Page 74 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Wednesday

I rolled my suitcase into my office and stashed it in the corner.

I’d gotten back to campus without much time to spare before my first class.

Waiting to the last minute to do anything wasn’t my style.

But the more distance there was between me and Penny, the easier it was to convince myself I was doing the right thing by giving her up.

She’d sent me a simple text while I was away: "I hope that everything is alright, Professor Hunter.

" And that alone was enough to prove I was doing the right thing. I’d cancelled class because I was a dick.

And she was worried about me. Me. She was supposed to be off going to parties and having the time of her life.

Not wondering how her miserable professor was doing.

Despite the fact that my resolve had grown regarding Penny, I hadn’t gotten much else out of my trip to New York.

The documents were still unsigned. And I was still waiting.

How was I ever supposed to get a fresh start if I was still chained to that city?

Always waiting. I pictured standing in the rain with Penny on Saturday night right before I kissed her.

Waiting to know if I was making the right decision.

Waiting to know if she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

I took a deep breath and ran my hand down my face.

My fingers stopped on the scruff I’d grown in the past few days because I’d forgotten to pack a razor.

If I was lucky, Penny would hate my beard.

It would be a hell of a lot easier to stay away from her if she suddenly wasn’t attracted to me.

Because she would stop looking at me like she wanted me to bend her over and… Breathe .

Today was going to be my new start to the semester.

I’d keep my head focused on my classes and my students on an educational basis only.

This was my job. How hard could it be to stick to the rules?

Every other professor at this school did.

I stopped outside my Comm class and took another deep breath.

Stay focused. All I needed to do was keep my head on my work and my dick in my pants.

As I walked into the room, I didn’t even glance in Penny’s direction. And I wouldn’t have to, because today I was going to be sitting amongst my students staring at the front of the classroom. "It's presentation day!" I said and pumped my fist into the air.

Most of the class groaned.

"It's not going to be that bad.” My eyes were begging me to look at the back of the classroom even though my mind was telling them to stop.

I clenched my hand in a fist. Breathe . “Okay, first up is Raymond Asher.

Let me just fix this." I grabbed a podium from the corner and placed it in the middle of the room.

"And I'll get out of your way." My eyes scanned the desks, looking for an empty one in the front row. But…there was only one empty desk in the whole classroom. The one in front of Tyler Stevens. In such close proximity to Penny that I knew I’d be able to smell her cherry blossom perfume. Fuck me.

I made my way to the back of the classroom.

At least I hadn’t been forced to sit behind Penny.

That would have made it impossible to focus on the presentations.

I dropped my satchel on the floor and slid into the empty desk.

Luckily the student next to me was drinking a cup of some crazy coffee concoction with whipped cream and it was all I could smell. I got this.

Raymond walked up to the front of the class and started talking.

He casually grabbed the sides of the podium and leaned in a bit.

It looked like he had done this hundreds of times.

He gave a funny presentation about his grandfather who was apparently “clearly better than any of Professor Hunter's grandparents" and deserved a proper shout-out.

Fair enough. The kid was a regular entertainer.

I jotted down a few notes. If the rest of the presentations were this good, it was going to be an easy semester.

I was just starting to feel less on edge when Tyler started whispering behind me.

"Crap, he stole my idea,” Tyler said. And even though I could hear him clearly, I had a feeling he wasn’t talking to me.

Penny laughed. I closed my eyes for a second.

Breathe . I called the next name on my roster.

Unfortunately Raymond was the only one in class that didn’t seem nervous to be standing in front of everyone.

Almost all the speeches were about siblings, parents, friends, or significant others.

I wrote down my notes about each presentation, hoping they’d be helpful.

There was definitely room for improvement.

The minutes ticked by slowly. And the coffee scent in the room eventually dissipated and I could smell Penny’s perfume. It felt like it was all around me. The minutes ticked by even slower. Slow breathing didn’t exactly help when all I could smell was her.

Finally the minute hand clicked to the ten. "Great job today,” I said instead of calling the next name. “Class dismissed." I finished writing my notes for the last presentation as the students started filtering out.

"I'll see you at lunch, Penny," Tyler said.

My hand froze. I continued to look at the paper on my desk, but I couldn’t help but tilt my head a little to the left.

