“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 words You give such good dick seem 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 prowess in 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
FEBRUARY 14, 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
Subject: Re: Happy Valentine’s Day!
Bonkers? Tell me.
Also, I’ll be home June 3–11.
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]
Date: February 14, 2024
Subject: Re: Happy Valentine’s Day!
We are finally leaving in like 10 minutes, so I’ll email you the entire story when we get back to the apartment. I think we are the last 3 people here, and somehow, I still haven’t seen the person who owns this house.
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]
Date: February 14, 2024
Subject: Re: Happy Valentine’s Day!
Sounds like we both had an interesting evening.
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]
Date: February 14, 2024
Subject: Re: Happy Valentine’s Day!
There is no way your story wins.
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]
Date: February 14, 2024
Subject: Re: Happy Valentine’s Day!
Well, now I’m intrigued.
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]
Date: February 14, 2024
Subject: Re: Happy Valentine’s Day!
Okay, so I told you how my friends were dragging me to this party. It was just as boring as expected. I’m sure everyone was very nice, but it was pretty fancy and not at all the mood I was in. I only knew a few people there, and my friends ended up deep in conversation with other people, etc., you get it: I was bored.
So I went wandering around. It’s this huge house in this really nice neighborhood of the city I live in, and let me tell you: this is not usually my thing. I don’t usually wander around a stranger’s house. But again: BORED. Also, I had wine. SO I’m in this library alone and I hear someone coming so I panic and instead of just staying in the chair like a normal person and being like, “Hi, yes I’m just hanging out and getting away from the party for a few minutes,” I hid in the closet.
Two people came in. They were clearly former lovers. She was begging him to bang her, C. Begging. He was very firmly like “No, I will not bang you.” It wasn’t until the very end when she said his name that I realized it’s my TA. MY VERY HOT, VERY INTIMIDATING TA. And the worst part was that I MUST HAVE MADE A SOUND BECAUSE WHEN SHE LEFT IN SHAME AND SHAMBLES, HE WALKED OVER AND FOUND ME IN THE CLOSET.
I knew everything that she’d said. And he knew I knew. And now I think he’s proctoring an exam on Friday morning, and I definitely want to feign illness.
Help.
T.
PS: Since we’re talking about meeting up . . . should we finally exchange names? Numbers?
Chapter Seventeen
FEBRUARY 14, 2024