Page 66 of Beautiful Trauma
Ezra smiled smugly. “You were going to admit you’re in love with me.”
“And your response was ditto?” I asked in disbelief. It sounded familiar like a scene from a movie I’d watched with Esther and Archie. “Oh my God, Ezra. Were you quotingGhost?”
“‘Swayze, duh.’ I was trying to ease your nerves. Wanna try it again?”
“I’m not really in the mood for a confession now,” I said with a sniff.
“I bet I can get you in the mood again,” Ezra said, rolling me over on my back so fast it left me breathless. “Feeling shy? I’ll go first. You are everything I’ve searched for in a partner but never found. You make me see things in a different light, and I want to spend every day making the world a better place for you. I love you, Henry.”
“Wow,” I whispered as tears pooled in my eyes.
“Pretty epic, huh?”
His smugness made me laugh, and it loosened my tongue. “You make me feel like I can be and do anything my heart desires. I’m proud of who I am when I’m with you. You had me at ‘Hello, Henry.’ I love you so much, Ezra.”
Salty kisses turned into moans of pleasure as Ezra made sweet love to me under the setting sun in our private paradise. Afterward, we toasted marshmallows on the mini propane stove for s’mores and took turns telling the silliest ghost stories that still managed to keep me awake long after Ezra fell asleep in our shared sleeping bag. With a mild night and no sign of bad weather, we decided that sleeping under the stars sounded romantic. And it did until every rustling tree in the wind made me think one of Ezra’s killer ghosts was going to get me.
“I can’t sleep with your heart pounding so hard against my back,” Ezra whispered before he rolled over and faced me. “Do you want to go back down the ridge? We could crash in one of my parents’ guest rooms.”
“And ruin your plans? No way,” I said passionately. “I just need you to exhaust me so I can fall into a deep sleep.”
“Would you like to discuss quantum physics?”
“I said exhaust me, not bore me,” I countered.
Ezra chuckled against my neck then rolled until I was pinned beneath him once more. Instead of parting my thighs and fucking me, Ezra unzipped the sleeping bag to give him enough room to ride my cock until we were lying together in a quivering heap.
“That’s the trick,” I whispered sleepily. Ezra chuckled as he removed the condom from my spent dick and cleaned us both up before nestling against me once more. If the ghosts were going to get me in my sleep, at least I would die knowing I was truly loved for the first time in my life.
“DO YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSEbefore I go to lunch, Dr. Meyer?” Beatrice asked.
I looked up from my desk and found her standing in the open doorway. Beatrice was everything Regina had described her as and more. I was confident we were going to work great together.
“I’m good here,” I replied with a smile.
“Would you like me to bring you anything?” she asked.
“I’m meeting a colleague for lunch soon but thank you for your offer.”
Beatrice smiled like she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure she should.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
“Wrong? No. I just wanted to say I’m happy to assist you this year. There are already issues between teaching assistants and their professors. I’m relieved we’re not among them.”
I glanced at my watch and said, “Already? It’s not even noon yet.” I hoped my joke hid the worry brewing in my mind. Was Henry among the teaching assistants having issues with their professors? Surely not. I was confident he and Meghan would make a great team.
“Already,” Beatrice confirmed. “I think everything has settled down now that a few professors have swapped assistants.”
“I’m glad things are working out well for us too,” I said with a friendly smile. “Enjoy your lunch.”
I discreetly looked for Henry as I made my way to Pres’s office. I wouldn’t pull him aside to have a private conversation, but I’d be able to tell how his day was going with one quick look. The man I loved would be a horrible poker player. I was disappointed when I didn’t spot him anywhere. Pres’s door was closed, but I knew I hadn’t missed him because I could hear him talking inside his office.
“Come in,” Pres called out after I knocked on his door.
I inhaled a deep breath then released it before plastering the happiest smile I could muster on my face. Prescott hadn’t been pleased with me when I hadn’t asked him into my condo the previous week, and even more unhappy I’d turned down his weekend invites. I’d told him once I had plans with my boyfriend, but that didn’t seem to bother him. I had the impression Pres wanted me and whatever anyone else wanted was inconsequential to him. Asking him to have lunch with me felt like the right thing to do if I wanted to maintain our friendship. While the jury was still out on that one, I didn’t want to risk burning my bridges too soon.
My smile faded when I opened the door and stepped inside Pres’s office. He and his teaching assistant looked at me with very different expressions on their faces. Pres looked delighted to see me and spent an unusually long time raking his eyes over my business casual attire. He acted as if he’d never seen me in anything besides a suit. Pres’s teaching assistant, on the other hand, glared at me.