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“Wait, so like, it’s getting serious with this guy?”
She opened the pizza box and pulled out a slice, taking a bite and shrugging but smiling at the same time. “I mean, he’s growing on me,” she said through a mouthful of pizza. She set the slice back in the box and reached in the paper bag for a six-pack of pop. “Anything good on Netflix?”
I pulled a chair out at the kitchen table and sat, bringing one of my legs up so I could rest my foot on the chair.
I shrugged, more curious about how things were going with Craig and a lot of stuff I wanted to talk to her about concerning my night. “A mystery might be a good fit for tonight.” The look on her face had me laughing.
“Hey, Craig isn’t that bad.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t talking about you and Craig.” I took a deep breath, knowing that I just needed to get this off my chest. “What I told you happened last night didn’t really go that way.”
She was mid-bite on a piece of pizza when she stopped, this look on her face telling me she was instantly piqued.
“What happened to you last night? I thought you got an Uber and headed home?”
“Yeah, about that.” I licked my lips and started picking at the edge of the table, nervous that I was actually saying this out loud, but also admitting that I had lied to her.
I knew she’d understand, but my confusion, the little bit of fear of the situation had this resistance settling in me. It had me keeping things to myself for far too long. But I hadn’t thought there was a chance with Professor Goode … not until now.
“Gracie, you’re kind of freaking me out. What happened?” She pulled a chair out, the legs scraping over the linoleum floor. She sat down and pushed the box away so it wasn’t between us anymore. I felt her stare on me and knew that I’d open myself up and just be totally honest. I had to be.
I could see the worry on her face, and I hated that I was putting it there. So I took a deep breath in and just told her the truth. “At the club, there was a guy getting pretty handsy with me. Like he wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
“What?” She sounded horrified. “God, Grace. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to kick him in the balls.”
I smiled and shook my head. “No, the crowd was too thick, and he was drunk. Hell, I was feeling the alcohol too.” I had my hands in my lap and smoothed them over my legs. “Anyway, before I knew what was happening …” My heart raced. I didn’t know why I was so nervous telling Sherry this. “Professor Goode was standing right there, pulling him off me.”
Her eyebrows were pulled down, and confusion filled her expression. And then her eyes widened. “Professor Goode? As in our Professor Goode from class?”
I nodded and licked my lips. It would only get stranger from here for her, I was sure. “Sherry, Professor Goode wrapped his hand around his neck and said something to him, something that scared the hell out of the guy who’d been grinding up on me.” My throat felt so tight, the words spilling from me almost foreign. “Like he all but ran out of there.”
“Oh my God,” Sherri said softly.
We sat there for a long moment in silence, the weight of what I’d just said hanging between us. It sounded frightening, I knew that, but the truth was, seeing Lucian handle a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer had made me feel something intense, pleasurable.
“What happened after that?” She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “Like, I can’t even imagine Professor Goode in a club let alone handling your would-be assault asshole.” She whistled under her breath, and although I thought she would be horrified by what I’d just said, she seemed almost … pleased. “Wish I would’ve been there to see him kick the asshole in the nuts.”
I looked down at my hands, which were twisted together on my lap. “That’s not even all of it,” I finally said as I looked back up at her. She lifted a brow and leaned forward, seeming very intrigued.
“Well, if this is going where I think it’s going, you have my full attention.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sex, yeah, that’s a no-go. But he did take me back to his place.” Sherry sucked in a breath. “That one drink had really fucked me up.”
“God, Gracie, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten you that drink.”
I waved off her concern. “It was so not your fault, so don’t go there.” I smiled. “I woke up this morning in his bed, with him making me breakfast.”
“Um, what the fuck?” She sounded amazed. “He was making you breakfast?”
I nodded. “Yeah. It’s almost like he tucked me in, made sure I was safe, and then left me alone.” I knitted my brows, a part of me thankful he’d done that, but another part wishing I’d woken up right next to him, his body wrapped around mine.
“So, he brought you to his house to sleep off being drunk, let you stay in his bed alone, and then made breakfast for you in the morning?” I nodded. She leaned back again. “Huh. What was he doing at the club to begin with?”
“Well, that’s the thing.” I didn’t know why I was so nervous, but saying these words out loud to another person was frightening. “He said he was there because of me.” The thickness in the room became almost unbearable. “He’d overheard us talking about going there when you were at the coffee shop with Craig.”
A confused look crossed her face. “He was at the coffee shop?”
I nodded. She stayed silent for a moment as if she were thinking about what I’d just said, replaying it in her mind over and over.
