Page 26 of The Exception to the Rule

But in an instant,thathumiliation is nothing. Because the closet door swings open, and Callum Sundberg is right there. Well over six feet, beautifully fit, with light-brown hair and gleaming hazel eyes, he’s looming over me, staring down with a mixture of surprise and horror to where I’m curled up around my half-empty bottle of wine.

“Holy shit. I thought I heard someone in here.”

Like an idiot, I wave. “Yes, hello.”

“Are you okay? What are you doing here?”

“I’m fine. I came in here to escape the party and then heard someone coming and panicked.”

“Dylan wouldn’t care if you were in here.”

“That’s nice but I have no idea who Dylan is.”

He smiles, looking more closely at me, and my humiliation deepens when he asks, “Isn’t your name Teresa? You’re a first-year?”

“It’s Terra, actually.”

“That’s right.” His eyes fall closed, and he takes a deep breath. “You heard everything, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

The wordsYou give such good dickseem to reverberate between us.

“You’re in a class I TA,” he says mournfully.

“Indeed, I am.” I swallow. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be weird.”

How, self?I wonder.How will it not be weird?

No one makes me come like you do. Every time. Better than I do alone.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this,” he says quietly. And what man in the history of time would ever want his prowessin bed kept a secret? Please. But my heart does a tiny, swooning flip when he adds, “Kristen would be mortified.”

And even as the words “I promise I won’t” flow from my lips, I know I’m lying. Thank God it happened on Valentine’s Day, because the second I get home, I’m going to email C and tell him all about this.

Callum reaches down, extending his hand to me, and I take it. He pulls me up and when our eyes meet, his thumb passes, warm and smooth, over my knuckles. “You sure you’re okay?”

Revision: I will tell C everything except the way I feel that thumb stroke everywhere. “I’m sure I’m okay,” I tell him, knowing I’m not okay at all.

Chapter Sixteen

FEBRUARY14, 2024

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Date: February 14, 2024

Subject: Re: Happy Valentine’s Day!

Tonight was boring until it was BONKERS.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Date: February 14, 2024

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