Page 23 of Between Desire and Denial

“Fuck that guy. He’s about to be out of a job soon, and—”

“The university believes him, Dimitri,” I reminded him.

“We’ll see.” He chuckled before he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. I was shocked that within a second or two, he had the chancellor on the phone.

“You know the chancellor?” I whispered. He had a direct line to the freaking head of my university?

“I own most of that university. Rufford is getting fired already. I made sure of it.” He glanced at me and smirked. “What do you want? To graduate now?”

“I haven’t even done my thesis! What do you mean?” I started to panic. “I didn’t think… Well, I don’t want to be there another year. Maybe… could I do it over the summer?”

“You can do whatever you want, Olive.” He winked at me and reiterated what I wanted into the phone. “And you’ll make sure this issue is taken care of? I don’t want Ms. Monroe doing more work than her fellow graduate candidates or getting treated unfairly. I want Mr. Butson out of there by the end of the day, got it? It would be bad for the Hardy name and Alcove University if he wasn’t.”

Then he hung up and said, “The university agreed that you can pick a new topic and do the research through the summer to graduate in August. No meeting to discuss the email. You good with that?”

I stuttered over my words. “But normally we must have a year of research going into—”

“But that’s not what you wanted. And I’m getting you what you want. I told you I’d pull some strings. You’re all set.” He slid his phone back in his pocket and leaned forward. “Want to say thank you?”

He was shameless. “No. My thank you is going back to Paradise Grove with you.”

“Great. You can fly in at the end of the week then? There’s a meeting that day that I’d like you to come to. No decisions willbe made, but it’ll be a great segue into you showing them I’m a valuable part of the community.”

Maybe I should have been excited to go home, but home was supposed to be a place you felt comfortable, where you belonged, where you had memories that you cherished.

Yet, Paradise Grove definitely didn’t encompass any of that for me.

Chapter Nine

OLIVE

“I don’t knowif this is such a good idea without me,” Kee whined over the phone.

“Why wouldn’t it be, Kee?” I dotted on a little lip gloss and fluffed my brown curls in my compact mirror before straightening the pink flower in my hair. Honestly, I’d been thinking the same thing when Dimitri’s driver picked me up from the airport later that week. It seemed Dimitri had my whole itinerary planned considering he’d booked me a private flight so I could read the entire way there, and then Mr. Preston hurried me into the SUV and said he had to get me to the meeting within the next hour.

I barely skimmed the email he’d sent me. There was enough building ordinance jargon to bore anyone to sleep. Instead, I contemplated how my life was spiraling faster and faster out of control. I was headed back to my hometown to meet the guy I was sneaking around on my best friend with. I hadn’t told my father or my brother I was coming back, and I had no idea what I should research for my thesis that was due in four months.

“I mean, you’re home, Olive. And you don’t love that place. And you’re with Dimitri.” She emphasized his name like thatwas reason enough. “He can be pretty rude sometimes or too charming and…”

“And what?” I wiggled my glasses in the compact mirror, the ones Rufford said framed my face so well. I growled and pulled them off. I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted anymore.

“And I want you to stay friends,” Kee concluded. “I like my best friends being friends.”

“Nothing bad will happen. It’s only a week.” My statement was met with silence. “I promise, Kee. I’ll keep you updated.”

She mumbled a resignedyesand then asked, “Has Rufford called? I’m happy to hear Dimitri was able to work out your thesis timeline.”

“It was nice of him,” I muttered. Too nice. And I hated that I couldn’t stop thinking about all he’d done for me already. Yet, it did keep me from being too depressed about my loss of a relationship with Rufford. “Rufford called once or twice. I didn’t answer.”

Technically, he’d left me five messages and texted me in anger about his firing. I’d even gotten a message from him that day.

Rufford: You can’t ignore me forever. I apologized for calling you names about me being fired Olive. But we need to work this out. Call me back.

I blocked that number.

Unknown: You’re being immature. Your age is showing. Can you just answer?

I sighed as I glanced through them again.