Page 93 of Studious
He touches my waist, and I don’t flinch.
It doesn’t feel like it does when Danny touches me, but it’s notbad. I look at Robert. Do I want to spend any more time with him?
I don’t know.
I miss Danny. That’s the bottom line, but I need to keep moving forward with my lessons. I can’t waste my energy wishing for a true relationship with Danny when that’s never going to happen.
So, when Robert pulls me close for a slow song, I let myself hold him.
How do I know different is wrong? What if different is just…different? Maybe I found a potential match.
It feels nice. Fine, even. Just not Danny.
Even so, we keep dancing, and at the end of the night, we exchange phone numbers. As Robert enters mine into his phone, I notice Danny standing at the bar, looking at me intently. I give him a smile, but Robert leans in to kiss me.
I startle and move, so his lips hit my cheek.
“So-sorry,” I stutter, and I wince. Then I see that Danny is gone.
Shit.
“I just saw someone I need to talk to,” I say, trying to leave quickly without being rude.
Robert nods. “Well, it was nice to meet you.”
I take off running after Danny.
CHAPTER26
Danny
The night air hits my face as I speed walk outside.
I don’t like what I’m feeling right now. Time stopped when I watched Alden dance with some guy. And then almost get kissed.
Part of me is proud—that Alden’s confident enough to go to a bar, pick up a guy, and dance with him. But my dominant emotion is jealousy, and it fucking sucks.
It needs to stop. I’m being selfish, and I shouldn’t do that to Alden. I should be supportive of him and his growth. He has zero experience outside of me. I can’t lock him down before he learns what the world is like.
I couldn’t handle watching him, though, so I turned and booked it out of the club. I’ve never been a coward. I’m a fucking lawyer. I argue. I’m used to confrontation, conflict, strife.
But I don’t want to get into it with Alden.
Except, as I turn the corner, he catches me, his fingers curling around my bicep. “Hey! Didn’t you see me?”
I swallow hard. “Yeah, I saw you. It looked like you were doing great out there. Really balling.”
He kicks the ground, but he can’t hide his smile. “You’ve helped me a lot.”
Despite everything, despite how rough I’m feeling, that makes me smile, too. Because all I want is for this man to feel good about himself.
He’s standing with his shoulders back, his face flushed from dancing. His curls are messy and damp, but they’re sexy. His clothes fit him well. “Why did you run away?” he asks.
I want to punch a wall. I’m not going to lie to him. But I’m also not going to tie him to me when he deserves to be free. “Because this was never supposed to be more than me teaching you how to date someone else. And you’re ready. You’ve passed the class.”
Except my words seem like they hurt him.
“I… I see,” he says.
