Page 54 of Private Tutoring
“No.” I admitted it with a cautious smile, one that I thought the girls watching from the window wouldn’t be able to interpret. “But I can’t say the things I want to say here.”
She arched a brow and rubbed her cheek on her bare shoulder, using the motion to look back at the window. “Yeah. Which makes me wonder why you’re here at all.”
The warning was perfectly clear. We were in full view of her entire sorority house. I had one chance to ask her to change locations so we could talk without spying eyes and tattling gossip. “It’s important.”
My tongue twisted, making me feel like a school kid with his first crush.
“How important? Because there’s enough going on with me right now, and I really don’t need any extra drama.” She said all the right words, but the way her body shifted, her shoulders leaning toward me almost like an invitation sealed the deal.
She was as miserable as the rest of us. I made sure my hands stayed in my pockets or close to my sides. “I can’t say it’s life or death, but matters of the heart are often even more painful.” My voice was too low for anyone but her to hear. “I’d like you to come with me to the penthouse. To talk about what happened.” I almost said that weneededto talk about what happened, but that wasn’t entirely true.
I wanted to talk about it, because once we had all the information, we could come up with a plan that protected us. I wasn’t ready to give up Harmony. Might never be ready to give her up.
Her eyes fluttered closed. “This is a terrible idea.”
“But you’ll come?” Hope bloomed so bright and fast I barely managed to keep my smile in check.
She crossed her arms and put a scowl on her face. “If I have to.” Where I’d been quiet, she made her voice loud.
The curtains made a whipping motion. Any second now I expected the front door to fly open and someone to demand what I was doing there and why I needed Harmony so late on a Friday afternoon.
No reason I could speak out loud.
“Right this way.” I led the way down the sidewalk and toward the main buildings where I held my classes.
Harmony followed slightly behind me, keeping the full width of the sidewalk between us. Our steps matched, but I doubted anyone was watching our feet close enough to notice. It was body language we had to be cautious about.
“I’m parked in the side lot. No cameras in that area, so you can ride with me if you want.” I didn’t dare reach toward her despite every cell in my body craving a single second of contact. It would never be enough. If I touched her now, I’d have her in my arms forever. No sex needed, just the feel of her against me.
I loved her enough to let her go if that was what she wanted, but I had to hear it from her own lips, not from some avoidance and lack of communication. We were in too deep for that bullshit.
“This way.” I pointed toward the left-hand fork in the path. “Do you want to stop anywhere on our way?”
“Are Stephen and Matthew going to be there?” Her body turned tense.
I nodded. “They don’t know where I am, or that you’re coming back with me.” I finally let myself smile. “They’ll be surprised to see you, but it will be good for them.” And for me. Just seeing her took the sharp edges of my pain away.
Her quietness could be taken for acceptance or resolution. I wasn’t sure which, but I took it as a victory and opened the passenger side door for her.
She slipped into the seat and snapped her seatbelt into place before knotting her hands in her lap.
I stood there like a fool for far too long before finally closing the door and racing around to the other side. Any chance at conversation became stilted as I drove. All the things I wanted to say tumbled over each other, so we rode in silence except for the low hum of Italian music from my favorite playlist.
By the time we made it to the penthouse and into the elevator, the entire space was filled with a sparking tension that raced over my skin.
Harmony clasped her arms loosely over her stomach, her elbows cupped her palms.
“I’m sorry.” It slipped out as the elevator doors closed and we rose with a stomach-twisted rush.
She kept her head angled away, once more unable to look me in the eye. “Sorry for what?”
“That you were forced to hear such vitriol from your classmate. It was callous and unfair.”
“It was true.”
The doors opened before I came up with a response.
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