Page 69 of Whirlwind

Ezra pats my shoulder. “Hate to say it, boss, but this isn’t slow. You’re stuck at ‘Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.’”

“I thought you two were against us being together,” I argue.

“I never said anything about it,” Ezra replies. “I knew you were crushing on her, but you know I stay out of everyone’s personal lives if I can. And now that I’m in it, my opinion is that you do what makes you happy.”

“And I didn’t want you to be an idiot,” Hawk says. “But that twister has already touched down and done damage. Now, you get to pick up the pieces and rebuild. We also like Finley.”

I groan at my smirking friends. “You had to use that metaphor?”

“Sounds like something Joey would say,” Ezra adds giddily.

Hawk shrugs, his face even more of a sly grin now. “Guess he’s rubbing off on me.”

I attempt to not scrunch my nose. I’m glad that Hawk and Joey are seeing each other—or whatever it is they’re doing—but I’d rather not have the image of my best friend having sex in my brain. Ezra must agree because he gags playfully, though like me, he can’t really talk. While Ezra is a hard worker and turns in early to edit and do social media a lot of nights on the road, he has brought his fair share of women to his motel rooms. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t feel bad about him hearing Finley and I that night.

Hawk claps his hands. “Okay, let’s refocus. We’re not talking about me and Joey.”

“Yeah, let’s talk about Ryker being a hormonal asshole instead.” Ezra snickers.

I flex my jaw. “I’m not trying to be an ass, I’m just frustrated.”

“Like I said,” Hawk says, “get off your ass, and go do something about it.”

“And do what, quit my job?”

“Yes,” Hawk and Ezra say at the same time.

“I told you both that Finley doesn’t want that.”

“Are you sure?” Hawk asks.

I stare at my two friends, my hands digging into my thighs under the table. “That’s what she said.”

“I think she’s only looking out for you by saying that. It’s the same thing that you’re doing for her. You don’t want her to have to scramble her life, either,” Hawk reasons.

“And she shouldn’t have to. I’m her professor. I’m the one who crossed the line. I should be the one to have the consequences, not her.”

Ezra jumps in. “Dude, you’re way too uptight about this. You both crossed the line, and she’s twenty-five. You’re not a groomer.”

“That doesn’t mean people won’t think that. We have a natural power imbalance because of our professional relationship,” I say, thinking of the HR policy I’ve recited for so long now.

Hawk groans. “Not this again.”

I cross my arms over my chest. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about what happened between me and Finley. My team deserved to know the truth and what I wanted to do about it. While Hawk and Ezra don’t work for the school, they’ll be affected by my choice to quit because the school funded our chase. They insist they’ll back me up if I quit, that there will be other ways to fund our research and more opportunities to publish a paper, and I know they mean it. Even so, the main reason I haven’t pulled the trigger on quitting is because I don’t want to upset Finley.

Fuck, maybe I am overthinking.

I rub my eyes tiredly, feeling a headache coming on. “Let’s get back to work.”

“No—no way. You need to make a choice,” Hawk demands.

“I’m waiting for Finley to tell me what she wants.”

“I think you should do it. Show her you’re committed.”

“Then she’ll be upset. I told you—”

He cuts me off. “Make a choice you’re happy with, and then tell her what you decided. No matter her reaction, at least then you know how you can move forward, and you’ll be settled with what you decide because you did what’s right for you.”

---