Page 23 of Bewitched By the Mountain Man
My hands grip the steering wheel tighter as I turn onto my street, and the headlights follow. Of course they do.
I pull into my apartment complex and he pulls in right behind me, blocking me in. For a moment, I just sit there, engine running, staring at the dashboard like it might offer me some kind of answer. But there isn't one. There's just him, and me, and whatever’s hanging between us.
I close my eyes, exhale a shaky breath, and kill the engine. Fine. He’ll tell me again why this can’t happen. And I’ll pretend again that he’s just a rebound. It’s a lie, but at this point, it’s survival. I’m not ready to have my heart broken all over again. Especially not by him.
My professor.
Lachlan.
I climb out of the car and he’s already there, standing by his truck with his hands in his pockets. His eyes lock on me with an intensity that makes my stomach flip.
"Tessa."
"Not here," I say, glancing around the parking lot. The last thing I need is Mrs. Danvers from 3B watching me have a meltdown. "Inside."
He follows me in silence, and I'm hyperaware of him behind me. When we reach my door, my hands are shaking so badly I can barely get the key in the lock.
"Let me," he says softly, and his hand closes over mine, steadying it. The touch sends electricity racing up my arm, and I jerk away.
"I've got it."
I manage to open the door and step inside, flipping on the lights. My apartment looks exactly how I left it this morning. Coffee mug on the table, textbooks spread across the couch. Normal. Safe. The exact opposite of how I feel right now.
Lachlan closes the door behind us and leans against it, arms crossed.
“You ran,” he says, finally.
I shrug, heading toward the kitchen just to give myself space. “So what? It was just sex. That’s all this has ever been, right?”
“You don’t believe that.”
I grab a glass, pretending I’m suddenly very interested in water. “Why shouldn’t I? You’ve made it clear over and over again that this can’t happen.”
“Pretending it means nothing doesn’t make it true.”
I whirl around to face him. “You keep shutting it down. You’ve told me more times than I can count that this isn't allowed. So why do my feelings suddenly matter now?”
His eyes darken. “Because they do. Because they always have. I need to know how you feel, even if I can’t do anything about it.”
My heart stutters. "What do you want me to say, Lachlan? That I'm falling for my professor who I met at a sex club? That this is completely insane and probably going to blow up in both our faces?"
"Yes," he says. "Say all of that. Say anything real, because I'm fucking terrified too, but I'm not running from it."
My throat tightens. "You've been running since the moment we met. You pushed me away every single time."
"I was trying to protect you."
"From what? I don't need protection. I need honesty."
He takes a step closer, and I can see the conflict carved into every line of his face. “You want honesty? Fine. I haven’t felt anything in years.”
He pauses, jaw working like the words cost him.
“I saw things no one should see. Things I still see every time I close my eyes. I did my job. Took down monsters. But it hollowed me out. I shut everything down so I didn’t have to feel it. After I left law enforcement, I started going to the club. Not to hook up. Not to play games. Just to watch and protect. I kept my distance. Never crossed a line. It was the only place I could control something... keep people safe without getting pulled in. Then I met you. And I don’t know what it was. I can’t explain it. But something about you felt different. You looked at me like I wasn’t a ghost. Like I was someone.”
Air stalls in my lungs. It’s the first time he’s really letting me see behind the mask.
"And then you show up in my class," he continues, "and I realized that anonymous woman I couldn't stop thinking about was my student. My fucking student. Do you know how that felt? Like the universe was punishing me. Because of course the first person I've wanted in years would be completely off-limits."
