Page 67 of Surrender

An invitation?

I suppose so.

The tension inside me pulls tighter, but I straighten my shoulders and lift my chin and force one foot to go in front of the other.

I feel sick by the time I stop outside the door.

I close my eyes and take a breath.

Please.

“Professor?” I call softly.

The floor creaks on the other side.

I shift my weight, glancing down and tucking a chunk of hair behind my ear.

I clear my throat. “Should I wait downstairs?”

“No.”

The terse word sounds strange through the door.

A frown flickers across my brow, my instincts trying once more to get me to turn around.

I wish he’d say more, anything to ease my mind, but the idea that he’s angry with me does more to get me in the room than anything else.

The nerves I always feel in class start to flood my system, washing out the anger and doubt. The pepper spray in my purse might as well be a bottle of bubbles for the threat it poses as I walk inside his bedroom, my stomach roiling with the idea that I’ve displeased someone.

The lights are off, but it’s around sunset so there’s still some light coming in through the windows.

The bed looms large on the right wall.

I don’t see him.

I expected him to be sitting on the bed, I guess. I don’t really know what I expected.

Not for him to be mad at me, I know that.

Whyis he mad at me? I’ve done exactly what he asked me to do. He doesn’t know I’ve gone back and forth about it, that I was mad and scared coming up the stairs. All he knows is that I came like he told me to, so why—

The door slams shut behind me, and I jump.

On instinct, I turn around, and my heart nearly drops out of my body when I do.

Because it’s not Professor DeMarco darkening that closed doorway.

Chapter Seventeen

Sophie

Silvan.

My mouth goes dry at the sight of him, all broad shoulders and chiseled features. He’s made of granite as he stalks toward me, and without thought, I back away from him.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” I stammer, confused.

He’s wearing jeans and a black T-shirt stretched tight over his well-muscled body. He seems to grow larger as he closes in on me. My chest tightens when I feel the wall at my back and realize there’s nowhere left to run.

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