Chapter 16

Kendal

The flight home was a bit of a blur after staying up most of the night before making love to Dana. The way she took me left me wanting to promise her the world, but I held my tongue. We would be together soon no matter how it happened. I could be mature enough in our new relationship to take things day by day. That was the only way Damon and Bethany were surviving.

It would work for us too.

I left her and Jackie at the airport in Dallas and spent the rest of the evening lying around my place, reliving the weekend in my head. Monday morning couldn't come fast enough. At least by being busy, I could force myself to think about something other than being drastic and leaving UT. Having her in my life left me wanting to consider all the possible options to us moving forward. I felt like a basket case by the time the alarm went off Monday morning.

I showered quickly and changed into a pair of slacks and a pressed button down shirt before heading to the campus on my bike. It wasn't exactly frowned upon, but I knew it would do me no favors with the students or the faculty. Everyone could bite it as far as I was concerned. I needed to feel alive more than I needed acceptance.

After locking up the bike behind the business building in the faculty lot, I walked as if I had purpose toward my office. It was the best way to keep people at bay. Just look busy or occupied in thought.

I made it to my office without being bothered, which was a miracle of sorts.

Someone cleared their throat just outside my door and caused me to turn from staring at my bookshelf.

"Dr. Turner. How are you?" I offered her a warm smile and nodded to the chair across from my desk. "Come on in. Make yourself at home."

"Eliza, please." She pulled the chair toward her and sat down gracefully. The older woman could be my mother and yet I considered her a dear friend and the only mentor I truly had.

"Now, just a minute." I tapped my lips and pretended to be lost in thought. "I'm pretty sure you told me to call you Dr. Turner the last time we spoke."

"Must have been someone else." She shrugged and gave me a quirky smile. "Tell me that you finally spoke with Mark about this situation you've been dealing with."

"No." I sat down in my chair and leaned back. "I really don't want to start anything, Eliza. Heather hasn't been around much, and I think I've earned a little bit of sympathy because of my sister passing."

"Right, well, I'm so sorry about your sister. Several of us came to the funeral, but didn't want to bother you in the middle of your grief."

"Thank you. I appreciate the support." I clasped my hands and laid them on top of my desk. "Mark is actually asking me to draw closer to Heather, which I don't plan to do."

Her voice dropped as her eyes narrowed. "Draw closer, how?"

"We're co-sponsoring Beta Alpha Psi, which is honestly the last thing I need to do. Their president is a bit of a..." I searched for the right word seeing who was sitting in front of me. Being vulgar was out.

"A skank." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Neither of you need to be involved in BAP. It's time consuming and you've just lost your sister and Heather is brand new. What was the purpose in that?"

Her frustration was palpable, and I couldn't help but wonder where it was coming from. Had something else happened that had her on edge? There were always school politics running amuck, fucking up everyone’s plans, but she seemed a little too sensitive for her usually calm demeanor.

"Heather's father has some additional funds that I believe he's looking at spending in the world of academia. I think the business school dean is putting pressure on Mark to make sure they are spent here. Part of that is keeping Heather happy."

"And he wanted you to do that?" Her expression tightened as her cheeks burned pink. "That's absurd!"

"Hey..." I tilted my head to the side and studied her. "What's going on with you? You seem way more on edge than usual. Did something happen? What did I miss?"

She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh before pressing her hands to her face. "I just feel like everything is falling apart. I should have taken the dean position last year when they asked me to, but I didn't want the burden of working so goddamn much. And now... ugh."

"And now, what? You can't keep worrying about me and Heather. I'm going to work all of it out, Eliza. I'm a smart guy."

"It's not about you being smart, Kendal." She glanced up. "I had lunch with Daisy Jackson last week. I wanted to know why the hell she just upped and quit. She was a great professor, and between me and you, a good friend."

"And?" I glanced up as Heather moved into the doorway behind Eliza. "Morning, Heather."

Eliza stiffened and smiled before getting up. "Well, I still think you should take some time for yourself, Kendal. It's a lot to put on anyone... even you."

"Thank you." I stood up, wishing like hell that she wouldn’t go. I wanted to know what happened with Daisy and why she was so fired up. "I'll come see you later?"

