Ten stepped inside. “Man, I forgot my fucking wall—” He jerked to a stop. “Shit. Sorry. My bad.”
He stuck his hands in the air and began to back out of the apartment, but Aspen lifted her face and glanced at him. Slamming to a halt, he stared at her hard.
“Get out!” I yelled, and grabbed a couch cushion to throw at him. But it bounced off his head unnoticed.
Tipping his face to the side, he studied her from a different angle. “Why do you look like...?” Then it hit him who she was. His eyes bugged. “Holy shit.”
“Out,” I ordered, scooting her off my lap so I could jump to my feet and block his view of her as well as charge toward him.
The fucker still didn’t move. “Jesus Christ, man. She’s—”
I pushed him into the hallway and shut the door.
And that’s when he lost it. “You’re banging the teacher. Oh, my fucking God, you’re banging the fucking teacher. Holy shit, Gam, this is so...boss. You are the man. The man!”
Slapping my hand over his mouth, I gritted my teeth and cast him a warning glare before glancing worriedly toward the closed door. “Shut. Up,” I hissed, threatening him with my eyes.
He pushed my hand away. “Shut up?” he hissed right back. “Are you kidding me? My roommate’s officially badass. You’re doing her for the grade, aren’t you? So you can keep your scholarship? Damn, you’re brilliant. I mean, I knew you could charm the ladies, but to get hard-ass Kavanagh to drop her panties is...epic. Wait till the guys hear—”
“No!” I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him close. “No one can know, Ten. Jesus, if you tell anyone...fuck. There’s nothing to tell, okay? You didn’t see anything. Nothing is going on. This is a...non-issue. Got it?”
“The hell with that. You’re banging the fucking teacher. You’re going down in history as—”
“Did you not hear Coach after the volleyball scandal? If we’re caught with any faculty member on campus, we’re off the team. I’ll lose my scholarship. She’ll lose her job. Everything will go to hell. Tenning, please. You. Didn’t. See. Anything.”
I begged him with my expression, and he finally growled out a sound. “Damn it. You know how to suck the fun out of everything.”
He stormed past me and ripped open the door to the apartment before I could stop him. “I’d say hi,” he told Aspen as he entered. “But apparently I don’t see anything.”
She was pacing the floor in front of the couch, her face pale and arms crossed tightly over her chest with her hands tucked into the sleeves of her shirt as if she was cold. Without speaking to him, she watched him march to the hall and disappear into his room. He returned seconds later, waving his wallet and looking at neither Aspen nor I, before he moodily slammed out of the apartment again.
I blew out a breath and sagged against the wall, rubbing my hands over my face. “You’re freaking out, aren’t you?”
“I should go.” She hurried toward the exit, her face down. But I grasped her shoulder and pulled her close so I could press my mouth to her cheek. She remained stiff in my arms.
“I can trust him,” I whispered.
She lifted her chin, her eyes wet and scared. “I’m glad you can.”
“He won’t say anything. I promise you.” I’d kill him if he did, and I was sure he knew that.
She just shook her head. “I shouldn’t have come here tonight. I was...what was I thinking?”
“I’m glad you did.” I kissed her cheek this time. “I’m your boyfriend, Aspen. I want to be there for you when you go through rough shit.”
“My boyfriend?” she choked out and incredulous sound. “How can you be my boyfriend when I can’t tell a single soul about you?”
Growling through clenched teeth, I scowled at her. “I’m your boyfriend because I’m your boyfriend. We don’t need any more explanation than that. It just is. I’m the one who’s there when you’re happy, and when you’re sad, and when you come apart in my arms. This...” I slammed her body against mine so she could feel what she did to me, “makes me your boyfriend.”
A tear trailed down her cheek. Lifting her fingers, she gently touched my lips. “I wish I had your confidence.”
I kissed her fingertips and brushed the tear away. “You don’t need it. I have enough for the both of us.” And with that, I had her talked off the ledge. She stopped resisting me and leaned in to me when I kissed her. When I led her back to my bedroom, she smiled and tugged my shirt off.
It wasn’t until after she was asleep later that night and curled around me in my bed that my own doubts rose. With Ten knowing, our risk had just doubled. It was selfish of me to keep her, to keep doing this, because it could so easily end up hurting her and my family. But then I realized I still didn’t care enough about the what ifs because my determination to remain hers had also doubled. Aspen had gotten so deep in my blood I was more than willing to take any chance I had to just to be with her another day longer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR