Page 11 of Doctor Bossy

“Yeah, but you never did,” I said, remembering the night we had first bumped into James at the frat party. It had been my first frat party, and even with Kayley as my chaperone, the whole thing was so overwhelming. So many flickering lights and stumbling bodies, the smell of alcohol and smoke filling the atmosphere. I hadn’t been to any parties in high school, so it was hard to know what to expect, but I didn’t think anything could have prepared me for being groped twice in one night by drunken strangers. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I stormed out of there the second Kayley went to the bathroom. I didn’t plan on leaving her behind; I just needed some air.

That was when I met James, a tall lone man with tousled sunkissed hair sitting on the stairs and looking up at the stars. He looked like a prince who got lost stepping out of a fairy tale book, and I watched him for a few seconds, wondering how anyone could be that good-looking.

Then, without warning, he turned, saw me standing there, and smiled.

Just like that, I was a goner.

He was one of the brothers in a frat, although I hadn’t known it at the time. He seemed way too quiet and introspective for that. He invited me to sit with him, and when I asked him why he was looking at the stars, he said that sometimes, he wondered if the people in the stars stared back too.

“You think there are people up there?” I asked, confused.

He gave me a sad smile and said, “I hope there are.”

Then he told me all about one writer’s theory that the dead were just relocated inhabitants of the moon and stars. He was an English Major, and we talked a lot about theories and philosophies. While I didn’t understand a lot of what he said, I understood enough to appreciate his intelligence. Plus, I also appreciated that he cracked jokes here and there to put me at ease. I was already halfway in love with him after that night, but Kayla wasn’t so impressed.

“Be careful with that one,” she told me after we came home that night. “He looks like trouble and a half.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “He seems like a nice guy.”

She shook her head. “That’s usually the ones you have to watch out for most. Thenice guys.”

“You had him pegged from the beginning,” I said now as I recalled the numerous warnings Kayley had given in the form of hints throughout our relationship, especially after our engagement. Eventually, she’d become reluctantly supportive of it, but she never hid the fact that she didn’t like James.

“Yeah, but that’s only because I have more experience with assholes of the male variety,” she said, then winked at me. “This is only your first heartbreak, hon. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough and be ready to get back on the rodeo. By the time you get to where I am, you’ll learn a few things.”

“Gee, how encouraging,” I said drily, and she rolled her eyes at me before returning to her work.

“Anyway,” I said. “James is the least of my problems now. I have to figure out how to get a new job since Professor Asshole fired me.”

“You should sue him,” Kayley suggested as she had ever since she found out about what happened. She’d been suitably outraged about the whole thing, just like Griffin was.

Thinking about Griffin pulled my mind back to him. And that kiss that never should have been.

God, I didn’t know what I was thinking, kissing him.

Actually, I hadn’t been thinking. Yeah, that was it.

Until now, I was mortified at the memory of it. I had no idea how the hell I was able to face him in the morning after what I had done. It was definitely the top two of the most humiliating things I had ever done, and it was a wonder I even had the mental fortitude to walk to his kitchen in the first place.

But God, did the man have to be so damn…compelling?

It would be one thing if he were just hot, but it wasn’t just that. Everything about him was so damn stimulating.

Everything about the way he moved, the way he talked. When he brought my chin up to meet his eyes, I almost melted.

I’d always had something of a crush on James’ dad before I even met the man, but it felt like something changed last night after I kissed him. Like now, I was full-on obsessed with him and the way he made me feel.

“…Becks? Are you even paying attention to me?” Kayley’s concerned voice pulled me out of my musings, and I turned back to my friend.

“Sorry, K. I went somewhere else for a little bit. What were you saying?”

“I was saying that I know a lawyer in case you want to go through with a lawsuit,” she continued. “He can’t just fire you like that without even hearing your side of the story. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal or something, and if it’s not, then it should be.”

“It’s not illegal,” I said. “It’s in my contract that I could be dismissed for defying the student code of conduct, which I’m guessing that nude photos of myself go against. And besides, even if it were illegal, what am I going to do about it? It’s not exactly like I can afford a lawyer.” Working in clinical research didn’t pay much, and every spare cent I owned went to settling some of the loans I took out. A lawyer was not something I could afford at this time.

“So you mean to tell me that they can just pull bullshit like that, and you can’t do anything about it?” Kayley gave me an outraged look, as she did the first time I told her the entire sordid tale. I, on the other hand, could not seem to muster up the energy for outrage at this point. Mostly, I was tired and exhausted from the whole thing and wanted to redirect the rest of my limited energy resources into figuring out what I was going to do next.

“I will talk to the director of the department,” Griffin had assured me before he left for work that morning. “You should have your job back by close of day today.”

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