Page 63 of Where We Met

"Take it, I've only had one sip. I'll go make myself another," I tell her. "Please. I'll stand here and hold it in front of you until it gets cold, and neither of us can drink it."

The look on her face tells me she's not amused, but she takes the cup.

"Thank you."

"I'm gonna go make another. We can leave these rascals out here to play for a bit if you want to join me."

"Sure."

We get back into the kitchen, and she takes a seat at the island while I grab another cup.

"How did you sleep?" I ask.

"Not bad for being in a strange place. It was nice to have Bailey back with me. She always gives me comfort. I hope you don't mind," she pauses, seeming reluctant to finish. "I let her sleep in the bed with me. She always has, so I was afraid she would bark all night if I didn't let her."

I smile as I grab my freshly brewed cup and rest on the opposite side of the island. "I think it's animal cruelty to make your dog sleep anywhere else."

That gets a laugh out of her. "I don't know if I'd go that far, but I'm happy to know you agree with me."

"So, I was thinking we get the rest of your things this morning," I tell her. "Then you can let your landlord know that you no longer need your lease."

She sighs. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure that I'm not letting you live there alone."

After breakfast, we get into my car and start to make our way back to her apartment. She begins to fidget in her seat.

"What's wrong?" I ask as I keep my eyes on the road.

I can feel her eyes on me. "Um, I don't think the rest of my things are going to fit in this car. I know I don't have much, like…embarrassingly little compared to you, but I…"

I rest my hand on her leg that she is bouncing up and down.

"Don't do that to yourself. Nothing about your situation is embarrassing. I know I acted like an ass yesterday when I found out, and I'm sorry for that. I was just worried for you. But this isn't anything to be embarrassed about. It's admirable how much you care about your father's happiness. It shows just how big of a heart you have. It's one of the reasons I'm so…" I stop before the anymore words can come out. I quickly recover. "Anyway, my brothers are meeting us there with Marcus's truck and a small trailer they rented.

"What? Your brothers are coming? Oh, my God." She rests her head back on the seat, sounding exasperated. "I don't want them to see where I live, the sad state of my poor, lonely life."

"Savannah. Stop talking about yourself like that. Are we going to need to stand in front of the mirror every morning and do positive affirmations?"

She looks over at me with squinted eyes. "You wouldn't dare make me do something so humiliating."

I chuckle. "I will if you keep talking about yourself like this."

We reach her apartment and Marcus and Gabe are standing next to the trailer, back door open and ready to go.

I can feel the panic coming off Savannah in waves. I hate that she feels this way about herself.

When we step out of the car, she follows behind me like a shy puppy. It's enough to make me reach for her hand and give it a squeeze.

As we walk up to my brothers, Gabe's eyes zero in on my hand that is still holding onto Savannah's.

I may have called them last night and told them some of the details, leaving out the part where we slept together in Italy. Though they aren't dumb, they know this is not your standard relationship with a student. Well, who the hell knows with Marcus. I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow sweet-talked his way into more than one teacher's bed.

"Thanks for coming," I tell them.

"No problem. Nice to see you again, Savannah," Marcus says with a wink.

I give him a look, hopefully signaling to him to back the fuck off. I've never been the jealous type, always finding it humorous when Marcus flirts with my dates. I know he wouldn't jump in and steal them away, he's just a man-whore and serial flirt. But this time there's nothing funny about it.

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