Page 13 of Snowed in with the Professor

I shut my bedroom door, leaned against it, closed my eyes, and lay my head back on the wood.

As soon as I’d come home, I’d guzzled a gallon of water and rushed directly to the shower.

I’d hoped the heat and steam would help me feel a little better, but being so unused to drinking had really kicked my ass.

My heart was hammering, and my headache was still going strong.

All I could do was keep reliving everything Seth had told me. God, it seemed so odd pronouncing his name. He’d always just been Professor Baldwin to me, and those two words combined together, spilling from my mouth, felt appropriate.

Saying his first name felt extraordinarily personal, erotically intimate, as if we were closer than we really were. But then again that’s exactly what he wanted.

All the things he’d told me had been obvious. He wanted me as his, only his and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Not that I would’ve declined.

I was just puzzled, overwhelmed. I wanted him, had for longer than I could possibly acknowledge.

Although all I wanted to do was go to sleep, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and dialed Alexis’s number. I’d put her off long enough.

She picked up on the first ring, and her quick sigh told me I’d ticked her off. I couldn’t blame her though.

“Hey,” I said a bit sheepishly. I sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off my shoes, wiggling my toes about and shutting my eyes.

“She lives,” she cynically mocked. “You do realize how scared you made me just ghosting like that? How nervous I was?” She had the tone of a disapproving mother.

“I shouldn’t have just left, but I did text you.”

She snorted.

“I’m sorry.”

“What in the hell happened? You got that intoxicated off one drink?” Before I could answer, she was talking again. “You know what, don’t answer that. I know your tolerance and I should’ve known better.”

“Yeah, that one drink really messed with my head. And I didn’t eat so it made things ten times worse.”

“You’re feeling okay now?”

I grumbled and she laughed. “That answer your question?”

She laughed again. “Yeah, those Long Islands are potent. Sorry about that.”

I lifted my hand up and stroked the side of my head, my eyes still closed, my head still hammering.

The aspirin had helped a little bit, but what I truly wanted was to sleep.

“Listen, I’m gonna try and get rid of this hangover, but do you want to do dinner tonight at my place? Maybe a movie and pizza?”

She was quiet for a minute as if she were thinking it over. “You got ice cream?”

I chuckled, which only made my head feel worse, but I couldn’t resist smiling. “Yup. You can pick which one you want.”

“It’s a date then,” she added. She talked a little bit about her night with Craig, but after a few moments I had to get off the phone because the hammering in my brain was just too painful.

I set my phone on the bedside table and lay down, grabbing a blanket and pulling it up to my chin. I was a lightweight, and this was embarrassing. As I lay there drifting off to sleep, the thing that kept running in my head on a loop was how Professor Baldwin informed me I was his.

I needed to talk to Alexis about this, to confide in her. I wanted her advice on what the hell to do.

But just now, I needed to rest and sleep this off. Maybe when I woke up, things will be clearer.

* * *

The sound of banging roused me from a foggy slumber. I opened my eyes, a hazy pinkness filling my room. The noise ceased, and I was about to go back to sleep when my phone went off, the ringing irritating on a normal day but overwhelming right now.

I instinctively reached for my phone. My vision took a time to clear, but then I saw Alexis’s face on the screen.

I then observed the time, as it was already five in the evening.

I didn’t know how I’d managed to sleep so long, but it didn’t matter because in this moment I’d been a pretty lousy buddy.

I answered the phone on the fifth ring. “I’m coming. I’m sorry.”

I flung the blanket away and left my room, headed toward the front door. I was still kind of drowsy, but at least my headache was gone. I opened the door and peered at Alexis, who looked less than happy.

She stood on the other side of the door with a pizza box in one hand and a large paper bag tucked under her arm.

She lifted a perfectly arched dark eyebrow, the corner of her mouth kicking up in a smile, and her gaze scanning over me.

Then she whistled under her breath. “Damn girl, you’re looking rough. ”

I lifted my hand and brushed my fingers over my hair. I had no doubt I looked a flaming mess. “Yeah, won’t even argue with you on that.”

