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ChapterThirty
When Juno pulled the car into camp, Olivia scrambled out quickly. She was desperate to track down Rick and talk some sense into him. Even if Marisol was young and anxious, he shouldn’t have to take the fall for her. Not if it put his future in jeopardy.
She didn’t find him in the sleeping quarters or the lab classrooms. When she texted him, he replied immediately. I’m in the library.
She ran into the library and shut the door behind her. He was seated at one of the tables, leafing through an old volume of The Odyssey. He’d once told her it was one of his favorite books because he often felt as unrooted as wandering Odysseus.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
Frowning, he set down the book. “Nice to see you, too.”
Damn. She was going about this all wrong. But her heart was pounding so violently she couldn’t think rationally. “Alisha told me what happened with the gate. Why’d you take the fall for it?”
He gestured to the chair opposite him. “Have a seat. And relax. It’s going to be okay.”
How could he act so calm when he’d just torpedoed his future? “No, it’s not. Dr. Roth was furious with you.”
“I know. It sucks because I’ve worked really hard. But I couldn’t throw Marisol under the bus. She’s come such a long way since she started. She actually reminds me of you, back when we were at Clear Lake. If she failed the class or got expelled, I was afraid she might give up on her dreams the way you did.”
Why was he so fucking noble? “That was different. We deserved to be expelled. She screwed up once, and it was totally by accident. At worst, Grant might make her life miserable for a few days, but he’s not going to fail her.”
Irritation clouded his features. “Don’t count on it. We both know how vindictive he can be. Right now, he’s super pissed. Even if this incident wasn’t his fault, the vandalism happened on his watch. I’m sure he hated having to report it to his crush at the Department of Antiquities.”
Rick’s desire to protect Marisol might be understandable, but it was still frustrating as hell. “What about Roth’s letter of reference? He’s never going to write it now. I thought you wanted something lined up when you went back to California.”
When Rick didn’t respond right away, her stomach bottomed out. “You’re not going back to California, are you? What about your family?”
“I’ll deal with them eventually. For now, I’m staying in the Mediterranean. I got another offer. Two and a half months in Turkey, starting September first. I figured that could tide me over for a while.”
What? Her heart skittered in shock. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if I was going to take the job. Now that my dad’s okay—”
“What the fuck, Rick? I’ve been asking you about your dad all week. I thought you trusted me, but somehow, your entire future changed, and you never thought to tell me about it? How could you hide this from me?”
Even as the words tumbled out, the demanding tone in her voice made her cringe. He’d only promised her three weeks. She had no right to insist on any more than that. But the fact that he’d withheld this information stung like hell.
“I wasn’t hiding anything.” His voice rose in frustration. “I was trying to figure out what to do. It wasn’t easy making this decision, but this is my future, not yours.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. “So your future doesn’t include me?”
“We never talked about it. I’d like to go back to California at some point, but let’s be honest. It wouldn’t work in the long run. You’re obviously going places. Networking with professors and making a name for yourself. I’ll never be at that level.”
“Is this about that stupid presentation at Polemi? I just went out afterward to stay on Grant’s good side. I don’t care about any of that!” Indignation rose inside her, setting her blood boiling. How could he lump her in with people like Grant and TJ?
“Of course you do. It’s your career. You’ve been working toward it for years. Let’s face it, I’m nothing but a shovel bum. You even admitted as much to Grant.”
She flinched, remembering her conversation with him. It killed her that he’d thrown her words back at Rick. “I didn’t mean it. I was trying to convince Grant I wasn’t involved with you. And honestly? Youuse the term more than anyone else, including him. If you hate being called a shovel bum, then why don’t you do something about it?”
“What would you suggest?”
Ignoring the sarcastic tone in his voice, she plowed on ahead. “Maybe you should consider grad school. You’re so good with students. And you’re too smart to waste…” Her words trailed off as she realized what she was implying.
His expression darkened. “Too smart to what? To waste my life dicking around in the field?”
“I didn’t mean it that way. But you might have gone on to grad school if your dad had supported you. Right? You could still pursue it if you wanted.”
“Academia’s not my thing, remember? But that’s not enough for you, is it? Not when you’ve got your future all planned out. There’s no room in it for a guy like me.”
