Page 70 of Private Tutoring
“Oh, I know.” She crossed her legs and kicked them back and forth. “It’s time I told you the truth, Stephen. I’m great at keeping secrets. And I’m more than a little interested in seeing what Harmony was talking about.”
Shock tightened my grip on the papers. They crunched in my grasp, almost ruining them.
“You can have me, if you want. Just like you had Harmony.” She leaned forward to lock her hands around her knee. “And you won’t even have to share.”
Did she think this was attractive? Or was it that she thought what we had with Harmony was so shallow she could be replaced?
“You can have me all to yourself…unless youwantto share me with Professor Bellington and Professor Rossi. If that’s the case, I’m open to anything.” She winked and slid from the desk. “What do you say?”
“Get the fuck out of my classroom.” I pointed at the door. “There is no way in hell that I’d ever have you in my bed.”
My vehemence heated the room to boiling, or maybe that was just me.
Delilah stopped her deliberate approach and pouted. “You don’t mean that. Harmony was innocent, barely even knew what sex was, much less how to perform. You won’t have to worry about that with me.”
“Leave. Now. Or I’m calling security to escort you out.” I resisted my impulse to slam the papers down on the desk. Giving in to the anger would give her more power. It showed she’d gotten under my skin, and I wasn’t about to let that happen.
Her nostrils flared, the look in her eyes full of something I couldn’t define. “You don’t want to tell me no.”
I stood my ground, snorting through my nose. “No.” I’d never been one to give in, especially in a situation like this, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to start. “Are you going to leave, or should I make that call?”
“Oh, I think you want to hear my counteroffer.” Hands on her hips, she looked me over in that sleazy way many men looked at women. It was distasteful and downright rude. “Say yes, or I destroy you. Not just you, but Matthew and Roberto as well.”
I laughed so hard my sides ached. With every vicious roll of ill humor, Delilah’s eyes tightened. “How do you think you’re going to do that? The dean already knows about us.”
Her victorious expression fell just enough to prove she hadn’t known about that. Apparently, Harmony hadn’t told her everything after all.
I kept going, driving the wedge deeper so she had no room to maneuver. “Harmony took the fall for us. You have no leverage to make me do anything. And even if you did, it wouldneverhappen.”
It took less than a minute for her to regain her confidence. I’d expected longer. No. I’d expected her to fold and slink away. She wasn’t the first student to try and blackmail me into bed, but she was the most persistent.
“I have other ways of destroying you.” She maintained eye contact, probably thinking it would make me believe her.
I tapped the papers into a neat pile and slid them into my bag to grade later. It was the only thing that kept my mind off Harmony, and that only worked for a few minutes at a time. Had she made it home okay? I’d texted her, and so had Matthew and Roberto. We hadn’t asked for anything except for her to let us know she was okay.
The lack of response had us all worried.
Delilah snapped her fingers. “Hey, are you listening?”
“Nope.” I shook my head and shouldered the bag. The move reminded me of Harmony, and I almost lost my mind as the pain of losing her spiked.
“I said I have other ways of ruining you.”
I had no interest in listening to her drivel. Checking the clock proved pointless. My class was due to start, and I was still unable to leave unless I wanted to abandon yet another group to an hour of online videos.
Not a bad idea. They might learn more until I figured out how to move on without Harmony.
“I’m the one who wrote the threatening messages to Harmony.” A sly grin dimpled her cheeks. “She thought she wasbeing so careful.” She rolled her eyes. “Please. A kindergartener could tell she was sleeping with you three. It was too easy to scare her into running away.”
All the fury I’d kept penned up exploded outward. “You’re the reason she left?”
“Of course.” Delilah looked at her nails, then up at me through thick lashes. “I couldn’t have her around ruining my opportunity.”
“There is no opportunity. You don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of hooking up with any of us.” I headed toward the door. Matthew and Roberto needed to hear about this. “If you’re done being a bitch, I have work to do.”
She stood in my path, her hand extended like she might put it on my chest. “I’m being a bitch? Oh please. I’m not the one who got pregnant by her professors, then ran off. Who knows”—she shrugged, blinking wide eyes innocently—“maybe I’ll convince her to abort the baby next.”
“Like hell you will.” I barged past her, not bothering to check my speed as my shoulder crashed into hers. “Stay away from me, and from Harmony.”