I stepped aside and let her in. She was already talking about another date she has tomorrow with Letterman Craig.

“Wait, so like, it’s getting serious with this guy?”

She opened the pizza box and picked out a piece, taking a bite and shrugging yet smiling at the same time. “I mean, he’s growing on me,” she added between a bite of pizza. She dropped the slice back in the box and reached in the paper bag for a six-pack of pop. “Anything good on Netflix?”

I pulled a chair out at the kitchen table and sat, pulling one of my legs up so I could put my foot on the chair.

I shrugged, more curious about how things were going with Craig and a lot of issues I wanted to chat to her about related my night. “A mystery might be a good fit for tonight.” The grin on her face had me giggling.

“Hey, Craig isn’t that bad.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t talking about you and Craig.” I took a long breath, knowing that I just needed to get this off my chest. “What I told you happened last night didn’t really go that way.”

She was mid-bite on a piece of pizza when she stopped, this look on her face indicating me she was instantly piqued.

“What happened to you last night? I assumed you caught an Uber and headed home?”

“Yeah, about that.” I moistened my lips and started plucking at the edge of the table, scared that I was actually saying this out loud, but also confessing that I had lied to her.

I knew she’d understand, but my bewilderment, the small amount of fear of the scenario had this reluctance setting in me. It had me holding things to myself for far too long. But I hadn’t imagined there was a chance with Professor Baldwin … not until now.

“Gracie, you’re kind of freaking me out. What happened?” She pulled a chair out, the legs scraping over the linoleum floor.

She sat down and pushed the box away so it wasn’t between us anymore. I felt her eye on me and knew that I’d open myself up and just be absolutely honest. I had to be.

I could see the worry on her face, and I hated that I was putting it there. So, I took a huge breath in and basically told her the truth. “At the club, there was a guy getting pretty handsy with me. Like he wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

“What?” She sounded horrified. “God, Grace. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to kick him in the balls.”

I grinned and shook my head. “No, the crowd was too thick, and he was drunk. Hell, I was feeling the alcohol too.” I had my hands in my lap and smoothed them over my legs.

“Anyway, before I knew what was happening…” My heart raced.

I didn’t know why I was so frightened telling Alexis this.

“Professor Baldwin was standing right there, pulling him off me.”

Her eyebrows were pushed down, and bewilderment filled her expression. And then her eyes widened. “Professor Baldwin? As in our Professor Baldwin from class?”

I nodded and licked my lips. It would only get stranger from here for her, I was sure.

“Alexis, Professor Baldwin wrapped his hand around his neck and said something to him, something that scared the hell out of the guy who’d been grinding up on me.

” My throat felt so constricted, the words coming from me strangely foreign. “Like he all but ran out of there.”

“Oh my God,” Alexis murmured gently.

We sat there for a long minute in quiet, the weight of what I’d just uttered hanging between us. It sounded frightening, I knew that, but the reality was, seeing Seth manage a man who wouldn’t take no for an answer had made me feel something powerful, delightful.

“What happened after that?” She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Like, I can’t even imagine Professor Baldwin in a club let alone handling your would-be assaulting asshole.

” She whistled under her breath, and although I thought she would be terrified by what I’d just said, she appeared almost …

delighted. “Wish I would’ve been there to see him kick the asshole in the nuts. ”

I looked down at my hands, which were curled together on my lap. “That’s not even all of it,” I finally muttered as I gazed back up at her. She lifted a brow and leaned forward, obviously extremely curious.

“Well, if this is going where I think it’s going, you have my full attention.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sex, yeah, that’s a no-go. But he did take me back to his place.” Alexis sucked in a breath. “That one drink had really fucked me up.”

“God, Gracie, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten you that drink.”

I waved off her concern. “It was so not your fault, so don’t go there.” I grinned. “I woke up this morning in his bed, with him making me breakfast.”

“Um, what the fuck?” She sounded amazed. “He was making you breakfast?”

