Chapter 18
Kylie
I knew this time was coming, being called to the dean’s office, but I still wasn’t prepared for it. They had called me the night before to tell me the dean wanted to see me at ten in the morning, and I didn’t sleep a wink that night. I kept running our story over in mind and had even called my mother and asked her to lie if they called. She was always so supportive, and when I told her I couldn’t explain, she let it go, trusting my judgment. They had already talked to Ben, and now it was my turn. I really hoped they didn’t push me because I was fed up with everyone and everything at that point.
“Thank you for coming down,” the dean said, taking a seat behind his desk. “You remember the provost.”
“Sir,” I said nodding in his direction.
“Can I get you some water or coffee or anything?”
“No, thank you,” I said, leaning forward. “Sir, what is this about exactly?”
“Oh, I think you know,” he replied picking up a piece of paper and sliding it across the desk.
I picked it up and stared down at the snapshot on the paper along with the quote that had been posted with it. I took in a deep breath and put it back down, knowing this was exactly where they were going to attack. They knew it was bullying, and they knew I would be sensitive about it, but there was no way I was going to lose my cool.
“You were there ten seconds before that picture was taken,” I said. “I’m not sure what you are looking for, but if you brought me here to tell me you would be investigating the student that took that photo like the school mandates you to do for every case of bullying, then I thank you.”
“Don’t get smart with me,” he said. “You would think you would be taking this seriously.”
“I am taking it seriously,” I said. “Bullying, especially cyberbullying, is one of the biggest epidemics facing today’s youth.”
“You know that picture has to do with you and your relationship to those two professors,” he said.
“And you know you have nothing proving any relationship other than they are my professors at this college,” I said.
“You’re right,” Arthur replied. “We don’t have enough evidence to get rid of you or the other two … yet. I can assure you, though, there will come a time when someone comes forward, someone you confided in or someone who saw you, and when they do, we will expel you. You won’t finish your degree and not a single reputable company out there will ever hire you.”
“Good luck with that,” I said. “Because there isn’t anything for anyone to confess.”
“No? I seriously think you know you can’t keep lying to yourself and everyone around you, including your little bestie, Piper,” the dean said.
“You leave Piper alone,” I said angrily.
“Why? Are you afraid she will tell us the truth?”
“You have no right to talk to her. She isn’t a student here, and she doesn’t know anything about any of this because nothing is going on,” I said with a raised tone. “When that student decided to slut shame me and bully me, I thought that the one place I had to protect me was this school, but it seems even our own faculty can’t tell the difference between fact or fiction.”
“I’ll expel you, and you can take those two idiots with you,” the Dean said raising his tone.
“No, sir, you won’t,” I replied. “You won’t because you don’t have the authority to fire two professors and expel a student over an innocent picture with stories that all check out. Yeah, I know you called my mother.”
“This isn’t a courtroom, my dear,” Arthur said, smiling. “We can do what is needed to keep the reputation of this school crystal like it always has been.”
“That’s right, Arthur.” The dean had the same sneer on his face. “All we really need is reason to doubt you, and from your little outburst there, I would say you have given sufficient evidence of a guilty conscience. Of course, there is one other option.”
“There sure is, Jeffrey,” Arthur said, walking over and sitting down next to me.
“We can forget all about this whole situation,” Arthur said, running his finger down my leg. “We do you a favor, and you do us one.”
“And what favor would that be?”
“Sex,” the dean said. “You fuck both of us every week until you graduate, and we will sweep this whole thing under the rug.”
Immediately, I felt like I was going to throw up. Just having Arthur next to me, the smell of sweat and whiskey coming from his suit made me want to hurl. I couldn’t believe they had suggested that I fuck them to keep myself out of trouble. I tried to keep my composure, knowing there was a much better way to handle this than exploding on them in that moment.
“I fuck both of you every week, and you don’t expel me? Or fire Grant or Ben?”
“Sure. Everyone is safe,” the Dean said.
“Can I have the weekend to think about it?”
“Sure, sure,” Arthur said, standing up and opening the door for me. “You have until Monday.”
I walked out of the office and started down the hall, stepping to the side and stopping at the sound of the door closing. I breathed heavily, feeling completely disgusted by what was just offered to me. I didn’t know whether to throw up, shower, or cry after Arthur put his fat, old fingers on my leg. I looked down at my watch for a second and turned back, watching the door to the dean’s office as I knocked quietly on Grant’s. I could hear him inside shuffling some papers and then walking over and opening up. He stared at me for a second before realizing that the look on my face was less than okay.
