Page 71 of Puck Block

He leans further across the table and lowers his voice. “Because sitting across from you now, I know I wouldn’t have let you leave my office after getting you alone.”

I flush all over at his honesty, but I quickly cool down when I sense a presence approaching our table.

I glare at Ford.What the hell are you doing now?

Augustus leans away from me and quickly glances at Ford before clearing his throat. “Can I help you, Mr. Collins?”

Ford hasn’t been a student of Augustus’s because he teaches in the arts department, and Ford’s degree doesn’t require those types of classes, but apparently, he—along with the rest of Bexley U—knows the names of the hockey players like the back of their hand.

Ford’s rumbly chuckle is full of sarcasm. He takes his hands out of his hoodie pocket, and I tense when I see his clenching knuckles. “No, but you can help yourself not get punched in the face.”

“Ford!” I’m shocked. My mouth falls open, and I admit that my plan was to irritate him, but Ford isn’t one to pick a fight—irritated or not.

“Excuse me?” Augustus stares at him a little more intently, and my stomach fills with dread.

Doom is approaching, and I don’t know how to stop it other than to drag Ford out of this restaurant and let him take me home.

“How many prior students have you fucked, Professor Sterling?” Heat radiates from Ford, and I’m pretty sure everyone in a ten-foot radius hears his strangled tone.

Augustus laughs uncomfortably. “None of your business, and before you try to say it’s against the university’s moral compass, it’s not, if they’re no longer my student.”

“Yeah, but what about your wife’s moral compass?”

I gasp, and my face stings like I’ve been slapped. The betrayal forces me to stand abruptly, and I look down at his ring finger to survey it. I blink several times, hoping the faint tan line on it is a fabrication of my brain. But it isn’t.

“I see what this is,” he says. “You’re jealous that she’s with me and not you.” Augustus shrugs innocently. “I would be too. Just look at her.”

I’m disgusted when his eyes rake over me.

Ford visibly shakes with anger, and I know I have to do something soon before he does. I round the booth and shove him away before turning, grabbing my cup of water, and throwing it right in my prior professor’s face.

His mouth opens with shock before he takes his lying tongue and catches the dripping water droplets falling from his nose.

I slam the cup on the table. “Your wife deserves better.”

Ford’s hoodie bundles in my grip when I pull us through the restaurant and end up in the bathroom, away from wandering eyes. I back myself up against the door as a sort of barricade and watch Ford’s chest climb rapidly while he paces in front of me.

“Will you calm down?” I plead. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

It’s eerie to see him so worked up. I have never liked seeing Ford upset, and to this day, it still makes me uncomfortable.

“I know it isn’t!” He puts his back to me but only for a second. When he spins, he levels me with a scowl. “If you’re going to go on dates, you need to pick better guys!”

I huff and put my hands on my hips. “How was I supposed to know he was married?!”

He shrugs angrily. “I don’t know! Maybe do a quick Google search! That’s what I did!”

My shoulders drop. “I didn’t think I needed to, because he wasn’t a complete stranger.”

Ford pinches the bridge of his nose. He’s calmer when he speaks again, but now I'm the one that’s all twisted. “How am I ever supposed to let you go on dates if you go on them with guys like that? Have better taste, Taytum!”

“Fine!” I shout.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and quickly open Bex Hex. Ford grunts when I shove it into his chest. His heart is thumping so hard I can feel it against my hand. “Look at these guys, and tell me who’s good enough for me. I’ll ask them on a date right now.”

His eyebrows furrow. “No.”

“Why not?” I ask with frustration.

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