Page 23 of Education with Dad's Best Friend
He shrugs but doesn’t answer me.
I run down the stairs and onto the street—no Elsie.
I run around the block, checking every corner, still not seeing her.
I call her on her cell phone, but it isn’t answered. She probably left it in her room.
I drag my feet back to the building to see whether she’s back in her apartment. Before going up the stairs, I hear muffled voices.
“Let me go!” It’s Elsie’s voice.
“Stop talking!” a man’s muffled voice says.
I check quickly. “Elsie?” Where are you?”
I hear a gasp, but no more voices.
I look in the direction of the voices and see a space behind the stairwell that is dark and nearly invisible. Walking toward it, I take out my cellphone and turn it on, using it to illuminate the dark corner.
There, a man’s large body is pressing against the wall, and I see a pair of legs behind him.
Without thinking, I grab his clothes and yank him toward me.
Elsie’s tear-streaked face greets me before she slides down and falls onto the floor.
The man is Jason—the asshole must’ve gone after me and found Elsie first.
I punch him hard in the face and knock him known. As soon as he manages to stand up, he runs away.
I cradle Elsie in my arms. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
She sobs but doesn’t speak. As I stroke her back to calm her, she presses her face against my chest. “You were kissing her!”
“I wasn’t! She forced it on me.”
“Why were you writing her a check, then?”
Oh God. She must’ve thought I was paying Fanny for her service like her clients did.
“She blackmailed me for what I did to you the other day. She recorded the whole thing.”
She blinks as she tries to process the information. “But why… why do you have to pay her for that? What’s wrong with you kissing me?”
“It’s complicated, sweetheart,” I say. “She threatened to use it against me.”
She stares at me with a blank expression until understanding dawns on her. “You’re afraid you won’t become the dean at the college because of me?”
“I…” Hell. I’m at a loss for words. She’s right. I’m a jerk.
She struggles out of my grasp. “Am I your shameful secret?”
“No, you’re not!” I say.
“Then why do you have to hide what you did as if it’s something dirty?” Tears pour down her face. “Why can’t you own me?”
Shit. This is killing me. I reach to take her arm, but she doesn’t let me. “Sweetheart, I’ll let the world know you’re mine one day, but it isn’t the right time yet.”
“When will be the right time?”
