Page 18 of Wish You Were Mine (Kings of Eden Falls #3)

OWEN

I glanced at the clock mounted on the back wall of the lecture hall Wednesday afternoon, doing one last scan of the rows in front of me.

Still no sign of Lucy.

Good.

Maybe she dropped the class. Or switched sections.

It would be for the best.

Easier to keep my job, at least.

When the digital clock flipped to 1:00, I pushed my sleeves to my elbows and stepped toward the whiteboard.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” I said, projecting just enough to quiet the room.

“Today we’re diving into everyone’s favorite topic: stoichiometry.

Mole ratios. I know, I know…you’ve been dreaming about this since winter break. ”

A few students laughed. One guy in the second row raised a hand and deadpanned, “My favorite thing to dream about.”

“That’s the spirit.” I gave him a dry smile. “But don’t worry. By the end of the week, you’ll be solving mole-to-mole conversions in your sleep.” I uncapped my dry erase marker, and with a shrug, I added, “Or possibly having nightmares about them. It’s a toss-up.”

That earned a little more laughter. Not bad for day two.

Chairs creaked as students settled in and flipped open their notebooks. As pens started scratching against paper, I moved to the side of the board and began writing out the first reaction.

I had just started writing 2H? + O? → 2H?O —when the door at the back of the room creaked open again.

My grip on the marker paused. Just briefly.

And when I turned around, there she was.

Lucy Archibald.

Looking way too pretty as she slid into a seat near the back of the room.

She wore a red Eden Falls University Gymnastics hoodie and black leggings. Her hair was up in a loose, slightly messy bun with a few tendrils framing her face—the same hairdo she had when I kissed her in the hot tub.

Was that on purpose? An attempt to remind me of the moment that could never happen again?

No…probably not. Just because I’d been thinking about the possibility of running into her on campus the past two days didn’t mean she’d been thinking about me.

In fact, from her cool, unsmiling expression, it would seem that she was as apathetic about being here as any student could be.

She wasn’t smiling. Didn’t give any sort of recognition. Just sat, tugged her sleeve down over her hand, and pulled out a pen.

I was just beginning to wonder if maybe I’d only imagined everything that happened between us on New Year’s Eve.

Until our eyes met .

Something flickered across her expression—hesitation? Guilt? Longing?

No. Seeing any sort of longing or regret was definitely my own wishful thinking. I was reading too much into it.

Her face smoothed an instant later, and I forced myself to remember that there was absolutely nothing between us. She was just a student showing up for class. One of the many I had this semester.

I turned back to the board and forced my voice to stay steady.

“All right, quick refresher—stoichiometry is all about the math of chemical reactions. If we have two moles of hydrogen reacting with one mole of oxygen, how many moles of water do we get?”

A girl in the front row hesitated, then said, “Two?”

“Bingo. You just stoichiometrized. Welcome to greatness.”

A few chuckles. I smiled faintly, but I felt it slip too fast.

I moved through the first example problem, writing the coefficients with extra care. But I couldn’t help it. The moment I turned around to face the class again, my eyes darted back to Lucy’s seat.

She was watching me.

Not intensely. Not obviously.

Just…watching. Head tilted slightly, pen poised but not moving.

Of course she’s watching you. You’re her teacher. Students are supposed to pay attention like that in class.

Stop trying to make this into something.

I cleared my throat and gestured to the whiteboard.

“So, if we wanted to go from grams of hydrogen to grams of water, what would be the first step?”

A guy with red hair in the front row raised his hand. “Convert grams to moles? ”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Gold star. Or, more accurately, a mole of gold, if you’re lucky.”

A few students looked completely clueless.

“That’s about six hundred sextillion atoms of gold—give or take a few quadrillion.” I added, “In case anyone’s hoping to retire early.”

Which was followed by a few groans.

Okay, rough crowd.

Which made sense. Most of these students were probably like Lucy and only taking this class for the required science credit.

I grabbed the eraser and wiped the board down, forcing myself to focus.

Just teach the dang class, Owen. Stop trying to be the fun professor.

