Page 72 of Hate To Love You

We’ve been sitting here for fifteen minutes now making small talk and for a moment, I thought that might be all she wanted to do. We do get along great in class, and she can’t be much older than me. But it would still be odd for her to ask me to come to her office just to chat.

My hair stands on my arms and a tingle of anticipation shoots down my spine, just like it always does when Ryker’s around now. It’s like my body can sense him.

Professor Whitely’s face lights up as she looks passed me to the door. I don’t even turn around.

Ryker strolls into the office looking as drop dead gorgeous as he always does in black joggers and an Ellington Dodgers sweatshirt. A strand of his black hair hangs down on his forehead and when his green eyes land on me, they soften just a bit. He takes the seat next to me, dropping his bag on the floor beside him.

My heart pounds and I have to remind myself that we’re not alone and I can’t crawl on top of him.

“Well, let’s get to it then,” Professor Whitely says, a small smile on her face. “You guys ran out before I could give you a grade.”

My cheeks heat, remembering why I ran out so quickly. Ashton had just threatened me for Ryker beating his ass, and I was so consumed with anger toward Ryker that I didn’t even want to look at him.

Then, Ryker fucked me until I came in the chemistry classroom. The memory causes a shiver to run down my spine and my thighs to clench. Jesus, get it together, Gwen.

“Honestly, I had my doubts that this would work. Of course, I wanted it to work out. But with the way you two argued, I wasn’t sure either of you would last,” she shrugs, an amused look on her face.

“But you surprised me. Your presentation was flawless, you should be proud of yourselves. I’ve given you both an A. Great job.”

This isn’t exactly what I was expecting when Professor Whitely emailed me this morning for a meeting. I thought she was going to lecture me about running out.

I’m honestly just as surprised as she is. I thought for sure Ryker and I would give up and we’d fail the project because we couldn’t get past our own shit. But we did it. We survived, and we freaking passed.

Not that I really need to worry about my grades. I have straight A’s and a 4.0 GPA. I was a bit afraid that if Ryker couldn’t get his shit together, he’d make us fail and my GPA would drop.

My mother would have been understanding. She’s never really been the type of mom to tell me I need to pass every one of my classes with an A. My father on the other hand, he’s a perfectionist.

He always wanted the best for me and thought that since he got good grades and a perfect GPA at Ellington that I had to do the same. He’d turned from the playful, fun dad, to the meticulous, strict parent by the time I hit seventh grade.

My mom is a smart woman, she went to college and got her bachelor’s in writing. When I was little, she’d always be writing, and I thought that it was the coolest thing in the world. But her parents weren’t as strict as dad’s. They didn’t push her to get perfect grades and participate in extracurriculars, and she turned out just fine.

Because of my father’s high expectations, I was always under so much pressure to be perfect, to never let my grades slip. I missed out on a lot of my teenage years due to studying which is probably why I’m not like a normal college kid who loves to party.

I wipe my clammy palms on my thighs and let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.

A small chuckle leaves my lips as I look to Ryker who is already staring at me with a wide grin. I want to jump out of my seat and hug him. I want to kiss him and feel his strong body against mine.

Something flashes in Ryker’s eyes. A mix of lust and yearning, and I feel it too. The need to feel him courses through my veins like a wildfire.

My phone begins to ring in my bag causing me to jump and pulling me out of my thoughts.

“I’m sorry,” I start, pulling the cellphone out of my bag, seeing my mother’s name on the screen. I let it go to voicemail, but then I see she’s tried to call five times already.

My stomach drops and my heartbeat accelerates. She never calls me this many times in a row just to say hi. Something’s wrong.

Looking up from my phone, I see Ryker’s and Professor Whitely’s gazes set on me. I’m sure my face has turned a ghostly white and they’re probably wondering what happened in between our conversation and me looking at my phone.

I don’t have time to explain. I need to call mom back to make sure she’s okay. She’d only blow up my phone during the day for an emergency. Is she okay? Did something happen to her? My head starts going through all of the worst-case scenarios.

Ryker watches me intensely as I stand up from my seat slowly, grabbing my bag off the floor and slinging it over my shoulder. I feel like I’m moving at the pace of a snail.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this. Thank you, Professor Whitely.”

She smiles politely and nods. I give one last look to Ryker, his brows are pulled together in curiosity, and somehow that look makes him even hotter, if that’s possible.

I have to force myself to look away and walk out of the room on shaky legs.

Chapter 36

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