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Oh, I’ll make sure my people will keep an eye on her.

But right now, that is not what I want.

“Louis, you’ll come see me at the end of the class,” Constance says, and I don’t miss the victorious smile on Eliza’s lips.

She has no idea who’s winning what right now, and it’s perfect this way.

I’m not going to keep sitting next to her now, though.

I look at my holo, and there’s only ten minutes left before the end of the class.

“Can I go to the restroom? I promise to be back at the end of the class for you to spank me, Miss Constance,” I say nonchalantly.

Do I purposely not call her Miss Jardin again? As if I was going to call her that. It already grates me to add the “Miss” before her name when all I want is to whisper her name while pinning her to her desk. I'm not about to use her last name.

And yes, the spanking comment is to make sure I do get punished.

Constance sighs, but she still waves her hand in the direction of the door.

As I stand, I hear her say, “Brainstorm at home. For next class, I want you to give me your choice of scene. Now go.”

She dismisses the class, and since I didn’t really need to use the restroom, I just wait until everyone has left to go back inside.

“That was out of line,” Constance says without looking up from her holo-puter. “I’m separating you from Eliza for any project going forward.”

Her tone of voice is cold and almost unaffected, but I heard Daniel. I know why he was worried about her too. I saw the indent of her fingers on her bottle once she dropped it.

“You’ll apologize to her at the next class. I already sent an email to the dean, so we both know you can expect him to make you come to school on Saturday for a few weeks,” she adds when I say nothing. It’s not that I don’t want to justify myself, but what would sound like a punishment for most is definitely not one for me. No more Eliza and more Saturdays with Constance … Sign me up.

“Do you have anything to say in your defense? Or are you proud of what you did? It didn’t seem to bother you that she was all over you, so why be so nasty about it?” she asks.

I wasn’t going to say anything initially, but she already sent the message, and she asked.

And I have a feeling there’s something more to her questions than just expecting me to say I did something wrong and correct it.

She seems mad—madder than she should be about any of my comments.

“She’s been touching me without my consent and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Stopping her publicly was my only option,” I say without missing a beat.

“What?” she asks, surprised by my answer. “But I already sent an email to the dean. He’s going to punish the wrong person. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Fuck. This is so wrong.”

But she’s not the only one who’s surprised, because I wasn’t expecting her to believe me immediately.

And is that relief I hear in her voice?

What is she relieved about?

“Wait? Did you think I was letting her fondle me in class?” I ask, appalled by that possibility.

“What you do outside of my class doesn’t concern me, Louis,” she says, and I don’t miss the fact that she crosses her arms as if protecting herself. “What concerns me is what you do when you’re in my classroom.”

She sounds defensive, as if it’s costing her to say as much. Coupled with her body language, it looks like her reaction is stronger than it should be—at least stronger than it should be for someone she keeps saying is only a student to her.

That’s when it hits me.

Constance is jealous.

I didn’t plan on having Eliza hit on me, and on exposing her, but I’ve never been so happy about it.