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s almost like he tucked me in, made sure I was safe, and then left me alone.” I knitted my brows, a part of me thankful he’d done that, but another part wishing I’d woken up right next to him, his body wrapped around mine.

“So, he brought you to his house to sleep off being drunk, let you stay in his bed alone, and then made breakfast for you in the morning?” I nodded. She leaned back again. “Huh. What was he doing at the club to begin with?”

“Well, that’s the thing.” I didn’t know why I was so scared, but saying these things out loud to another person was frightening. “He said he was there because of me.”

The thickness in the room became almost unbearable. “He’d overheard us talking about going there when you were at the coffee shop with Craig.”

A perplexed glance crossed her face. “He was at the coffee shop?”

I nodded. She kept silent for a minute as if she were thinking over what I’d just said, rehearsing it in her head over and over.

“So, he’s been stalking you?” Her eyes widened as if that very thought was insane.

I supposed it was, but a part of me actually appreciated the notion he’d been so infatuated with me that he couldn’t stay away. “I don’t know if stalking is the right word. Looking out for me? He wanted to make sure I was, okay?”

She snorted. “Um, no, sounds like stalking, just worded differently. I mean, I’m thrilled he was there, but it’s kind of weird that he followed us. Don’t you think?”

I didn’t answer, because I could see it from her point of view. But she also didn’t know my innermost secret. She also didn’t know the remainder of what Seth had told me.

“I feel like there’s more to the story you’re maybe not telling me?”

I nodded. “Yeah, a little bit more.” I took a deep breath.

Little was such a broad description when it came to this.

“Well, when I sat with him at the table eating breakfast, he told me that he’d wanted me for a long time, that I was his and he wasn’t going to walk away.

He stated he was done waiting.” The silence in the room was deafening, heavy, and I felt like it was hands wrapped around my throat, squeezing.

“Um,” was all Alexis managed to say.

The look Alexis gave me was of disbelief, her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. She closed her mouth, opened it again, however no words came out.

“I love him, Alexis. I’ve been in love with him but kept it to myself.” I felt my cheeks heat after I admitted my deepest secret.

“You love him? As in you’re in love with our professor?”

I nodded, not speaking.

“Grace, you realize that being with a professor in that capacity is like a huge crossing-the-line kind of thing, right?”

I nodded.

“And he’s like so much older than you. He’s at least in his mid-thirties.

You’re not yet twenty-one. You’re alright with the age gap?

You’re comfortable with the fact he looks incredibly possessive of you, enough to follow you to the club and almost strangle a guy that was grinding on you?

” She held up her hands. “Although maybe I kind of love Professor Baldwin for doing the latter.”

I could have laughed at that, but this moment was too serious, too depressing. “Yeah, I am okay with that.” My voice was heavy with emotion.

My heart was racing a mile a minute, my palms were sweaty, and my tongue felt thick. I’d never uttered these words out loud to anyone, not even to myself. Yet here I was, knowing that there was no going back. Seth wanted me, and he wasn’t going to walk away. And that’s just what I wanted.

“I mean this is a no-turning-back kind of thing, Gracie.”

“I know,” I muttered.

Why couldn’t I have what I desired? Why couldn’t I get what I deserved? The man I loved wanted me, and darn it, I wasn’t going to turn that down even if it was against the rules. Even if it was regarded crossing lines.

“I hope you’re sure of what you’re doing,” Alexis added softly.

“Me too.”

She reached out and took hold of my hand. “But I’m here for you, always, okay?”

I grinned and nodded.

“And I want you to be able to confide in me about anything, even when our professor wants to make you his … everything, apparently.” Her eyes widened, and I did laugh then.

“This is a little crazy, isn’t it?”

“A little,” she responded and chuckled. “But it’ll make one hell of a story one day, right?”

I nodded, hoping she was right.

“How about we forget about this for right now and dig into that ice cream and watch some Netflix?”

“Sounds perfect.” Leave it to Alexis to make it seem like things would be good, even if it was only for tonight and comprised of a sugar overload and a rom-com.