Page 67 of The Romance Rivalry

Dr. Kingston’s door is open, but he’s not at his desk. He’s instead sitting on the couch, book in hand. I recognize the cover immediately.

When I recorded and sent him the short video he requested at our last meeting, I tried to include a list of very “safe” forced-proximity books he might like to try. Books I thought he would enjoy and not be too shocked by. I did, however, totally by accident, slip in a mention of a much-beloved vampire book as well. I was going to rerecord it, but figured there was no way he’d even pick up on it.

The thought of my L I T E R A T U R E professor reading about a vampire named Zsadist and all that comes along with this story has me shifting in my sneakers. I have no words.

He looks up and sees Aiden’s easy smile and my clearly stricken expression standing in his doorway.

“Irene, Aiden, come in, come in...”

He points to the two chairs across from his desk and movesto sit in his own on the other side, settingLover Awakeneddown in front of him. My eyes track the movement.

A smile spreads across his face and heat consumes my own.

“Most excellent recommendation, Irene. I am, however, curious why this one in particular is your favorite of the series. But maybe I’ll understand better as I make my way through them all. I’m quite consumed at this point.”

Aiden chuckles beside me.

I do the fish-out-of-water mouth thing that has become my go-to expression, apparently, when I don’t know what to say.

“But this is not why I’ve asked you both here so suddenly,” Dr. Kingston continues, saving me from having to say anything at all.

He lets out a heavy sigh and pulls off his wire-framed glasses, rubbing his eyes.

“I’ve been looking through the journal assignments and participation points in class, and well, though your outline and pitch for your team project is quite impressive, I’m concerned it won’t be enough to get you passing scores. Possibly for you, Aiden. But likely not for Irene. And truthfully, I’m flummoxed by this. You both are so talented and clearly have a passion for books. But even in the few I have received from you, specifically, Irene, it feels like you’re struggling with writing and editing that passion into the assignments.”

Silence hangs in the air, and I’m uncertain who will be thefirst to break it. I knew I was fucking up, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. And I definitely didn’t know that I was putting Aiden at risk as well. I just figured we’d pull it out in the end.

“Professor Kingston, I don’t understand,” Aiden says.

Professor Kingston looks directly to me and gives me a sad smile.

“I’ve...” I start, but the words don’t all come out. I clear my throat. “Well, I’ve been struggling a little in my classes and managing the workload with school. So I’ve missed a lot of the due dates for the assignments.” I muster the courage to turn to look at Aiden, whose eyes are squarely on me, willing me to continue. “I didn’t realize that it would impact you negatively. And I fully intend to catch up and bring my scores up.”

“It’s a team assignment, Irene,” Aiden says. He tucks his lips between his teeth, likely trying to hold back anything else he might say that he could regret.

I want to plead my case, beg for forgiveness, make him and Dr. Kingston certain that I can make up for it. But my lips don’t move. I’m frozen in silence.

“I wanted to make sure you both understood where you’re at. It will take a perfect score to bring you up to passing, Irene. And Aiden, I think you will want to make note of this, considering your own situation,” Dr. Kingston adds, eyes squarely on Aiden.

Aiden’s jaw is tight, and he responds with a small nod.

His situation? Meaning the one where he’s been saddled with a partner who’s dragging his grade down? It seems unfair to put that on him. It’s my fault.

“But be advised, I have never once in my entire career in education given out a perfect score. This is very unlikely.”

My throat has dropped down to the black pit of despair in my gut, along with all hope and happiness. The reality, coming straight from someone else’s mouth and not just my own thoughts and assumptions, is confirmed. I’ve failed.

“Now, what I do want to do is offer a way out of this predicament.”

Both Aiden and I lift our heads, my back straightening as Aiden leans in, grabbing the arms of his chair, waiting for the news.

“But before I do, may I ask a possibly difficult question to which I need an honest answer?”

We both nod.

“Did one of you do the bulk of the work for the outline and pitch for the group project?”

I curl into myself. I had been stressed about Parents Day coming up and had had two book videos to edit before posting. Aiden, in fact, didallthe work for our submission. I— I don’t even think I thanked him for doing so. Shit.

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