoved a drink at me as soon as I took the seat across from him.

“Chai,” he said.

It was my special drink—the one I reserved for a pick-me-up on bad days. Of course, Brett would know that after dating for a year, but the simple gesture made me feel even worse. Despite knowing I’d moved on, it was clear he hadn’t, and if the chai was any indication, he was still holding out hope.

Brett didn’t look up from the table, but his fists balled as he spoke. “Tell me the truth, Jess. Have you been screwing around with him the whole time?”

I wanted to say no. I wanted to say a lot of things, but I was torn. I’d hurt him, but that didn’t give him any right to shame me about my life. Part of me wanted to inform Brett he didn’t own me. The rest of me worried that angering him would only lead to more drama.

“I should have been upfront with you,” I admitted. “I started seeing Roman a few months ago after we broke up. I don’t think I owe you any more explanation than that.”

“We were going to get married.”

Was he revising history? It was getting harder and harder to let him down gently. “I never said yes. In fact, if I’d known you saw our relationship in that way, I would have ended things earlier.”

“I had a five-year plan, which included you. You could have let me know that I wasn’t part of yours.”

“Are your hurt that I broke up with you? Or because you had to rearrange your schedule?” I couldn’t keep my cool for another second. It was one thing for him to be upset. It was another for him to rewrite reality.

“Whatever. I had no idea you were the type to fuck your profs to maintain your GPA,” Brett said loudly, causing more than a few heads to swivel toward our table. “Let me know how that works out in med school.”

I stiffened, completely shocked by the ugliness of his words. Maybe he’d gotten me the chai because he knew I’d need a pick-me-up after he knocked me down. It was clear that I’d dodged a major bullet by saying no to him. “Nothing happened between Roman and I until after we broke up, so stop insinuating that I’m a slut.”

“I never said you were a slut,” Brett interjected. “But you’re being stupid. We had something together. You’re not going to find someone with a goals as compatible to your career goals as me. You still have a year of school left. That’s plenty of time to clean up your little mess and plan a wedding before you start med school.”

I stood up so quickly that my chair clattered to the floor behind me. “I should have told you before that there was no way in hell I would ever marry you. I was trying to be gentle then—kind. Let me make it clear now. You can take your ring and shove it up your uptight ass. In a few years, maybe it will turn back to coal.”

“Wrong answer.” Brett’s jaw clenched and he jumped to his feet, getting in my face. “If you think this is where it ends, you’re wrong. Ever hear of the Code of Ethics?”

Suddenly I wished I hadn’t knocked my chair over. I needed to sit down. I had indeed heard of it, and Brett knew that, because I’d sat on the Student Ethics Committee last year. It was Olympic State’s private justice system and it covered everything from roommate quarrels to fist fights to plagiarism. In all the time I’d served, there had never been anything as juicy as a faculty-student affair, and if Brett had his way, he’d be dragging me in front of the SEC to prove his point.

“I’m sorry, Brett. I didn’t mean for this to happen. But are you really going to ruin our lives for revenge?” I whispered, even though I knew it was too little too late.

“Revenge?” He laughed, but it was hollow and unamused.

“Yes.” If I could make him see that, maybe he could move on and let this go. “Can’t you just let this go? I’m ha—”

“Stop right there,” he said. “Don’t give me a line about how happy you are and how I’ll find someone. You were supposed to love me, Jess. Even if we were on a break. You don’t go from being in a committed relationship to cheating in less than a week unless you’re a liar.”

“That’s not cheating,” I reminded him, but I knew that he wasn’t processing what I was saying.

“It doesn’t matter.” Brett stepped away from me, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I already contacted the SEC. Apparently they have no jurisdiction over faculty, even graduate students.”

My shoulders slumped. He’d been trying to scare me—and it had worked. I couldn’t believe that he could be so twisted. Once I walked out of here, I needed to consider how to maintain a safe distance between us. I never wanted to see Brett again.

“Grad students are reprimanded by their department. They sent my complaint to the dean. But the SEC is looking into whether or not it’s within their purview to reprimand a student for such a relationship. You used to sit on the committee, what do you think?”

It felt directly into their jurisdiction. Their duty was to consider situations that exited in a gray area ethically. Hadn’t I known that was where my relationship with Roman fell? If the committee was sympathetic, nothing would happen. If they weren’t… I couldn’t bring myself to consider the consequences.

I grabbed my bag off the floor and refrained from throwing it at Brett’s head. “Congratulations. You’ve fucked me over. Does it make you feel better?”

“It does. Say hi to your boyfriend for me,” he said, but I ignored him and made a beeline for the door.

I flipped him off as I pushed open the exit and dug around for my phone. I had to warn Roman. I hadn’t told him that I was meeting with Brett today. We hadn’t talked since he took me home from Garrett’s a few nights ago. If he could speak with his department head before the complaint reached them, we might stand a chance. My heart sank when I saw he’d already texted me.