Grant sighed and stared at the wall of his classroom. The students were all taking a test with their heads down. It’d been two weeks since he’d broken up with Kristen, and he hadn’t heard another word.

She’d made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him, and his class felt strangely empty without her.

His entire life felt empty without her.

He knew it’d be best to give her some time, and now that he’d thought about it more, he couldn’t expect her to be back in class so soon. In a way, he was relieved she hadn’t been there. He wouldn’t be able to look at her.

And the whole time knowing she carried his baby.

He couldn’t get her pregnancy out of his mind. He felt horrible about what he’d said to her on the phone, and he wished there was a way he could take it back.

It was ridiculous to accuse her of something like that, but he’d been so caught up in the moment. He needed to wait for her to calm down some more and then step up and handle things once they’d both processed everything for a while.

If she was going to keep this baby, then he owed it to her to take care of the kid, even if it was from a distance.

Even that thought crushed him. How could he expect her to bear the burden alone? Money could only do so much. He would want to be in the child’s life. She’d probably want nothing to do with him. In fact, she’d been pretty clear on the matter. But he had rights. He wanted to know his child, and love his child, even if its mother didn’t.

He’d always thought he’d make a good dad.

Was she going to drop out of school? It would be a long shot for her to finish college as a single mother with no support, let alone be able to go after her dreams.

He was a selfish monster who’d put his needs above hers.

He didn’t have to do what he did. He could have told himself no, should’ve kept her at arm’s length.

He should’ve poured himself another drink at home instead of yanking her out of that bar. It would have been far better than causing her to hate him and drop of out of school.

Had it all been horrible, though? It hadn’t all been bad. They’d had so many good times, and he’d been happier than he’d been in a long time. Grant knew he loved her, he just hadn’t had the courage to admit it to himself. At first, it was just raging hormones, but he’d settled in and gotten to know her. He never wanted to be with anyone else after that.

He lifted his phone from the desk, debating on whether it would be a good idea to call her after class. He didn’t know what she would say, or if she’d even answer. He just wanted to hear her voice.

A light knock at the door jolted him from his thoughts, and he looked up, along with the rest of the class. It was Kristen’s roommate, Stefani. The students’ heads all shifted back down to their quizzes.

“Can I help you?”

He fought the urge to run over to her and beg her for information. Stefani walked down to his desk. She had a file in her hand and held it out to him.

“What am I looking at?”

“Can you sign these?” She stared around the room and kept her voice at a whisper.

Grant took the file, and opened it, scanning the contents.

“This is a drop form? What do you need me to sign it for? You’re not in my class.”

“It’s not for me.” She leaned over. “Kristen’s leaving school. She sent me for obvious reasons.” Stefani crossed her arms and stared daggers at him.

Fuck, she knows.

Something about Stefani’s presence, and her stare, turned his veins to ice.

He tried to keep his voice down, even though he could see Bailey Ferguson leaning in trying to listen. “How’s she doing?”

“She said not to discuss anything with you.”

Grant wondered if that was true or if she was just protecting her friend. Part of him was hurt, another part hoped that it was the latter.

“When is she leaving?” He scribbled his name across the paperwork.

“I told you already. She said not to discuss anything.” Stefani rolled her eyes.

It was clear he wasn’t going to get any information out of her, no matter how hard he tried.

He just wanted the girl out of his class as quickly as possible. But, after she got the papers back, she didn’t leave. She walked up and then stood in the doorway, stone cold and silent, watching him with the same icy expression as when she walked into the room.

She had every right to be angry in defense of her friend, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but get pissed about the way she glared. She just stood there, shaking her head in disgust.

He already felt horrible. He didn’t need some nineteen-year-old student judging him.

She didn’t understand his position. She didn’t know where he was coming from. She’d only heard half the story. All she knew was what Kristen had told her, and he was sure it wasn’t sympathetic to him at all. She didn’t know the big picture.

The thoughts ran through his mind as he sat there and graded papers.

“Thanks.” She finally headed out the door.

“Have a nice day.” He knew it was childish and immature, but he was going to get the last word. This was his fucking classroom, after all, and he might’ve made mistakes, but he wasn’t going to have a student give him shit in his own room.

Stefani, it seemed, wasn’t afraid to be disrespectful to anyone.

Her middle finger shot up as she left, right as the class all turned to see what was going on. Apparently, she didn’t give a fuck if any of them were staring at her or not.

Part of his brain told him this shit was all a dream. It had to be a nightmare. None of this was really happening.

Everything had changed now. Signing the papers felt so—final. Like he was signing his life away. Now, knowing that Kristen was going to leave for home or another school, he would be all alone, wondering what would’ve happened to her for the rest of his life.

Pure, agonizing pain crushed him.

He buried his face in his palms right on his desk. The students all stared, but he didn’t give a fuck who saw him or what they thought. He didn’t need any of them. He was about to lose her. He needed her.

He knew what he had to do. He was going to stop her. She couldn’t leave. He didn’t care what it took. He didn’t even care if it meant he was going to have to move wherever she went. All that mattered to him was that he had her.

He was going to beg to get her back.