Page 337 of The Winslow Brothers

“I’ll meet you in there,” I say, still backing away, and she agrees with a quiet, “Okay” again.

I can do this.

I can have a conversation with Rachel and keep things professional.

We can address the sexual-tension, constantly-challenging-each-other elephant in the room without it being awkward, or, you know, turning into a repeat where her tongue ends up in my mouth while my hand is up her skirt.

It’s those thoughts right there that aren’t helping you, dude.

Fuck. I mentally shake myself out of it and head to my office.

I can do this.Wecan do this.

Rachel

Hesitantly, I step into Ty’s office, and when I shut the door behind me, the quiet click makes my heart kick up at a nervous pace. I have no idea what’s about to happen, but I feel like I’ve just walked into the lion’s den.

Truthfully, it’s odd, but everything between us has been anything but straight-forward and simple.

“Uh…hi.” I swallow past my discomfort. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah. I did,” he says, getting up from his chair to round his desk and lean back into the front of it.

All I can do is stand there and wait, barely able to meet his eyes.

This whole day has been awkward as hell, and I have no idea what he’s going to do or say, but every part of my body feels like it’s trying to head back toward the door. My nerves. My organs. My arms and legs. Somehow, though, I force myself to stay rooted to my spot, still staying close enough to the door that if I need to make a quick exit, it won’t be a hard task.

“So…things are pretty weird between us.” He finally says something, and for some insane reason, a laugh bubbles up frommy throat. Call it embarrassment or nerves, I don’t know, but it’s the only reaction my body is willing to give.

Ty furrows his brow, but he also smiles. “I take that as you agreeing?”

“Yeah.” I glance down at my heels and then back up into his searching gaze. “Things are definitely strange.”

“We…uh…maybe let things get a little out of control, huh?”

Instantly, I appreciate that he’s considering this problem a “we” problem.

“Yes.” My smile is tentative. “We have.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you,” he continues and uses his hands to stabilize himself on his desk. “I was hoping we could find some sort of truce. An agreement that would make our working relationship a hell of a lot easier than it is right now.”

The push and pull, the constant playing and challenging, well, it’s taken a nose dive ever since I found out what it felt like to kiss him.

Sitting through a root canal without being numbed would feel simpler than how it felt to sit in an empty room with him before his ENG 101 class. Hell, getting a Brazilian wax done by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing would be easier than this.

A truce is probably necessary.

“Okay.” My lungs let out the half breath I’ve kept locked up inside my chest since I stepped foot inside his office. “I can get behind that.”

I don’t miss the fact that we’re both tiptoeing around the reality of our situation. It’s like we’re cautiously avoiding mentioning anything that might spur some kind of visceral reaction. Though, after the scene that played out in this very office, where I was basically two moans away from asking him to fuck me, avoidance of the specifics is probably the best option.

“Good.” A sigh of relief follows his words. “I think it’s safe to say we’re attracted to each other, but it’s not something either one of us should pursue.”

Attracted to each other feels like he’s putting it mildly, but I go with it.

“Probably wouldn’t work out too well.” I bite my bottom lip and grimace, and he scrubs a hand down his face, shaking his head.

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s against university policy.”

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