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"Good." He reaches out, tugging me towards him, and kisses me thoroughly. He leaves to go shower quickly, and I manage to shove his gift in a small gift bag while he's gone.
This all still feels strange, and I'm having more trouble with it than I thought I would. At Grandma's, we'd bake and watch movies all day together after opening presents. With just me and Nathan, it’s so odd. I'm toying with the idea of seeing what is taking so long in the shower when, in a crazy coincidence, I see that my phone on the coffee table is ringing. It's my mom.
A grin spreads across my face. If I can't see the two of them, at least I can talk to them on the phone!
"Hey, Mom!" I chirp when I answer. "Merry Christmas!"
Instead of a joyful response, Mom's voice is startlingly blank. "Noelle, where are you right now?"
A surge of anxiety hits me. Surely she can't know I'm at Nathan’s, and it's not like I'm going to tell her I'm spending Christmas with my ex's dad, who just so happens to be my professor too.
"I'm...um, at a friend's," I hedge, and the silence on the other end of the line is so thick it could be cut with a knife.
"Noelle." Mom layers all the years of motherly intuition into my name. "Tell me where you are."
I'm breaking out in a cold sweat, eyes darting towards the bedroom where Nathan is still showering. I don't think he's going to come save me this time like he did with Danny.
"I can't," I whisper, and that's apparently the final straw.
"Where are you?" she asks again, and this time there's a hint of hysteria.
"With my...my professor."
"What? Are you joking?"
I'm about to launch into an explanation when a sound behind me has me turning around.
Nathan's in the doorway, his dark eyes trained on me. His expression is carefully blank, and the sight of him, freshly showered and smelling amazing, is making me nervous. There's a question in his eyes, but I can't answer it right now. "I missed my flight, you know that," I try to tell her. "He picked me up, and he has this huge house, and I didn't want to be alone for Christmas–"
"One of your classmates called me!" She's almost shrieking on the other line now, and tears are pricking at my eyes. "A nice young man! He told me he was so worried about you and that you were messing around with a professor!"
My mind is reeling. I don't have any guy friends. Who the hell would call my mom? "Who, Mom?"
"That is not the important thing right now," she fumes. I've got a horrible suspicion, but I don't want to speak about it until I'm sure. Nathan is hovering, and, hoping to avoid having to go over the conversation again, I show him the name on the screen and put it on speakerphone.
"Are you...sleeping with this man?" Mom asks. "Why else would you be at his home, right where your classmate said you would be?"
"I'm not…he's not…Mom, I promise." It's a lie, but I don't know what else to do. "This is Professor Nolan, and he's a nice guy, and he was helping me."
"I don't believe it." Defeat is creeping into her tone, and it's almost worse than the anger. "You're going to ruin your entire college career. After Christmas, I'm flying over and taking you home."
"Mom, no, please–"
"No, Noelle, you're not thinking clearly."
"It's not like that, please just let me explain."
"I don't have time to hear your excuses. I'm going to call the university and tell them you're sleeping with your professor."
"Mom!"
"Do you have any idea how serious this is?" Her voice has dropped to a whisper, as if she doesn't want me to hear. "He could lose his job, Noelle."
My heart is hammering in my chest. I know it's wrong, but there's no way Mom can understand how we feel about each other. It's not just some sordid affair.
"Please don't," I whisper. "We're not…we're both adults!"
"Noelle, I love you, but this is unacceptable."