I moved into the next example and kept talking, kept teaching, but every few minutes my eyes couldn’t help but flick to the back of the room—like a reflex I couldn’t resist.

Lucy was still there. Still watching.

And no matter how many jokes I cracked or equations I solved, the burn in my chest wouldn’t fade.

The student I’d kissed— in a freaking hot tub —was staying in the class.

Which meant everything had just gotten a whole lot harder.

And if I wanted to make it through the semester with my job and my dignity still intact, I’d better shut down any feelings I’d let spark before I knew who she was.

Fast.

“So, how’s the online dating thing going, anyway?” Ian leaned back on the couch and gave me a once-over, the kind only a smug, happily engaged man could pull off.

We were camped out in his living room after dinner—Maddie’s homemade chicken enchiladas still sitting warmly in my stomach. Maddie had disappeared upstairs a few minutes ago, tucking in Grant for the night, leaving us with a few minutes of guy talk.

“You on your way to locking down a plus-one for the wedding?”

“For a wedding that’s not till June?” I snorted. “Yeah…no. I definitely haven’t found anyone I see myself with five months from now.”

“I thought you had a few dates lined up, though?”

“I went on a couple of dates in December,” I said, thinking of the girl I’d taken to dinner and the one I’d awkwardly escorted to her company’s Christmas party. “But nothing came from them.”

“Ah, dang.” Ian scratched his jaw. “You been matching with anyone, at least? You said it’s just a numbers game, right?”

“That’s what I’ve been telling myself.” I shrugged. “Sadly, though, it’s easier said than done.”

“Well, I guess you could always do what I did.” Ian grinned. “Kiss a random girl at the club, then find out she’s your assistant the next Monday. Worked for me.”

It sure did. Lucky dog.

“Yeah…” I hesitated, then laughed under my breath and rubbed the back of my neck. “I, uh…actually did something like that already.”

“What?” He furrowed his brow.

“Yeah, so, crazy story.” I let out a humorless chuckle. “I kissed a girl at Ky’s New Year’s Eve party and well…when I sh owed up to teach my class on Monday, I discovered that the girl I’d kissed in a hot tub is actually a student.”

“No way.” His eyes went wide. “You’re joking, right?”

“I wish I was.”

“Dude.”

“Oh, it gets better.” I held up a finger. “Turns out she’s Theo’s sister.”

Ian blinked. “Theo has a sister in college?”

“Yeah,” I said. “She’s actually on the gymnastics team.”

“Nice,” Ian said, looking like he was mentally running through every gymnast stereotype imaginable. “I never dated a gymnast…”

“Don’t go there.” I gave him a flat look. Since yeah…I’d been trying to keep my brain from going there myself.

“Hey, I’m a happily engaged man.” He held up his hands, grinning. “I was just thinking of the perks for you , buddy.”

“She’s only twenty-one,” I said. “And there’s also the fun little complication that I could get fired for having a romantic relationship with a student. Not to mention the fact that her dad is President Archibald.”

“Oh shoot.” Ian’s jaw dropped, like he was only just realizing how bad that could be for me.

“Exactly.”

“If that gets out?—”

“I’m screwed,” I finished for him. “Career-ending levels of screwed.”

“Dang.” He let out a low whistle. “And I thought things were complicated when Maddie turned out to be my assistant. But at least my livelihood wasn’t on the line.”

“Yeah.” I released a heavy sigh, feeling the stress of my situation all over again.

“But it was just a kiss, right? It’s not like you did anything after that, did you? ”

“We only kissed on New Year’s Eve,” I said. “We’ve only had two class sessions since I found out. But after the initial oh-crap conversation, we haven’t interacted at all.”

I remembered the way she’d come in late this afternoon and then was the first to leave. She clearly didn’t want anything to do with me.

Which was…for the best.

Smart.

Prudent.

And yet…

Ian shook his head, still chuckling to himself. “I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about any of that anymore.”

“Yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “Lucky you.”

At that moment, Maddie walked into the room after coming back downstairs, her expression soft. “Why is Ian lucky?”