“Come in,” he said inviting me in.
“I hope I’m not interrupting you,” I said, suddenly feeling like crying.
“No, I was in office hours. What’s going on? Are you okay?”
I dropped my purse in the chair and immediately started to pace, something I did often when I was feeling anxious. I could feel another panic attack coming on, only the second in my life, and the second since all of this started. The whole situation was getting to me so bad that I couldn’t even think straight anymore. I walked across the room and turned, ready to make another pass through when Grant reached out and stopped me.
“Hey, calm down,” he said kindly. “Here, sit down and try to control your breathing.”
I sat down in the chair and put my head in my hands. Grant went over to his mini-fridge and grabbed a bottle of water for me and handed it over. I took a sip and closed my eyes, breathing deeply and concentrating on lowering my heart rate. I just couldn’t believe anything like this was happening. My eyes filled with tears, but this time, I couldn’t hold them back. I just let them spill down my cheeks. Grant looked helpless, but he sat next to me and wrapped me in his arms.
“Shhh,” he whispered. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. Just take a deep breath and calm yourself down.”
I shook my head and did what he said, calming myself to the movement of his chest. I had almost forgotten how much Grant and Ben made me feel safe. I was incredibly happy to be back in his arms again. I pulled back and shook my head, watching him stand and lean against his desk.
“I was called in with the dean and provost this morning. I just left their office,” I said. “They tried to get me to admit to things, and in the end, when I wouldn’t, they threatened to go after Piper, telling me they didn’t need absolute proof. They just needed to feel like the school reputation was in danger to fire you and Ben and expel me. Then they told me, and this is the worst part, they told me if I fucked both of them every week until I graduated, they would drop everything for all of us.”
“What? What the fuck?”
“I didn’t want to freak out on them and give up a chance to really nail the sons of bitches, so I asked if I could have until Monday to decide,” I said.
“Good thinking,” he said, picking up his phone. “I need Ben for a second.”
He texted Ben to come to his office and then sat down in his chair, pulling his hand to his chin and leaning back. I could see the fury in his eyes, and his hands were shaking. I looked up as Ben walked in, quickly closing the door behind him at the sight of me. His smile faded when he looked at my tear-stained cheeks.
“What’s going on?”
“I think you were right about Arthur and Jeffrey. They definitely have something going on,” Grant said angrily. “They just told Kylie that if she fucked them both every week until graduation, they would drop the whole investigation.”
“Those assholes. I knew it,” Ben said, slamming his fist into his other hand.
“Wait. You guys thought there was something going on with them?”
“Yeah,” Grant sighed. “A couple of weeks ago, I showed up for work and there was a girl outside the dean’s office crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she didn’t want to go to her weekly meeting. She was dressed very scantily. Before I could get it out of her, she bolted, running from the dean before he could come out of the office and see her.”
“Then when I was waiting to meet with him, I saw something similar.” Ben sat next to me. “There was a girl leaving the office, crying, telling them she didn’t want to do ‘this’ anymore. She was dressed provocatively as well and went running off down the hall.”
“Oh my god.” I grabbed Ben’s hand. “We have to do something.”
“I know,” Ben said, smiling. “And Grant and I have already come up with a plan to expose these douchebags. We were waiting for some more solid evidence, which you just got.”
“Don’t worry,” Grant said, seeing my face change to fear as he walked over and bent down in front of me. “We won’t let anything happen to you. We will protect you.”
“Absolutely,” Ben said, rubbing my leg.
The whole thing was really sweet and, I had to admit, turned me on quite a bit. The idea of two big, strong men waging war against the villains, protecting the damsel in distress. It was like something out of a book, and immediately, I wanted to show them my appreciation. I leaned over and gently kissed Grant on the lips, turning and doing the same with Ben. We all looked at each other for a moment before Grant leaned in and kissed my neck, his hand sliding up my leg and under the edge of my skirt. Ben leaned forward and kissed my lips again, his hand sliding up underneath my shirt and grasping my breast, massaging it gently. I gasped, feeling the heat ignite inside of me, instantly wanting more from both of them. Ben stood up as Grant pushed my legs apart, running his fingers over my wet pussy.
Ben grabbed onto his hard cock and rubbed it, watching me, our eyes locked, before turning and going to the door. He looked back at both of us, and Grant nodded, standing up and taking his office phone off the hook. I looked back at Ben as he reached up and clicked the lock shut on the door.