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I LET A WHOLE DAY PASS before seeking her out again.
It wasn’t hard to sneak around campus, empty as it was. Only a handful of students and faculty remained, and those who had stayed behind weren’t making themselves seen often. Gatlington University was like a ghost town, and to be honest, it was beautiful.
I knew full well that whatever this was between Whitney and me couldn’t last. However right it felt, however natural, what we were doing was forbidden. But as I did my usual morning run around campus, I began to question why the university would prohibit two consenting adults from seeing each other in that capacity.
She was still my student, and I needed to take that into account and tread carefully. I’d never played favorites, and I couldn’t start now. I doubted Whitney had the ability to bomb a test, but in the event she did, and it was for my class... Well, she’d fail, and I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, help her out of the situation.
I finished my first loop around campus and started a second, trying to keep my head clear and focused. There was no going back now. Whitney and I were in deep, and unless were going to avoid each other completely, we needed to figure this out.
At least figure out how to keep our hands off each other for the remainder of the semester.
But we had a week practically alone on campus, and that counted for something.
I cut through the trees and onto the trail that led into town. It was early morning still, and a crisp, clear day. Only a few shops were open this time of morning, but as I ran past Bill’s bookshop, I noticed the lights were on and the man himself was seated behind the counter, his head bent as he examined something just out of sight. He looked up as I ran past. I gave him a quick wave before continuing down the street.
By the eighth mile, my mind still felt foggy, and I was starting to get cold despite running lap after lap around campus, so I stopped to grab a cup of coffee.
“Uh, drip coffee, please,” I said to the barista, reaching into my coat for my wallet. “Actually, make that two.”
I stood back and waited, scanning the nearly empty coffee shop.
A few minutes later, coffee in hand, I nudged open the door to Bill’s book shop and stepped inside and out of the cold.
“Nice tights,” he teased, not looking up from text he was still examining. Wearing latex gloves, he carefully turned a page, the parchment so yellowed and dried with age it almost looked like it would fall apart if you blew on it.
“It’s ten degrees out there,” I said flatly in response to his comment about the thermal leggings I wore under a pair of shorts. I set down the coffee I’d bought for him and stared down at the book, cocking my head. “That’s ballsy of you.”
“You mean me reading this outside of a hyperbaric chamber?” He snorted, then continued, “Your fancy school overseas pumps far too much dough into temperature-controlled environments. Big scam, if you ask me. This book sat in the damp for nearly three hundred years and is still legible.” He gently turned another page before leaning back, stretching his arms over his head and ripping off his gloves. He eyed the coffee for a moment before taking a sip and grimacing. “I like mine with cream and sugar. And whiskey or brandy.”
“Well, it’s not even eight in the morning.”
“Shit, that’s basically halfway through the day.” He rose from his rickety stool and snatched up the coffee cup, motioning me to follow him upstairs into the loft. “What can I do you for today, Scouser?”
“Nothing. I was just dropping in to say hi after I saw you were open.”
“Not open for business,” he said with a laugh as we reached the loft. He crossed the seating area where Whitney and I had met his friends, the same night she’d taken them for all they had in poker, and walked through an archway at the far end of the room. I followed. “Not much business this week anyway with everyone on fall break.”
“I didn’t think town would be as empty as it is.” I leaned on the kitchen island and sipped my coffee while he doctored his to his liking. His kitchen was cozy and snug, and very dated. Beyond the kitchen was a bathroom and bedroom, and that was that.
“Well, the town is here because the college is here, so yeah, it’s dead like this three or four times a year. We have quite an active summer, though, with the tourists and such.” He waved a hand in dismissal.
I followed him back into the loft and sat down across from him at the table. He eyed me for a moment, smirking to himself.
“What, Bill?”
“You have an extra pep in your step. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. You’re a handsome young lad.” He grinned, pleased with himself at his ability to mock my accent. “I take it things are going good with our girl Whitney, then?”
“First of all,” I breathed, leaning back and narrowing my eyes at him, “she’s not our girl. You have nothing to do with this.”
“Oh.” He smiled, clicking his tongue. “I don’t blame you for feeling that way, friend. I mean, look at me. I’d definitely be a threat if I wanted her. I got an eye on that redheaded friend of hers though.” He whistled low. “Jessica, right?”
“You and Jessica?”
“That’s my wife. At least, one day she’ll be. I knew it the second I laid eyes on her.”
I chuckled into my coffee as I watched his cheeks go a little pink and a far off look drift behind his eyes. “You believe in love in first sight? Even after everything you’ve read here?”
“Of course. Don’t you?”