“Because I have you,” Ian said smoothly, opening his arms like the smug, lovesick fiancé he was.

“Pretty sure I’m the lucky one,” she said, plopping down beside him and kissing his cheek.

Ugh. This domesticated version of Ian was just so disgustingly…sweet.

I was so jealous.

“Anyway, just…don’t tell anyone, okay?” I let out a heavy sigh and scrubbed a hand through my hair. “I just got this job, and I’d really hate to get fired right when I’m getting started.”

The words hit harder than I meant them to.

Because I wasn’t exaggerating. I’d dreamed of this position.

Fought for it. And now, with the dean hinting I could be promoted to a research professorship next year—if my grant came through—the idea of losing everything because of one stupid, perfect kiss… Yeah, it made my stomach twist .

“What are we not telling anyone?” Maddie asked, looking between Ian and me with a confused expression.

“Oh, just a little romantic mishap with a girl he didn’t realize was a student,” Ian said with a chuckle. “You know, fun stuff like that.”

“Wait.” Maddie’s blue eyes lit up. “You kissed a student?”

“Yes.” I groaned, dropping my head into my hands. “And no, I didn’t know she was a student at the time.”

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Ian said, shooting Maddie a grin, thankfully saving me from having to relive the story again. “She’s actually Theo’s little sister.”

“Oh, I love Theo,” Maddie said, smiling warmly.

Ian’s jaw ticked as he looked down at her. “Well, he was still the inferior option.”

“Relax.” Maddie laughed and smacked his arm. “I’m just teasing.”

Their banter made me smile, but the mention of Theo brought a sudden realization slamming into me.

Crap.

I’d completely forgotten about my conversation with Theo at The Garden a couple of weeks ago. The one where we’d floated the idea of a double date at the gymnastics meet this Saturday.

Yeah…that suddenly felt like a terrible idea.

I pulled out my phone and fired off a quick text.

Me: Hey man, I totally spaced. I haven’t found a date for Saturday after all. Gonna have to cancel our double date.

I hesitated, then added:

Me: Sorry. First week of the semester is kicking my butt .

Sliding the phone back into my pocket, I pushed up from the couch. “I should probably head out. Thanks again for dinner. It was great.”

Ian stood and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Of course. Anytime.”

Maddie gave me a warm smile as she got up, too. “It was great to see you again, Owen.”

“You too.” I grabbed my coat from the tree in the corner and shrugged it on. As I opened the front door, I paused. “And I’m sure this goes without saying, but if you could keep my kiss with Theo’s sister just between us…that would be great.”

“Of course,” Maddie said immediately.

Ian grinned. “Theo who?”

Maddie playfully smacked his chest. “Stop.”

They walked me to the porch, and I stepped out into the chilled night air, pulling my coat tighter around me. I hit the button on my keys to start my car, watching the headlights blink in the driveway.

As I climbed inside and waited for the heat to kick in, my phone buzzed.

Theo: Oh no worries. I haven’t gotten a date yet, either.

I relaxed slightly.

Me: We’ll have to try again some other time.

Theo: Or we could still hang out at the meet. Just skip the double date part.

I considered that.

Honestly, it would be good to hang out with Theo more. We’d been casual friends for years, and now that Ian was all settled down with Maddie and Grant, having a solid buddy in town sounded like a win.

Me: Sure, that would be great.

But then, Theo shot back another text.

Theo: Great. My family usually sits in the seats beneath the donor box, so we can sit near them since they were already hoping to see Charlotte.

Oh. Crap.

I slumped back in my seat, staring at the dash as the windshield finally started to defrost.

Sitting with his parents? Watching Lucy perform?

While pretending I didn’t already know what she tasted and felt like?

Yeah…that was definitely not a relaxing way to spend my Saturday evening.

But I’d already agreed.

It would be suspicious if I tried to back out now.

So instead, I closed my eyes, exhaled, and added one more thing to the growing list of reasons why that midnight kiss with Lucy Archibald had been a terrible, terrible idea.