Page 85 of Wish You Were Mine
Her head snapped up, eyes wide, a flicker of nerves dancing across her face.
I offered the smallest smile, hoping to wordlessly say,You’re not in trouble.
And she seemed to relax.
Barely.
When she finally stood and handed in her paper, I packed up my notes and laptop, keeping an eye on the door.
Students from the next class were already trickling in.
And since I didn’t want to call extra attention to our conversation, I caught her eye and gave a small nod toward the door. “Actually…can we chat in the hall?”
“Sure,” she said quietly, falling into step beside me.
We walked a short distance down the hall until we reached a quiet stretch near a row of closed office doors. No one lingered nearby. Just the low hum of conversation from students back in the classroom and the occasional squeak of sneakers against linoleum.
“Is something wrong?” She looked up at me, concern flickering in her eyes.
“No.” I shook my head quickly. “Nothing likethat.”
I met her gaze then—those clear, steady, impossible-to-look-away-from eyes—and added, “I know you were in a rush this morning, but…I just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay. After everything.”
She hesitated, like she was weighing her answer.
Then she nodded slowly. “I was a little shaken up last night. And this morning I kind of panicked when I realized I’d fallen asleep at your place. But…I’m okay now.”
“That’s good.” Relief tugged through my chest. “Did you, uh…tell anyone about it? Your dad, maybe?”
“Oh, no. I didn’t tell him,” she said quickly, almost too quickly. “Just Nora.”
And that was when I realized what she thought I meant. That I was worried aboutme. My job. My reputation. That I was afraid she’d reported spending the night at my place to the university president.
Crap.
“I mean…” I shifted my stance, my voice softening. “I’d understand if you did. Of course, I’d like to be left out of it, for obvious reasons, but if telling him about the guy who was following you would help keep you safe, then I’m all for that. Honestly.”
“Oh. Okay, yeah,” she said, her shoulders relaxing a little. “I guess I just feel kind of silly making a big deal out of it when…nothing actually happened. It makes it hard to know if I was ever actually in danger.”
“I get that,” I said, though the truth was, I wasn’t totally sure Idid. Not in the way she meant. I’d never had to think twice about walking alone at night. Not really. The only time I’d been even remotely nervous like that was when I’d gotten lost in a sketchy part of Manhattan while visiting my brother and his wife.
But Lucy?
She was small. And no matter how strong she was—which I was sure shewas, based on what I’d seen of her training and the ridiculous control she had over her body in motion—she probably still looked like an easy target to someone with wrong intentions.
I cleared my throat, pulling myself back to the reason I’d asked her out here in the first place. I had another class starting soon, and I was sure she had somewhere to be, too.
“Do you usually walk home alone in the dark?”
“Sometimes.” She glanced down, like she didn’t love the question.
“Really?” I frowned. “Like regularly?”
She nodded. “I have a study group I meet with a couple nights a week. With other students in my major.”
“Do any of them live near you?” Would any of them be up to being her walking buddy on those nights?
“I don’t think so.” She scrunched her nose, thinking. “No one’s ever walked the same direction as me after study group. Not that I remember, anyway.”
