Page 29 of Damaged Professor

I have an inkling that I’m not the only one hurting for a lost love. I mean—it makes sense. He’s alone. And from what conversations we’ve had so far, he never mentioned any relationships—only hookups.

Should I ask? What if he asks me back? I’m not ready to tell him about James. No, I’ll end up sobbing in his kitchen.

Dylan seems to sense my thoughts. “I’ve had my fair share of relationships. Some worse than others.” He frowns but continues. “But—the past is the past. And I’m going to keep from it only what moves me forward. I’m done with the ghosts.”

That last word feels like a stab straight to my heart. The tears seem to pop into my eyes immediately. “Did—Did you lose—” I try to get words out.

“No, it’s not like that,” he rushes to explain after seeing my reaction. “I was talking figuratively—it was just a reference to being haunted by… things. Anyway.” He plants a kiss on my lips. It’s sweet and comforting. “We are not here for that.”

True enough, I guess. But I can't help but wonder... What are we here for?

Chapter sixteen

Dylan

“Wherearethey?”Idemand, pushing my way into the waiting room of the hospital. The bright white lights are glaring above me, and the whole place smells of antiseptic and orange cleaner. Ashton jumps to his feet, throwing his arms around me and pulling me in for the kind of bear hug that is usually just reserved for holidays or when our mother is around.

I’m quick to return it, the motion absolutely instinctual in the way that my arms curl around him. “I can’t believe you actually came out here.”

“Of course I came out! You can’t call and tell me your kid is in the hospital, and then act surprised that I came out here.” I argue, finally breaking free from his otherwise unrelenting grip on me. “That’s ridiculous. Which one got hurt?”

“It’s Jenna,” says Ashton. He’s divorced, but he has two kids, both under the age of fourteen. They live with his wife, Liv, a little more than half the time because of Ashton’s work schedule. But as a family, they are on great terms with each other, and all spend plenty of time together.

Jenna is the older of the two, fourteen going on twenty, with more energy than I can ever remember having myself at that age. It’s like she’s got a caffeine boost implanted in her skull or something.

The thought of her hurt and in the hospital makes me sick. “What happened to her? God, tell me that it didn’t happen while you were the one in charge.”

“I wasn’t, I just got the call. She was at Heather’s house,” explains Ashton. “I guess they were trying to climb this tree in Heather’s backyard, and they were challenging each other to see who could get highest, and Jenna went up on a branch that couldn’t hold her.”

“Shit, how high was she?”

“I don’t know, but she broke her ankle, and they’re having her x-rayed now to make sure that she didn’t mess anything up in her back,” says Ashton. He sinks back down into the teal hospital chair, shoving his face into his hands. “Never have kids, Dylan. They’ll kill you from the stress and heart pain before you ever get as old as dad.”

I sit down in the chair next to him, slinging an arm around his shoulder. “I’m sure that it’s going to be okay. There’s not much that that girl can’t bounce back from.”

Ashton lets out a watery laugh. “Heather says that Jenna won by a mile. She went up twice as high.”

“That sounds like Jenna. You're going to have to keep a tight grip on her, or else she’s going to develop some dangerous hobby like base jumping. Next thing you know, she's jumping off cliffs!”

Ashton shakes his head, “God, don’t tell me that!”

We sit there and discuss all the ways that Jenna is going to break her father’s heart and scare him to death for the next twenty minutes. The moment that the doctor comes out, Ashton jumps to his feet and hurries over to see what’s going on. I wait in the chair trying to be respectful about it all, but I can tell from the look on Ashton’s face that it’s good news.

After the doctor leaves, Ashton comes back over to me. He looks relieved. “You came all the way out here for nothing. Outside of her ankle and some bruises, she’s fine. She’ll be achy for a while, and on crutches for longer, but that’s it.”

“Good,” I tell him, standing up and giving him one more hug. Now that the danger has passed, we're both content to go back into our usual back and forth with each other. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Ashton leads us down to the main lobby of the hospital and then outside. The day has grown late on me without realizing it. Late evening sunlight casts down on the parking lot outside of the drop off port. Ashton lights a cigarette. The cherry of it glitters brightly.

“Dylan, I’m worried about you too,” he starts but I cut him off.

“We’ll talk about me another day. I promise.”

I like to play his comments off, but I know he is truly worried about me. He nods and heads back inside. I grab my phone to call Abby and apologize for missing our date today.

I’ve got two missed calls, both from her. I skip the voice mails and just call her back. She answers on the second ring with a relieved, “You’re okay! What happened? I was worried sick.”

“What?” I ask, surprised.

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