Page 47 of Never Let Go (Forbidden #1)

Chapter Forty-Seven

LAUREN

I get back to the dorm room after nearly begging Brad to get me out of there. It wasn’t my finest hour, but I needed to regroup and think. Pushing through the door I see Sydney’s still up.

“Hey girl, how did it go?” she asks, not looking away from the TV. Syd’s heavily into Criminal Minds at the moment, I keep teasing her that she’s a stalker in the making.

“Erm…”

She must sense something in my tone as she glances up at me.

I try to keep my features neutral, but I’m guessing by the way she nearly vaults off the sofa and comes rushing over to me, I fail miserably.

Sydney pulls me into a bone crushing hug and I lose it.

I burst into tears, sobbing on her shoulder.

I don’t know how long we stand there for with me gripping onto her for dear life and her stroking my hair, alternating between shushing me like a baby and telling me everything’s going to be okay .

Once I’ve calmed down slightly, Sydney pulls away, gently taking my face between her hands, and wiping away the tears.

“You gonna tell me what’s got you all worked up like this?” she gently asks. Sydney isn’t one to mince her words but I think even she can tell I’m about two seconds away from a mental breakdown and to tread carefully.

I laugh. “Where do I start?” Drawing back, I wipe my eyes and sit on the sofa, my head in my hands. “I fucked up, Syd.”

She sits opposite me, curling her feet under her. “I’m sure it’s not that bad, Lo,” she says.

I lift my head up and look her in the eye as I mutter, “I’ve been sleeping with my English professor.”

Sydney’s quiet for a second before saying, “Yeah okay, that’s bad.”

I throw myself against the couch and lean my head back.

“I’m gonna need a bit more here, Lo. I get sleeping with your professor is bad, but to this extent?” she questions.

I think about how much to tell her and how much not to tell her, but after lying to her for so long, I’m tired.

Tired of the lies. Tired of sneaking around.

Just so. Damn. Tired. I start taking my hair out of the butterfly grip, trying to buy myself time before I either get the lecture of my life or I fuck up even more and potentially put Sydney at risk.

I run a hand through my hair before speaking, not entirely sure what’s about to come out of my mouth—another lie or the truth. “Professor Anderson and I have been dating for months, in secret.”

Sydney sits up, exclaiming, “Wait? Professor McHotStuff?”

“Sydney,” I groan out.

She puts her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, not the point. But seriously though? McHotStuff?” She wiggles her eyebrows and for the first time since all this shit started, I laugh .

“Yes, Syd. McHotStuff.”

“ Damn .” She drags the word out in what I think is shock but mostly sounds like awe. She waves a hand in the air and says, “Continue.”

I roll my eyes at her. “How magnanimous of you.”

“Just get to the good stuff, because there’s good stuff, right?” She raises an eyebrow at me.

“There’s been plenty of good stuff.” I sigh as I continue, “One of the things I didn’t tell you about is this weird feeling I’ve been having. Like I’m being watched.” Sydney’s smile drops from her face and she leans towards me.

“It’s been going on for a while and I thought that it was just my imagination.” I shrug. “But tonight, at the party, the dean… I don’t know… manhandled me? Into his office?—”

Sydney gasps, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “No, Lauren?—”

“Nothing like that, Syd,” I rush out before she gets the wrong idea. “He manhandled me, told me that he’d been watching me for a while. That he knew about me and Caleb and if I don’t want to lose my scholarship and for Caleb to lose his job, then I need to do as he says.”

I didn’t realize that the tears had started again until Sydney comes and sits next to me, handing me a box of tissues.

“That fucking bastard,” she exclaims. “I’m going to kick that dickhead, right in?—”

I cut her off, grabbing her arm. “Sydney. No. You can’t say anything. He explicitly said that it had to stay between us. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this, I could be putting you in danger.” I sob harder at the thought of anything happening to my best friend, my sister.

“Fine. But we need to do something about this, Lo. I don’t give a shit who he is, he can’t go around threatening people.” I love Sydney, but angry Sydney? She’s in a league of her own and I wouldn’t want to mess with her .

She gets up and starts pacing around, one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead—her thinking pose.

“Have you told McHotStuff?” she asks.

“No, I literally came straight here after getting out of the dean’s house.”

Sydney snaps her fingers and I know that what she’s about to say is either going to be a genius idea or is going to get us into a world of trouble.

“Do you trust me?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I do… just as long as we don’t end up in jail like that time in Mexico.” I cock an eyebrow at her, my lip quirking up in a small smirk.

Sydney claps her hands together. “Right, here’s what we’re gonna do.”