Page 17 of Damaged Professor

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I send the photos to my phone and hand it back to her. The mall is packed with people and Nichole can barely contain herself.

“I’m still mad at you,” I inform her. I zoom in and marvel at the sight of me and Dylan. He looks so handsome, almost regal, and the backdrop looks surreal.

“Mad about the pictures or that I interrupted you?” Nichole has already spotted her next muse. She sits next to me on the bench and places her phone on her knee for stability.

“You know, you could just ask her for a picture.”

“It wouldn’t be natural.” A pause. “I mean look at you two. You can almost feel the tension.”

We do look good together.

“How are you going to approach him?”

Nichole cannot let this go since the exhibition. I mean I’d do the same if my best friend had confessed her love for someone. Well, her suspicion that she might be falling in love with someone.

“I’m not going to do anything. Yet. He’s my teacher.”

“Don’t tell me you’ll wait for your graduation.” She chuckles.

“You are not helping.”

“I am. You just don’t want to listen. You want the guy, so go for the guy. If it’s just sex, it’s actually easier. You don’t have to make it public.”

That’s true. We could just meet at his place, no one would see us there. It’s far enough from the campus and he lives on the more affluent side of town which is sparsely populated.

“And what am I supposed to do? Just go to him after class? What if somebody sees us?”

“I guess, they will see a teacher and a student talking.” She stops and looks at me. “Unless you plan on having sex right then and there.”

I snort. “You are mocking my pain.”

“I’m laughing at your indecisiveness. Abby, we’ve been having the same conversation for almost 3 weeks. Your problem is not his job—it’s not illegal to have a relationship with him and please don’t get started with his reputation. Your problem is that you are afraid to move on.”

At first, yes. I was terrified at the thought of letting go of James. And of starting something new. The age difference alone seemed like a huge issue.

But I'm ready now. I want him. I want everything about him. And yet I can’t move on because of this stupid situation.

“Okay, I’m done,” she announces. She scrolls through her camera roll once more and puts her phone back in her pocket with a satisfied smile. “Where are we going now?”

“You’ll let me decide on tonight?” That’s a first. My idea of a good night is sitting at home with a nice glass of wine and a good movie. Her idea of a good night out would be visiting the rodeo.

“No, no, no. I’ve already made plans for tonight.” She looks at her watch. “But I have a couple more hours to spare.”

I laugh at her serious tone. She arranges her outings the same way a CEO arranges his meetings. The only thing missing is a color-coordinated calendar. “Let’s just take a walk. We’ll grab something to eat and then I can go home and you can—" I wave my hand in the air. “Go have fun.”

Nichole seems to think about it for a moment. “Or you could come with me,” she suggests.

I shake my head. “The last time we went to a bar you ditched me.” A pause. “And look what happened.”

She rolls her eyes and wraps her arm around my shoulders, leading the way out of the mall.

The one thing I love more than the beautiful buildings is how easy it is to move around this part of the town. We stop for coffee and head east. There is a little park there, a perfect spot for lovers— that’s where Nichole gets a lot of her inspiration. Creepy as it is, I can’t help but admire her skills. That picture of Dylan and I was just perfect.

My comment on that sets her off about me again but soon the conversation switches back to her love life and I feel my body relax. Until I figure this out, I don’t want to feel extra pressure.

“But what if the perfect opportunity presented itself before you?” Nichole says suddenly. “Would you go for it?”

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