Emily: Hello Kitten (The ‘Hello’ series)

37. Chapter 37

thirty-seven

“ F inals are over!” Danielle yells happily. “We have one frat party left, then Christmas and New Year’s! I can’t wait!”

“Didn’t you hear the latest rumor, though?” Beth asks while she packs all but what she’s planning to wear for the party tonight. When Danielle shakes her head, Beth continues, “Dr. Hayes got poached by another university.”

“No way!” Danielle gasps. “But everyone loved him!”

“I know! I can’t believe the university didn’t try to keep him. So few people missed class.” Beth sighs. “And I’m sure you’ll hate to hear this, Em, but he was eye candy.”

I laugh once, then bite my bottom lip.

Both look at me and then glance at each other, like they’re having a private conversation, then back at me. “Are you upset about this? I mean, you liked him,” Beth says, and my gaze drifts to Danielle.

She shrugs. “Yeah. Beth kind of spilled once you moved on to Tinder Guy. Are you happy he’s leaving? Sad? I mean, you had a really rough semester.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I take this moment, trying to come clean. “It’s the end of the semester, right? Because we all turned in our finals?” I ask.

“Yeah,” they both say.

“So, Dr. Hayes is officially no longer our professor, right? And there would be no reason to gossip about him tonight or over break,” I hint.

Danielle nods eagerly, but Beth watches me with a careful gaze. “That depends on what you’re about to say.”

I’ve noticed Danielle gives me that same look whenever I refuse to name ‘Tinder Guy’. I don’t like that look, and I’m tired of dealing with it. I walk to the window and pull it shut, check the door to make sure no one’s listening, then take a deep breath as I sit on the floor.

The girls sit with me. Beth crosses her arms. “Yes?”

“So, I’ve kind of kept a secret since my sister’s wedding,” I murmur.

Beth immediately starts rubbing her temple. “Don’t tell me.”

“Tell me! I can’t read your mind! I want to be included, come on,” Danielle begs.

I lick across my bottom lip. “I’m really serious about no one else knowing. It’s not worse than getting drugged.”

“Just say it.”

“So… I mean…” the words are right there. I should be able to get them out.

Beth groans. “My God! You’ve been dating Dr. Hayes the whole time. You went to the wedding with him. It was him that I texted when you were drugged. You’ve been going to his place every weekend.”

Danielle starts to laugh, but I don’t, and her laughter fades real fast. She swallows as she stares at me with wide eyes. “No way. I’ve been constantly talking about how yummy he is and how great he looks and… Oh, my God. There’s no way. You would have told us.”

“You said you never wanted to hear about him again,” I say to Beth.

She sighs. “You were all sad when you came home from the wedding, and when you looked like shit, so did he. He could barely stop looking at you all week, then you perked up and looked happy again, started styling yourself, all of that, and he perked up too. It was really obvious, babe.”

“But I… you texted him,” I accuse.

“You knew and you didn’t tell me ?” Danielle pouts. “Why was I left out? I mean, you, Em, didn’t tell me the first time, Beth had to, and now I didn’t get to know this?”

“Danielle, you love spilling secrets to get secrets and this is the juiciest one. That’s why I only told you that they had a one-night stand and Em was having trouble getting over it,” Beth says.

“We love you,” I promise. “Really. You know that. I’ll always hold your hair when you puke. I’ll be the D.D. any night you want to party. I let you raid my closet, will slash a guy’s tires for you. And Beth will always talk me out of it and help you do things the right way, but you can’t keep a secret. It’s like you forget what’s a secret and what’s not.”

Danielle rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. “Well… yeah, but still!”

“If anyone told the university, Adrian would have been fired and I could have been expelled,” I say gently. “And I thought it was just sex at first. I mean, I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that we spent fall break together.”

“You what?” they both yell.

I shake my head. “Wait, Beth, you knew before the frat party and the drugging and…”

“Yeah. I considered telling you in the morning when you woke up, but you looked so guilty and upset already, I couldn’t do it. In all honesty, I read through a lot of texts. It was really easy to put the pieces together. It just confirmed everything.” She shrugs. “But when I saw how he texts you, how much he worries over your safety, and how professional he tried to be in class…”

“Wait, so your necklace?” Danielle asks as I keep tugging on it, tightening it around my neck again and again. “Is it choking you?”

I blush. “He gave it to me. It’s kind of kinky, but it’s us. I tug on it out of habit now.”

I tell them about how he reads to me, what happened with Sarah, the PG and G rated bits about our trip, but both girls look at each other, then pounce on me. “Details! Details!”

“Is his dick huge ?” Danielle gushes.

“You said he’s kinky. What kind of kinky? Are we talking rough, leather, choking, pet play, something more intense?” Beth demands.

I laugh and shove at them. “I’m not telling!”

“Oh, you have to!” Danielle argues.

Beth steals my phone and starts scrolling through texts. I try to catch her, but Danielle sits on me. We laugh as they tease me, reading our messages and treating it like Adrian is just a guy. Once we stop laughing, we lie on the floor together.

“I’m glad you finally said something,” Beth admits. “I was starting to think you never would.”

“I’m so sorry. I hated lying. Even saying he was from Tinder felt wrong,” I admit. “I wanted to tell you both so badly, but I didn’t want him to get fired.”

“Wait, did he transfer because of you?” Danielle asks. “If so, you guys must be serious.”

“Of course they’re serious! They’ve been dating for four months. I bet he’s already dropped the ‘I love you’.” Beth giggles. “Did your head explode?”

“I called him ‘boyfriend’ to his face for the first time on break,” I say. “Like I said, wrapping my head around this has been a lot. I really like him, but I thought we’d have to keep this a secret until I graduated, and now I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Well, do you see him as boyfriend material?” Danielle pushes.

I grab a pillow and squeeze it. “I mean, I do. When I’m with him, it’s like we’ve always been together, like there hasn’t ever been anyone else.”

“So, not just kinky sex?” Beth insists.

“We have a very healthy sex life, but that’s definitely not all we do. Vacation felt so easy. I was actually sure I was dreaming. I’ve never been that happy. It doesn’t feel safe. I mean, he’s met my family and seen how they can be. He never made plans for the weekends, always kept them free for me,” I list.

The girls keep watching me.

I groan. “I don’t know! I want to believe we can make everything work. I want to believe the worst is behind us and he’s not moving since he’s teaching online… I don’t know. I’m excited for the future. I feel like we need more time since I’m just now getting with the program.”

“Which clearly means less sex and more dating,” Beth says.

“No way! The same amount of sex and more dating. You’ll barely need four classes a semester next year! You could even graduate a semester early!” Danielle squeals. “I bet he proposes the second you graduate!”

The girls start planning out my whole future, and I wait for the anxiety, the fear, the pain to overwhelm me, but instead, I end up smiling like an idiot. Having a future with Adrian, one where we don’t have to hide or sneak around… I can’t believe it makes me this happy to think about.

I feel like my cheeks are cramping from smiling until I give in and squeal with the girls. They only get louder when Adrian asks if I’ll skip the party put on by all the frats to spend the night with him.

“Go!” Beth orders.

“Don’t be stupid!” Danielle giggles. “And look sexy!”

Which is how I end up standing in front of Adrian’s front door in a sexy white dress. He opens the door when I knock, takes one look at me, and pulls me into his arms, kicking the door shut. “Is this my girlfriend?”

“Your girlfriend, your Kitten, everything but your student,” I answer before kissing him hungrily.