Page 38 of Unapologetic Obsession

I glanced at his plate. He had barely eaten the first one. “I’m full.”

“Then I’ll take you home.”

Oh, God no.

I was mortified by my actions and overactive imagination. All I wanted was to hide from him, not extend our time together. “That’s okay, I brought my car. Good night, Professor Maxwell,”I said quickly and turned on my heel, desperate to get away from him.

The universe had other plans. The break room door refused to open when I pulled on it. After a few seconds of struggling with the door, I realized I had to push to open it, not pull.

As if the night hadn’t been humiliating enough, I was now the stupid girl who couldn’t open a door in front of the smartest human being I had ever met. I felt his eyes burning a hole in my back, probably laughing at me.

With a sense of urgency, I burst through the door. When I turned to shut it, I caught him staring at me through the door lite.

It turned out that I was wrong. He wasn’t laughing at me. No, Professor Maxwell didn’t seem the slightest bit amused.

Instead, he was staring at me with such intensity that I had to consciously remind myself to keep breathing.

Chapter

Fourteen

ROSE

The warm sunraysfelt good on my face the next morning. The lively campus matched the weather, and chipper students passed out flyers for Friday night parties. It was the perfect autumn day, but no amount of sunshine could wash away the memories of my mortifying night.

I couldn’t imagine facing the research assistants today. The gossip must have gone viral after they were sent home on my account.

Chemistry 405 was bound to be the end of me.

My long hair, curled in big beachy waves, bounced loosely over my back. Thick eyeliner and pink lip gloss went with my outlandish outfit choice—a white maxi dress with a brown belt and thick wedges. I had never been so dressed up at ten in the morning, but the outfit, makeup, and hair combination made me feel like I had protective armor against what was to come.

Skipping class wasn’t an option as attendance was mandatory for my grade. The research assistants worked at the lab, so I couldn’t avoid them, either.

Then there was Professor Maxwell.

I had no idea what to make of our odd encounter. His staff probably assumed he kicked them out to deal with myinappropriate behavior. By now, they must have found out I had emerged intact from the confrontation.

Why, oh why, did I get involved in Professor Maxwell’s personal life? Our association outside of the normal student-professor dynamic had dragged me into the spotlight, and I had no tools at my disposal to navigate the public eye.

My tote bag gently brushed the side of my ribs as I drew in a long breath and walked through the lab doors with my shoulders squared. The bravado was painfully anticlimactic. The research assistants were swamped at their stations, probably making up the work they had left behind last night.When the other students arrived, they busied themselves with exchanging notes from the last lecture and conversing in low voices. No one spared me a glance…except Matt. Amid my embarrassment, I had forgotten all about running out on him and Sophie.

“Hey.” He raised his hand and grabbed the empty stool beside mine.

I nodded before glancing at the seat he had claimed. It was Amelie’s, but she hadn’t arrived yet.I looked up at his hopeful face and his all-American smile. He was perched at the edge of the stool, sitting as close to me as possible.I leaned away inconspicuously so his knees couldn’t brush against mine. Suddenly, I wished we had assigned seating.

He has been staring at you all night.

Sophie’s words matched the strong signals Matt was sending. No matter how many invisible walls I put up, he was getting increasingly aggressive with his efforts. My subtle letdowns were no longer effective.

“Where did you run off to last night?” he asked with a strained smile.

I shrugged, fishing into my tote bag for my notebook and a pen.

“I assumed it was some sort of big emergency,” he prodded.

Had he not realized I only spoke when I felt comfortable around someone? The only exception to this rule was when I was intoxicated enough not to care.

I shook my head, opening my notebook to an empty page.I lined up two pens perpendicularly and rotated them three times.