Page 72 of Broken Dream

I still need to talk to her.

Figure out what the hell this is between us.

And make sure it never happens again.

Chapter Twenty-One

Angie

Of course Tabitha pounces as soon as Jason leaves.

“What on earth was that about?” she gasps.

I attempt to shrug nonchalantly. “He lives a couple of doors down in another townhome. He was just…checking up on me. I think he lives alone. Probably gets bored.”

She cocks her head, her lips pressed together. “I wish I had hot professor neighbors.”

“What do you mean by that?” I say a little more harshly than I mean to.

Her eyebrows rise a bit. “I just mean, if you have questions about anything. He’s right here. Able to answer them.”

I swallow. “I’ll save my questions for class.”

“But don’t you find it strange that he just showed up at your place to say hi this morning?”

No, I didn’t find it strange at all, considering we fucked like bunnies last night. In fact, I very much want to talk to him. But I can’t let Tabitha know any of this.

Part of me really wants to confide in her. Tell her what went on, how Jason made me feel. How he came to me to celebrate something good that happened to him.

But I don’t know Tabitha well enough. What if she’s a big gossip? Or worse, what if she has a dark side and uses this information as leverage to get me to do what she wants?

I already have Ralph to deal with.

“No,” I say in response to her question. “He’s just being neighborly and all.”

She furrows her eyebrows. “He looked like he’d just gotten right out of bed.” She sighs. “Man, is he ever good-looking.”

“Yeah, he is,” I say.

I can’t lie to her. We all have eyes.

“Well, I won’t keep you.” She downs the rest of her cup of coffee. “I really just came over to bring you the coffee and ask you about Ralph. You certainly made your feelings known about him.”

I bite my lip. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t like him.”

She sighs. “He’s just so gorgeous. I can’t believe he tried to blackmail you about something.”

The question is apparent in her voice. She wants me to confide in her.

If I knew I could trust her, I would. But we just don’t know each other well enough. So I simply say, “It’s not the first time. When you come from money and all…”

Not exactly true. It is the first time for me. But not for other members of my family.

“Can I tell you something?” Tabitha asks me.

Oh, great. She’s thinking if she confides in me about something, then I’ll confide in her.

I’m a vault, of course. I keep secrets all the time for Sage, Gina, and Brianna. They all come to me when they need to talk but can’t risk anyone finding out.