Page 80 of Student Seduction

I let what she said sink in. “You’re not a bimbo or a gold digger, Deb. I can see that. And for what it’s worth, I think both of my parents are the happiest I’ve ever seen them.”

Her eyes shone as if tears had welled up in them. I wasn’t expecting that.

She exhaled audibly. “And you’re not a slutty teenager that seduced her teacher. Not intentionally, anyway.” She winked at me. “I saw his face when he met you at the door. He cares a great deal about you. He must. He came all this way just to say goodbye.”

“Yeah,” was all I said. It struck me that both of us were kind of clichés. The gold-digging assistant and the whore Lolita.

But those descriptions didn’t really fit either of us.

We just fell in love with someone under inconvenient, okay, really inconvenient, circumstances.

For the better part of a year, she’d been the villain in my head. But now, sitting here, both of us carrying the weight of the mistakes we’d made and the pain we’d caused, but not really regretting it, I could see that we were much more alike than I’d ever expected.

“You know, we’re really not that much different. Your dad tells me all the time that if we just got to know one another, we’d see how much we have in common.”

“I shouldn’t have judged you,” I admitted. “It was unfair to create this version of you in my head without getting to know you and giving you a chance.”

Deb’s eyes brightened and she stood. “If that was an apology, I accept.”

“It was.”

She smiled, flashing her perfect white teeth at me. “I hope we can get to know each other, Emersyn. Truly, I do. And if you ever need anything, to vent, to talk, or just some company to watch the sun come up once in a while, I’m here.”

I couldn’t explain why, but a lump formed in my throat for what felt like the tenth time that morning.

Maybe it was because for the first time in forever I felt weightless. I felt as if someone finally had my back. That I wasn’t holding up the entire world on my own shoulders.

Deb’s laid back vibe was similar to Aiden’s. She didn’t push, didn’t assert her own agenda on her hopes or expectations of me. Just offered to be there if needed. Like a safety net, or at the very least, a sounding board.

“Thank you,” I said, making eye contact in hopes she would know how much I sincerely appreciated her words. “That means a lot. Really.”

Her chest rose and fell as she sighed. “No problem. Between your dad and Ethan, I could really use some female reinforcements around here.”

I laughed. “Oh, I bet. Finally we can talk about something other than baseball.”

“I’d like that.” She squeezed my shoulder gently before she left.

As I watched her walk back inside, Aiden’s parting words played on an endless loop in my head.

Not every unknown is bad. Sometimes you just have to give hope a chance and see what happens.