Chapter 40

Audrey

I stared back at Edwin in confusion, his words ringing in my ears. Too busy thinking about boys? What was he implying, exactly?

“I’m sorry, Professor,” I said carefully, trying to keep my tone neutral despite the slight flush that was starting to creep up the back of my neck. “I’m not sure if I follow. Are you insinuating that I was… distracted this weekend?”

Edwin’s lips pressed into a flat line as he slowly walked around his desk. With each step, the fibers on his sweater seemed to strain further against his broad chest. I swallowed hard, struggling to meet his intense gaze.

“I’m saying,” he began in a measured tone, “that mistakes like this don’t happen unless your mind is elsewhere. And from what I saw, your mind seemed pretty preoccupied with… fraternizing.”

My brow furrowed. “Fraternizing? What are you talking abo—”

Before I could finish, the words caught in my throat as Edwin pulled his phone out of his pocket and swiped on the screen for a few moments. Suddenly, he turned the screen toward me and I felt my stomach drop.

There, staring back at me, was a grainy image of a dimly lit hallway from the party with two random students smiling in the foreground. And there we were; Gavin and I had been captured in the background, tangled up in one another’s arms with our faces just inches apart.

Anyone could clearly see the heated look in his eyes, the way my fingers dug into his bicep as I leaned against the wall behind me. The tiny smile on my lips, my chin tilted up by his right hand.

My cheeks burned with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. I hadn’t known anyone had taken that photo, let alone posted it online. That moment was supposed to be private, personal… intimate.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Edwin suddenly said, his tone tense. “You’ve never been much of one for discretion, have you, Audrey?”

My head snapped up at that, my eyes narrowing dangerously at the implication in his words. “Excuse me?” I bit out. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Edwin arched an eyebrow but didn’t respond, simply staring at me with an impassive gaze as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. After a few tense moments of silence, he cleared his throat.

“Well. I think you and I both know that sort of entanglement is a conflict of interest.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he quickly cut me off with a curt wave of his hand. “Which is exactly why I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to continue serving as my teaching assistant if you plan on carrying on like that.”

My jaw dropped as the meaning of his words sank in. “You… you can’t be serious,” I said with a wry laugh. But Edwin just stared at me, his expression showing no signs of humor.

Rage quickly bubbled up inside of me. “Are you implying that I’m not allowed to have a personal life?” I ground out, my voice barely more than a low growl.

Edwin simply shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. “I think it’s best for you to focus not only on your work with me, but also your studies.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Edwin, I think you’re overreacting just a bit—”

“That’s Professor Brooks to you,” he cut me off with a nasty gleam in his gray eyes. “I expect you to avoid using such a casual tone with me.”

My eyes narrowed, but I couldn’t find it in me to protest against that request. “Fine. But what I choose to do in my free time, with whomever I choose, is none of your concern. You can’t dictate that sort of thing.”

“I most certainly can and I most certainly will,” he shot back. “As long as you’re under my employ, I hold the right to make any necessary amendments to your contract.”

“Employ?” I couldn’t contain the derisive snort that burst from my lips. “This is a teaching assistant role, not some corporate job. You can’t force some sort of non-fraternization clause on me. If you try, I’ll just tell Ms. Morrie.”

A muscle in Edwin’s jaw ticked at the mention of the assistant dean’s name, but other than that, his face remained stony. “I absolutely can add a clause to your contract, or even fire you, if I feel your behavior is creating a conflict of interest. Which this most certainly is. So I’ll ask you plainly—do you plan on pursuing a relationship with this boy?”

My nostrils flared and my fists clenched at my sides as I rose from my chair. My mind began to whirl, trying to make sense of it all, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

“Oh my god,” I breathed, my eyes widening. “You’re jealous!”

Edwin’s face betrayed nothing. “Let me repeat my question; do you, Audrey, plan on—”

“You’re so jealous!” I repeated incredulously, my voice rising an octave. “You’re fucking jealous, Edwin!”

“Don’t curse at me.” He narrowed his eyes, his jaw ticking again—that telltale sign that he was trying to hide his true feelings behind that icy mask of his, and it was no longer working. Not on me, at least. “Do you plan on pursuing a relationship with this boy or not, Audrey?”

I scoffed before I could even stop myself. “I don’t know what the future holds,” I bit out through clenched teeth, “but I won’t lie and say I dislike Gavin, if that’s what you’re asking. He’s sweet and kind to me, unlike… some people I could name.”

At that, my eyes flickered over Edwin’s body—and the air seemed to be sucked out of the room. All of the time we had spent together, including our one night stand, came rushing back in full high-definition. Every touch, every glance, every word.

He was jealous. He was horribly, painfully jealous of me and Gavin. He wanted me to himself; but he also couldn’t have me for a multitude of reasons, and that was clearly eating him alive.

“You know,” I bit out, knowing that I shouldn’t say what I was about to say but choosing to say it anyway, “even if I weren’t a human and your student and way too young for you, I still wouldn’t want a relationship with you. Because you’re cold, and controlling, and—”

“Enough!”

The bark he let out was enough to cut me off completely, my eyes widening. Edwin’s jaw clenched so hard I thought I could hear his teeth starting to crack and shatter.

For a few eternal moments, he seemed utterly incapable of speech, his chest heaving with tightly controlled breaths. I wasn’t sure if I should run for the hills or stand my ground—put him in his place just like Max.

But before I could make a decision, he finally broke the silence with a single, curt command.

“Get out of my office.”

I blinked, taken aback by his abrupt dismissal. With that, he turned on his heel and strode back around his desk, ignoring me.

It was clear that he wasn’t planning on saying anything else, and so I turned on my own heel as well, my entire body trembling with rage, mortification, and… something else that I didn’t want to admit, not even to myself. With one last withering glare over my shoulder, I flung the door open and burst out of his office.

The door hadn’t even finished swinging shut behind me before I was already storming off down the hallway.