Chapter Thirteen
Noah
The dining hall was busy as usual when I sat down at the far table with Kale for lunch. I let out a relieved breath when I took a large bite of burger.
“I’m surprised to see you eat things like that,” he commented, taking a bit of his own burger. “I thought you’d for sure be a health nut given what you did for a living before.”
“I’ll never get to play again,” I said, shrugging indifferently. “I might as well enjoy food and get fat like everybody else does in old age.”
Kale laughed. “That’s a good attitude to have about it. I’m guessing you not playing again had to do with your torn ACL?”
“Yeah. Torn twice. Back-to-back seasons. You know this. ” My right knee ached just thinking of it. “The team dropped me after it happened for the second time. Too much of a risk, and the doctors said I could do worse damage if it happened again. I fell, like I told you before.”
“I’ve slept between now and then.” He smirked. “That’s rough though, man. Has the dean tried to corner you into helping out?”
I scowled in response. “I’ve managed to avoid him, but he has sent me a couple of emails about helping out the team.”
“Some of the students in my class have talked about you helping out. I reminded them that you were busy with tutoring students.”
I sighed loudly. “He doesn’t take no for an answer easily, does he?”
“He’s persistent about things. You’ll get used to it over time,” Kale said, taking a sip of soda. “Any plans for spring break? I find it hard to think that you’ll be home grading papers the entire time.”
I laughed. A week long break away from grading homework and tests did sound good. I wouldn’t mind parking on the couch in front of the television for a week. I never got to do it before when I had been training in New Zealand. It felt exhilarating to have a somewhat open schedule to enjoy.
“Not sure yet,” I said. “What are your plans?”
“Going to California,” he said, grinning. “My brother lives basically on the beach. I plan to take a plane ride out there, catch some rays of sunshine, and maybe find a few ladies to enjoy. You never know what will happen.”
I caught sight of Iris entering the dining hall in a hurry. She paused to speak with another girl briefly before grabbing an apple from the fruit tray, and then promptly disappearing just as fast as she came in. It made sense how Iris kept her frame so petite. She obviously didn’t eat large meals, and I rarely saw her in the dining hall when I visited for lunch.
“You’re right. You never do know,” I said.
“You should join me,” Kale said, nudging me on the forearm. “You’d like the coast. Plus, there is an incoming snowstorm. It’ll be cold and snowy all over again.”
“Cold doesn’t bother me, but I’ll think about it. Thanks for the offer. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
We finished eating ten minutes later and dropped our trays off at the washing station before stepping out into the lukewarm afternoon.
“Think about it,” Kale said, clasping me on the shoulder. “Let me know by the end of the week if you want to go. I’m cancelling my class on Friday anyway with that storm coming through.”
“I’ll get back to you about it,” I said. “I might just take you up on the offer. I’ll see how the next few days go.”
The rest of the afternoon ticked by slowly until I released my last class of the day. I spent the next thirty minutes preparing for tutoring with Iris before finding her downstairs already seated at the table waiting for me.
“On time again,” I teased, taking a seat next to her. “I’m starting to think you must like my class and me now.”
She tried to fight off a smile, but I caught a glimpse of it as she fumbled around in her bag for her books and notepad.
“I figured being nice is one of the ways I’ll get a passing grade,” she said. “And, doing the work, too. That also counts for something.”
“Just a little bit. I’ve read the opening statement in your essay,” I said and grinned when a blush filled her cheeks. “I haven’t had time to read the entire piece yet, but you’re doing much better.”
Iris turned to look at me in a way that almost made turn away under the intensity of it.
“Which is what you wanted, right? For me to do better?”
There were a lot of things that I wanted, but I settled on the most professional answer I could think of. “Of course. You’re smart. You’re talented. You have to be open to learning about the writing craft if you want to succeed.”
“I don’t know if I even want to be a writer anymore,” she said softly. “I mean, I love reading. That’s what got me into this major, and for a while, I honestly believed that I could be a writer.”
“You can be,” I cut in, firmly. “You have the talent to do it if you’re willing to work for it. That’s all I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“How did you end up as an English professor?” she asked abruptly. “I mean, the real reason why you came here.”
