Page 53 of Learning Curve

“See? I told you.”

“Don’t worry. Ace will make sure they let us in.” The way she says it is so matter-of-fact, I can’t help but question her.

“You say that like he’s never broken a promise.”

She shrugs. “I guess that’s ’cause he hasn’t.”

“Never?” I ask disbelievingly. All the guys I’ve ever known have slipped up at least once.

She shakes her head, the mottled yellow glow from the streetlights shining in her eyes. “Never. I know he’s crazy, but he can’t help that. It’s in his genes.”

“I just didn’t know a man could be that reliable. I mean, my dad is incredibly reliable, but from my experience, he’s an exception.”

“Really?” she asks, and she seems genuinely shocked. “All the men in my life are unequivocally reliable.”

“All of them?” I question, aghast.

“Yeah. My dad. My grandpa. My dad’s friends, who are all my pseudo-uncles, I guess. Ace and even his little brother Gunnar, who’s truly a crazy shit.”

“Crazier than Ace?”

Julia’s face actually startles. “Oh yeah. Ace is like a zero on a hundred scale compared to Gunnar’s one hundred.”

“Okay. That actually frightens me.”

“It should.”

I shove open the door for Wheaton Hall. It’s the building that holds all of the professor’s offices, and also, the safest, fastest shortcut for two ladies walking alone this late at night on campus. I pull Julia inside and startle when a large man appears at the other end of the hallway when we’re halfway down it.

My scream echoes off the stone walls, and Julia’s follows shortly after.

“Hey, hey,” a voice I thankfully recognize calls over ours with authority. “It’s just me. Professor Winslow.”

I take several deep breaths to calm myself, and Julia covers her face with her hands. It’s safe to say we both thought this was the start of our very own true crime special on Netflix.

“What are you girls doing in here so late?”

I nudge Julia with my elbow to get her moving with me—time is still ticking—and walk toward Professor Winslow with confidence. It’s feigned, but whatever. “Just cutting through to the other side of campus. This is the safest route.” He frowns, and I find myself questioning him. “What are you doing in here so late?”

He smirks. “Department meeting ran late, and then I got busy on some graduate papers. Turns out being the boss is busy.”

Julia widens her eyes in an unspoken We have to go.

“Well, see you later…in class…I guess,” I say awkwardly, grabbing Julia’s elbow and dragging her by the professor.

“Hey,” he calls, pulling me up short before we can get too far.

I grit my teeth and turn around. “Yes?”

“I noticed Finn had some new bruises in class last week. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Julia squeaks, and I tighten my grip on her elbow. She thinks those bruises are from the Double C fight, but I know for a fact he had other bruises too. Bruises that weren’t there that Saturday night he asked me to stay at his dorm.

Though, I haven’t told Julia or anyone else that.

There are so many things I could say and so many I know I shouldn’t, so I settle on the plain truth. It’s hard to hear, even from my own lips.

“Finn Hayes makes sure I don’t know a damn thing about him.”

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