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“Perfect.” My phone buzzes in my pocket, but I’m not about to ruin this moment by looking at it. “Thank you so much.”
“Oh, I’m just glad you’re available.” She points to my pocket. “You’re buzzing.”
I grab the phone and quickly put it on mute after seeing Luka’s name on the screen. I’ll call him back later.
“I’m gonna clock out and head over to Professor Scotts’ office. He wants to see me, probably to rail at me again for not being a serious student.”
“He said that?” Her brow wrinkles. “Why would he say something so stupid?”
I move over to the desktop and open the time clock app. “Probably because I’m only part time and did not do well on yesterday’s test.”
“A lot of students are part time. That doesn’t mean you’re less serious. Don’t let him give you any of that crap,” she orders.
“I’ll try not to, but first I need to get to his office before he leaves, or he’ll just add this to his list of reasons to hate me.” I click out of the app and sail out of the library. Of course it’s raining when I get outside and Professor Scotts’ office is three buildings away.
Once I get into the building, I take a second to wipe the rain off my cheeks and run the hem of my shirt along my lid line to wipe away the runaway eyeliner. My shoes squeak against the tile flooring of the main lobby and on the stairs all the way up to the third floor where his office is located.
I check the time on my phone, noting that I’ve missed two call from Luka. He is persistent, I’ll give him that. He knows when my shift ends. I’ll just call him when I’m done with Professor Scotts.
As I’m putting the phone back into my purse, another call comes through, and I have to decline it. He’s not going to be happy about that, but oh damn well. I can’t think about him, or his rules, or his dark eyes, or that belt of his. Right now, I have to concentrate on Professor Scotts.
“Ah, Avery. Glad you could stop by.” He checks his watch with raised brows.
“I’m sorry, Professor Scotts. I would have been here sooner, but I had a shift at the library. I just got off,” I explain as I follow him into his office.
He gestures for me to close the door. “Sit.” He points to the chair.
I swing my purse around to set it on my lap while I cross my legs. A rain drop chooses that moment to roll down my temple.
“Raining outside?” he questions, leaning back in his chair.
“Yes. It just started, but it’s coming down pretty hard.” I wipe away the drop and tuck my wet hair behind my ear. His beady blue eyes wander down from my face to my blouse that is sticking to my skin. I quickly pluck it away and readjust my purse so it’s covering me a little more.
“Yes, well, I wanted to discuss your test score.” He clears his throat and shuffles through papers on his desk. While he’s looking down, I can easily make out the bald spot on the top of his head that he tries to hide by combing over his thinning hair. When he looks back up, I glance away before he can catch me staring. There were several moles that he might want to have looked at, but we don’t have the sort of relationship where I can bring that up to him.
“I saw my test grade, and I’m not really sure what happened. I felt prepared going in, but it’s like as soon as I saw that diagram, the words just flew out of my head.” I swish my hand through the air, hitting the corner of a textbook hanging off the edge of the desk. Luckily, I manage to grab it before it knocks anything off his desk.
“I was disappointed in your grade.” He reaches across the desk and moves the textbook and another pile of papers out of my reach. “It’s part of why I asked you to see me. I’ve looked at your semester workload, and you’re only taking two courses.”
“Right. I’m part time. We’ve talked about that before.” I nod along with him.
“Yes. You understand this program can be completed in only two years if you’re going for the associates degree. You can finish in a year if you simply want the certificate,” he repeats information I already know.
“I’m going for the degree,” I inform him. “But I can’t afford to take more than two classes at a time right now.” I shift in my chair when his gaze continues to drift down to my chest. I grab hold of my collar and pull it across, pinching my blouse shut at the top. “A lot of students are part time.”
“Yes.” He nods. “I know this. But if you were to take your studies more seriously, then it might be different.”
“More seriously? I take this seriously, Professor Scotts. I would love to finish this program as quickly as possible so I can get a good paying, full-time job, but I have to be able to pay my rent and put food on my table, so I have to work the jobs I can get. Which means, right now, I can only take two classes—”
“I understand that.” He grunts softly as he pushes himself to his feet and waddles his way around the desk to stand closer to me, pressing his ass against the front of his desk. I wonder what he looked like in his twenties, or even his forties. His fifties aren’t treating him well, and I wonder if it started earlier.
“There are a lot of ways to take school seriously. And serious students do whatever they need to in order to get the credits they need to finish their degrees.” He wets his bottom lip and stares down at me while bringing his left hand to rest in front his crotch.
My stomach lurches.
He’s resting his hand on a hard-on he’s doing very little to conceal.
“I don’t think so.” I start to stand, but he pushes me back into the chair. “I think I should go.”