I sighed inwardly, but I knew this question would come up eventually. It was only a matter of time before she asked me for the entire truth. Everyone came back from torn ACL injuries, and she knew that judging from the way she looked at me.
I just couldn’t stomach telling her the dirty, honest truth of why I had quit rugby. The only person who knew the reason was Hunter, and he knew to be quiet about it. He wisely never brought it up in conversation like others did.
“Long story short,” I said, rubbing at my aching knee, “I tore my ACL twice in back-to-back seasons. I was dropped after the second time because I was too much of a risk.”
“I read that in the articles about you,” Iris said. My heart skipped knowing that she had looked me up on the internet before dread filled me. I had no idea how much research she had done, but there were articles out there that didn’t put me in the best light. “It must’ve been painful walking away from something that you honestly loved.”
“It was at the time,” I admitted with a shrug, not willing to let my mind venture back to that day I announced retirement, “but my body meant more to me.”
“And now you get to teach brats like me for a living. Aren’t you the cool, iconic legend now?”
A genuine and teasing smile spread across her lips. I resisted the brief urge to lean in and close the gap between us to taste them. Instead, I flashed a grin in her direction.
“Yeah, and no one wants to tutor with me besides you,” I said, sighing dramatically. “I’m a real cool guy, but I think my students have a different opinion of me.”
“Oh, trust me. They have an opinion about you.”
“Like what?” I questioned, but Iris’ lips thinned into a straight line. “You can tell me. I won’t report you to the dean or whatever.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” she said, and changed the subject promptly. “What are your plans for spring break?”
I debated on pushing the subject further, but I let it go when she glanced down at the table to hide her expression.
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “I will probably stick around…grade these essays.”
“That sounds like a whole lot of fun,” she said, laughing shortly. “You don’t have anything fun planned at all?”
“Nothing planned. What are your plans?”
A shadow flashed across her face.
“I have no idea,” she said, a bit worriedly. “I planned on staying in my apartment to get caught up on all my homework, but apparently, they are using that time to fumigate the entire building. So, everyone has to be out starting this Friday evening, and I have nowhere to go.”
“You honestly have nowhere to go?” I asked, frowning. For some reason, I found that hard to believe. A majority of the time I saw Iris hanging out with her roommate, the talkative brunette, but she spoke with other students, as well, and seemed to be on good terms with a lot of people on the campus.
She shrugged helplessly. “Yep. I’ll figure it out, though. The last thing I want to do is go home to my mother’s house for the break.” Before I could ask her what was so bad about going home for break, she grabbed a hold of her notebook and books. “Do you think we could call it a day? I have a huge test to study for tomorrow before the break.”
“Sure. I understand.”
I watched as she gathered up her things with a frown, her cheerful and teasing mood already gone. An idea popped into my head, an idea that I couldn’t shove away despite a voice telling me that it was crossing that line I had been warned about several times.
“Iris, wait.”
She paused in scooting her chair back into the table and looked at me expectantly when a few seconds of silence ticked by.
“What?” she asked.
I couldn’t believe I was going to offer this, but I couldn’t stand the thought of her having nowhere to go for break. If Miles heard about it, he’d be furious with us both. He’d fire me, then expel Iris without question.
It would be worth it, though. I watched Iris chew on her lower lip in her usual nervous habit, and the impulse to draw that lower lip between my teeth rushed through me hotly.
I shook those thoughts away.
“I have a guest room in my house that is empty,” I explained. “You’re more than welcome to stay if you honestly have nowhere to go. It’s not the best place to be, in your mind, I’m sure, but it’s better than getting a hotel.”
Iris stared at me in surprise. I was even surprised by my own offer. I never once had extended out invitations for a woman to spend time at my place. It had always been hit it, quit it, and get out as quick as possible.
“Thanks,” she said softly. A smile spread across her lips. “I appreciate the offer. I’ll see you in class on Friday, then.”
“See you then,” I said, and she didn’t give me the chance to ask if her answer was a yes or no.