I needed to know what she was going to say.

I needed to hear her confirm that she had a date with Tyler Stevens.

That she was moving on just like I’d told her to.

The thought wasn’t as comforting as it should have been.

"Don't be late, I have a class at two," she responded.

"I wouldn't dare." Tyler laughed and I heard his footsteps diminish as he walked out the back door.

So that was it. I’d told her to stay away, and she’d listened.

But as the class emptied in front of me I could still smell her.

She was still sitting there, watching me.

I turned and put my papers into my satchel.

Maybe she needed closure to fully enjoy her date with Tyler.

That’s what I wanted, right? For her to be happy with someone better suited for her?

Besides, if she didn’t start dating someone else, I was worried I’d try to pull her back in.

And I couldn’t do that. I needed to push her away.

"I'm sorry about the other night, Miss Taylor. I was out of line,” I said without looking at her. I continued to shove the rest of my papers in my satchel.

"I'm not sorry."

I shook my head, even though it killed me. She wasn’t sorry. She liked it. I knew that. I knew that from the way she’d kissed me back. And the way her hands roamed my skin. I wasn’t sorry either. But I’d always been a great liar. "You don't need to be. It was my mistake."

"I mean that I'm not sorry that it happened."

I finally turned to look at her. Sitting at this desk reminded me of what it was like to be a student.

It made me feel like her equal. And for just a moment, I wished I could go back and do it all differently.

She still had her whole life in front of her.

I’d already squandered away a chunk of mine.

I wasn’t going to let her do the same thing. And certainly not because of me.

"Enjoy your lunch date, Miss Taylor. I will see you in class on Friday." I stood up and walked away. If she didn’t realize I was doing this for her now, she eventually would. She’d look back at this moment and be thankful that she never took things further with her professor.

***

All the Comm presentations from today were graded and my other classes didn’t have anything left for me to go over. I’d already run five miles, lifted weights in the apartment gym to avoid running into any students, and eaten dinner.

And now? I had nothing to do and I was obsessing over whether or not Penny’s lunch date had gone well. It wasn’t what I should have been dwelling on. I needed something else to occupy my time with.

I thought about calling one of my friends from New York.

But there was a reason why we’d drifted apart.

And none of those guys were good for me to hang out with.

They were replicas of my little brother.

Right now I wasn’t interested in going out, getting wasted, and having a one night stand.

I wasn’t going to slide back into my old ways.

I leaned back in my chair in my apartment’s office.

It was the only room in the house that I’d actually taken the time to make my own.

It was just as big as my bedroom and there were windows overlooking Main Street to one side.

All the furniture was modern and my desk was positioned near the window to get the best view.

Two of the walls were covered in floor to ceiling bookcases.

There was a whiteboard on the other wall.

If I’d been inspired to do anything, it would have been full of mathematical equations.

But the whiteboard was blank. There was even a dartboard and a little basketball hoop above the trash can that I spent a lot of time failing to hit.

I lifted a picture frame off my desk. It was of me and my siblings at my company’s launch party.

We all looked younger and were smiling so hard.

A conversation with Rob was easy if unproductive.

But with my older sister Jen? I’d gone back home and I hadn’t called her.

Because I already knew what she’d say: “Sure, I’m having dinner with Mom and Dad tonight and you can join! ”

The last thing I wanted to do was rekindle a relationship with my parents.

I wasn’t as forgiving as Jen. But they also hadn’t fucked her life up as much as they had mine.

Regardless, I couldn’t call her either. She’d just be pissed that I hadn’t visited her.

And further pissed that my heart was so cold.

I knew I was a disappointment. I didn’t need anyone else reminding me.

I set the picture back down. I remembered that launch party like it was yesterday.

Was that really the last time I’d smiled like that?

Dr. Clark says you smile when you talk about Penny.

But he also thought I was talking about a colleague.

Not one of my fucking students. I pushed the thought aside.

I loved teaching. But I didn’t love idle nights like this. I looked over at my empty whiteboard.

I needed something to focus on so that I wouldn’t think about Penny.

I stood up and walked over to the board.

Something. Anything. I folded my arms across my chest and stared at the blank board.

Instead of an idea popping into my head, there was nothing.

I felt as empty as the whiteboard. Completely and utterly empty.