Page 81 of The Romance Rivalry

But he nods and turns his attention back to the front.

I let out a silent sigh of relief and do the same.

We wait, standing side by side, as a few people speak to Professor Kingston after class. If he wants to talk to us about what I think he does, I’m happy to be the last ones. Aiden’s toe taps as he stands with his hands in his pockets. It betrays his cool demeanor, showing one sign of nervousness.

I nudge him with my elbow. “It’s gonna be okay,” I say. Funny how the roles have reversed. He hasn’t even done anything wrong. In fact, the total opposite, by my guesstimation. And maybe I’ve done something right for once, too. If this works, I’ve saved our grades in the class, and hopefully made things a little easier for Aiden and his scholarship.

“Last time he wanted to see us, it didn’t go so well,” he says, sneaking a quick glance down at me.

The guilt threatens to take root and grow. The worry of disappointing someone, the temptation to hide and lie to smooth things over, both waiting for me to let down my guard and come back to the spots they’ve held within me, flanking me for so long about so many other things.

But I won’t let them in. Aiden was not attacking me with that statement. And I can’t control whatever it is that Dr. Kingston is going to talk to us about. I can only deal with itas it comes, bad news or, hopefully, if I’m right, good.

“Aiden, good holidays?” He reaches out to shake Aiden’s hand and pat him on the back. Good start.

“And Irene, I know you had a very busy holiday. I hope you were able to relax and enjoy some of it as well,” he says to me.

“I did, thank you,” I say.

“No, Irene, thankyou,” he says. He turns to Aiden. “And thank you, too.”

Aiden’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead. “Um... you’re welcome? I think?”

Dr. Kingston lets out a hearty laugh. “Let me guess, you kept this a secret?” he says to me with an exaggerated knowing wink.

“I’m the one who dragged us down in the first place. I wanted to take the responsibility of righting the wrong.” I turn to Aiden. “I didn’t want you to have to rescue me again.”

He furrows his brow, confused, waiting to be let in on the big secret.

“I... I completed the extra credit assignment.”

Aiden opens his mouth to protest, but I keep going.

“I know you said you’d help. But I honestly didn’t want you to have to take on additional work just because I’d been flailing all semester. You had already been leading the charge with the group project. And yes, I was a little flustered and uncertain how to proceed with this. But it all changed thispast week. I read something new... something so inspired and beautiful and funny and wise. I read it in one sitting, couldn’t put it down. And then I read it all over again, slowly, savoring it, annotations and all. And because I wanted so badly to talk about it, to talk about the author and the talent there, I decided to use it for the extra credit assignment.”

“I have to admit, when I received the email with the write-up on Thanksgiving night, I was quite shocked,” Dr. Kingston says. “But there was such enthusiasm and passion in Irene’s words, I knew the book must have been quite special. In fact, I was so intrigued by her assessment and the analysis against what she researched about the author, I asked her for a copy of the book myself. I, too, read it quite quickly, unable to put it down. What a beautiful display of love, commitment, loyalty, and personal growth. And funny, too. With just a nice touch of spice as well. What would you say, Irene? Two chili peppers?” The twinkle in his eye makes me laugh. He loves being in on this joke, apparently.

“I’d agree. With all of it.”

“Um, wow, well, that’s amazing,” Aiden says. “I love when you find a book that you’re excited about, Irene. That’s always some of my favorite content of yours. I understand how you were curious, Dr. Kingston. Irene has an infectious way of making you want to read whatever she’s talking about when she dives deep into books she loves.”

Ahhh, Aiden, trying to be a part of the conversation whilehe still has no clue what’s really happening here. I want to kiss him so badly. I hope he lets me again real soon. But I have an apology, an explanation, and a promise to make to him before we get to that. Later.

“In any case, I wanted to thank you, Irene. And I wanted to tell you both the good news. With this excellent extra credit submission, barring any total misstep on your final project, I’m pretty confident you both will pass the class. Irene, it was close there for a while. And Aiden, well, you’ll do so with flying colors. And I have no doubt you’ll be in solid standing with the scholarship committee. I’m quite eager for them to read your writing.”

“That’s amazing news,” I say, relieved and happy at the same time.

“Thank you. That is great news.” Aiden’s huge smile and so-cute-I-want-to-eat-them dimples are on full display. “That really must have been some book, and,” he looks down at me, “some really well-done assignment, to bring our scores up that much. Thank you,” he says, this time to me. “Now I want to read it, too!”

Dr. Kingston looks at Aiden, confusion tightening his eyes. He shifts his gaze to me. “Wait, Aiden doesn’t know which book you wrote about?”

I shake my head. “He doesn’t. He and I have a lot to talk about.”

“Ah, well, good luck with all of that. Aiden, I’m sendingyou an email in a little bit... with a proposition of sorts. Don’t open it until you and Irene have”—he looks back at me before continuing—“had your talk. It will all make a lot more sense then. I look forward to hearing back from you later.”

“Okay?”

“Thanks so much, Dr. Kingston. We’ll talk soon. And I promise our final project is gonna be a doozy!” I grab Aiden’s hand and start to pull him away. Maybe I don’t have the right to anymore. Maybe I never did. But I do it anyways—I grab on, interlace my fingers with his, and hold tight, leading the way.

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