KendalI should have stayed home, but I wanted to see Eliza to have someone to talk things through with. After spending the day pacing the floor at my house, I'd finally resigned myself to needing to see Dana. I had to tell her what the hell was happening. At least if we met up at Damon's and things went to shit, I could get drunk and drown myself in the pool."One step forward and three steps back." I pulled open the door of the accounting building, praying like hell that I wouldn't run into anyone, especially not Mark. Heather was on leave for three weeks because of the trauma of everything. Fucking lying bitch. I should have put her in her place the first time she showed up in Mark's office. Now I was the villain.It seemed like that was always the way my stories ended. Me holding the bag, broken hearted or the false villain who ruined lives and ripped panties. Crazy."Dr. Tarrington. You weren't in class today. Everything okay?" One of my senior students stopped me as I jogged up
Kendal"Hey. What's the big deal with standing me up?" Bethany walked into the kitchen where Matt and I stood. Damon was on the back patio with Karen and Kent, working on getting the grill started."I'm sorry." I lifted my hands and walked toward her, pulling her into a quick, friendly hug. "Heather Turner claimed rape on me and I'm back where I started two years ago. I've been warned not even to be seen with anyone at UT. Adult, child, bookshelf."Matthew laughed. "I'd pay to see you with a bookshelf.""Heathen." I glanced over my shoulder and gave him a look as someone knocked on the front door. "I got it.""Expecting someone?" Bethany called after me."Yeah. Dana." I walked to the door, forcing myself not to jog. I was terrified of losing her again, but I had to explain myself. She needed to know what the hell was going on.I opened the door and lost my breath. She stood there, looking like a sex kitten in a pretty blue dress, her legs going on for what seemed like forever. The dai
DanaChill bumps covered my exposed skin, and I stifled a moan. My mind had been playing horrible tricks on me the last day or so. After not getting to see him on Sunday or Monday, and then having my older sister basically confess that of course she was still in love with him. I was a hot ass mess."I'll be right back," I stuttered and turned, hoping to catch up with him. Did he say second or third? Right or left.I yelped as he reached out and grabbed me from an open door. "Kendal." I swatted at his chest as he laughed and closed the door.The bathroom around us was elegant. Beautiful."Sorry, baby. I didn't want you to pass me by." He slid his hands down my sides and squeezed my hips before pulling me in close. "I missed you.""Why didn't I get to see you yesterday?" I lifted to my toes and brushed my lips by his, loving the taste of lust on his tongue.He didn't respond, but deepened the kiss, leaving me weak to whatever he wanted from me. "We only have twenty-eight minutes and I h
DanaHis expression tightened. "What about me?"I was expecting a different response, but I got somewhere between tense and put off. For some strange reason, it agitated me. Maybe I just needed to be direct with him. He was my lover, my boyfriend and soon to be my best friend. I wanted everything clear between us."I'm moving past the shit with my sister for you. I'm thinking about transferring for you. So we can be together before May. That's too long. You know it is." I reached up and brushed my hair back, trying not to lose my nerve. "Are you getting past the rules of the university for me?"He moved past me and opened the bathroom door. "It's not that easy. I'll explain."I took his hand when he reached for me, because I wasn't sure what else to do. I'd just opened my legs like a whore in the bathroom for him. Sure, it was all for my own pleasure, but to have him not respond to my admission of love and then say that he wasn't going to reject the University rules for me?Shit. Mayb
Kendal"Dammit, Dana." I walked around my living room, my kitchen, the back yard. Nothing. Nothing calmed my nerves. She wasn't answering her phone. She wouldn't open the door the night before. What the hell?Anger burned through me, and I began to question everything.Maybe she was too young for me. I was thirty-one and Dana was in her mid-twenties. Maybe the difference was too much? A grown-ass woman would have picked up the phone by now. Or returned a call.Karen had told me that Dana had cut her finger and ran out like she was missing half of it. Why the fuck wouldn't she call and let me know that she was okay?Surely she knew that I cared. That I wanted to make sure she was good. I would have taken care of her. Waited on her hand and foot.I growled loudly and walked back into the house, letting the back door slam. "Think!"What happened? What could have messed up the evening to the point of her running from me?I ate her out in the bathroom, doted on her as much as humanly possi
KendalMark stood by the window in his office as I tried to slow my racing heart. We had to shut Heather down before she shut Mark down. I hated to kick the guy in the crotch when he was helping me out as much as he could, but he was a bastard. Sleeping with one of our fellow professors for kicks and rejecting her the minute he was done? Sickening. And he had a pregnant wife at home?My heart goes out to his wife and Daisy. What the fuck was wrong with people?"Alright. So I explained the situation to Lance after I got off the phone with you. He had one of his staff dig deeper into Heather's record. Looks like she's done this before. At her former college. He's going to ask her a few questions and let her go. Eliza called and told me about her picking Daisy apart, promising her a job at the other university for more exposure too. We need her out of here. She's a disease."I nodded, a little surprised to hear that Eliza called Mark. "Heather talked Daisy into quitting.""Yeah." He turn
Dana"Are you okay, dear?" The sweet older woman beside me on the plane reached over and handed me a tissue."Yes, ma'am." I took it. "Thank you."I couldn't stop tearing up. My whole world was behind me and I was running. Again. Maybe I was overreacting, but it just didn't feel like it. It felt like the beginning of another relationship where I was pulling the weight, where I was the only one bending and breaking and changing. I couldn't go through it again.I needed to matter to someone enough for them to change a little too. It seemed like too much to ask."Anything I can do to cheer you up?" She gave me a smile.I forced myself to smile back and blotted my eyes. "No, ma'am. I'm headed to see my best friend in New York, and I wish it were for a good reason.""Care to share?""I fell in love with a really great guy, but it turns out that maybe he's not so great." I let out a painful sigh, not truly convinced that I believed my own words. Kendal was a good man. I was just looking for
Dana"Hey!" Olivia walked up as I made my way down the baggage claim. She pulled me into a tight hug and squeezed. "I missed you so much. Why can't you just call for once and ask me to bring a U-haul?""Would you?" I moved back and pulled my phone out, holding it up. "Do you have a charger?""Um, that's like three upgrades ago, Dana. We need to get you a new phone.""Right. Charger?" I smiled and moved to grab my bag off the turnstile."No, but we can get you one. Let's go up to St. Mark's and do a small tour. I talked to one of the doctors that Luke is friends with up there. He's going to get us in to see Dr. Crawford.""What? No. We don't have to do that. Dr. Lewis hasn't even set anything up yet. I told you all about this just to get it off my chest." I grabbed my bag and gave her an exasperated look."Give me that and hush. You're my best friend and like a sister to me. I'm going to do everything I can to get your ass up here when you graduate." She looped her arm into mine. "Luke