"Yes. If you can catch me around." She moved around Heather without a word and walked out into the hallway.

"I don't think the old bat likes me." Heather shrugged and moved to stand in front of my desk. She leaned over and pressed her balled up fists to my desktop, opening her blouse beautifully for anyone who might want to see what she looked like under her clothes.

"She's a good woman. She's just got a lot going on. Don't call her names." I turned my back to her and worked to pull the rest of my papers from my briefcase.

"Oh. I hit a nerve."

"What did you need?" I forced a calm into my voice that I didn't at all feel.

"There's a BAP event on Wednesday afternoon. I think we should both be there."

"That seems a little inefficient." I glanced over my shoulder. "It's an extra-curricular activity."

"And it's the best and brightest in our programs. Mark agrees that we should be at something together. Just once at least."

"All right." I turned back around and closed my eyes as I pretended to fumble through my things. "We'll meet up at the event and stand in the background together."

"How was your weekend away? Where did you go again?" Her voice was getting louder, which meant she was moving closer.

I turned to find her standing in the tight space between me and my desk. "It was fine. Can you go back to the other side of the desk? I really don't need people speculating what's up between us."

"We're both single, Kendal. What would it matter?" She pressed her fingers into my chest and dragged them slowly toward my waist.

“I’m not single, and you’re aware of that.”

“I think you’re lying.” She shrugged, as if I gave a shit what she thought.

I gripped her hand and narrowed my eyes a little. "I'm more than willing to help you with your career, with any issues you have with students, with lesson plans or to run this silly honors fraternity, but I'm not interested in anything else you have to offer."

"Why didn't you tell Mark that I was hitting on you? Scared that I would flip the story the other way?" The glimmer in her eye said that she would do exactly that. I wouldn't have been surprised if she hadn't already won Mark over in more ways than one. Where he was a married man with another baby on the way, he certainly seemed like the type that would welcome the advances of a beautiful woman like Heather.

What was the story on Daisy that Eliza was going to share? Did something happen that pushed her out of her position at UT? The position that Heather ended up scoring though there were a good handful of applicants that had been promised an interview if anyone in the department left.

What the fuck was going on?

"I'm just not interested in drama of any sort. If you knew me at all, you'd know that." I moved around her and picked up a packet of tests for my next class. "I gotta run. I'd rather not leave you in here to dig around. I don't exactly trust you."

She put her hand on her heart and gave me a wounded look. "That hurts. After everything we've been through."

"You know..." I moved to the door and held it open for her. "For a beautiful woman like yourself who could get anyone you wanted, you sure are wasting a lot of time that could be spent investing in a good relationship. Youth is fleeting. You're not going to look this good forever."

She snorted and walked past me, stopping to close the gap between us. The tight grip she had on my balls was almost pleasurable. Too bad it was the wrong woman clinging to the front of me.

"Don't insult me. I know you're up to something."

"Am I?" I licked at my lips, not wanting to let her think she was getting anywhere with me, but wanting her to feel the deep sting of rejection that was headed her way.

"Yes. You would never have denied me before. I don't know who you think you're falling for, but she's a waste of your time. You know as well as I do that you and I... we're going to be together."

I reached down and tugged her hand from my crotch. "Is that how you shake hands with all the boys? No wonder you're so popular."

"Keep it up, Kendal." She moved back as her face turned into a mask of anger. "I don't have a problem bringing you down to your knees if it means getting what I want."

"And what is it exactly that you want?" I adjusted myself and held her attention. "Because if it's what I think you're after, they sell them in varying sizes at the sex shop down the street. Big ones for girls like you who need a little extra tension after years of taking it so good."

"I don't want your dick. I want your heart." She shrugged and turned to walk down the hall. "And I intend to get it. No matter what."

"Good luck, toots." I walked back into my office and ignored the sickening feeling in my stomach. Eliza was right. I needed to go to Mark and tell him what the fuck was happening. That sounded like a great idea before I started to get the uncanny feeling that maybe I wasn't seeing all sides of the picture. Mark had been pushing me closer and closer to Heather. There was something to be said about that.

I just wasn't sure what it was yet.