Chapter Eighteen
Leo
“I’m waiting.”
Tessa’s mother was still standing there, looking at her expectantly. Tessa was stammering, trying to come up with an excuse on the fly, but really, there was nothing that was going to explain this except the truth. And my truth? Well, I wanted to finish myself off, since Tessa clearly wasn’t going to be able to, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen. The best I could hope for was I wouldn’t have to walk around for the rest of the day feeling like I’d been kicked in the balls.
Tessa’s mother looked at me. “And you!” she said. She shook her index finger at me, and I had to bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. “I don’t know what kind of professor you think you are, but I imagine this is most certainly against school policy!”
“You’re right,” I said. “This is really not the sort of thing that we expected you to walk in on.”
“Tessa must’ve forgotten to mention to you that I have a key of my own.”
I nodded. “I see that. Look, we’re really—”
“No! I don’t want to hear it!” her mother said. “There’s nothing you can say that’s going to make this better. There’s no excuse for this. How old are you?”
“Old enough to know better,” I said. “I’m 29.”
This tripped her up for a moment—I could tell she’d been hoping that I was going to say at least in my 30s, if not older, because then it’d really be scandalous, but she recovered quickly and resumed glaring at me. “It’s not acceptable,” she said, “whatever age you are. You’re a teacher. Don’t you have any self-respect? Don’t you realize that your job is important and by doing something like this, you’re abusing your position of power?”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Tessa said, saving me from having to answer. “We’re both sorry. I really wasn’t expecting you to come in like this.”
“Clearly not,” her mother said sourly. “This is very disappointing, Tessa. Very disappointing. I thought you were so busy with your schoolwork and trying to get your grades back up. How is it you have time for this—” Her mother stopped abruptly, the synapses firing, connections being drawn. Her eyes narrowed. “Tell me you’re not sleeping with him to get a better grade.”
Tessa hesitated a second too long. If I were her, I would’ve been shaking my head emphatically. “What are you, crazy?” I would’ve said. “There’s no way in hell I’d do something like that. What kind of person do you think I am?”
But Tessa was clearly flummoxed (or maybe mortified) by this entire situation, and her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. “I’m sorry, Mom, I’m so sorry, I . . .”
“Jesus Christ!” her mother exclaimed. “Tessa, I don’t even know what to say to you right now. I just don’t. So I’m going to leave.”
“Are you . . . are you going to tell Dad?” Tessa asked, and I could hear the trepidation in her voice. Actually, scratch that—more like abject fear.
“I can’t even talk to you about this now. I just . . . I can’t.”
Her mother shot me one last glare and then left, slamming the door behind her. Tessa stood there for a moment, and then her shoulders started to shake, and she burst into tears.
I stood up and went over to her, put my arms around her. “Shhh,” I said. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not!” she wailed, her voice muffled against my shoulder. “That was the worst possible thing that could’ve happened. I can’t believe that my mother just walked in on us. She just walked in on us. Unless this is a dream. Am I dreaming? Because if I am, I’d like to wake up now, because this is more like a nightmare.”
I stroked her hair. “It’ll be all right. I mean, I don’t think any parent particularly enjoys walking in on their kid in the middle of sexual activity, but—”
“It’s not just that. She’s going to tell my father. He’s going to flip out. And it’s not going to be something he just needs some time to calm down about. He is absolutely not going to be okay with this!”
She started sobbing again, and I hugged her tightly, wishing that I could take back the past 20 minutes. My balls ached, which I tried to ignore.
“Do you want me to stay?” I asked.
Her eyes were red, and she sniffled. “No,” she said. “I mean, of course, I do, but I’m afraid she might come back, and if you’re here and she does that’s going to make things even worse.”
I nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry, Tessa. The last thing I wanted was to get you in trouble with your parents; I hope you know that.”
“I know,” she said. “And you don’t need to apologize. It’s not just your fault. Or it’s as much as my fault as it is yours. Oh, I don’t even know what I’m saying.”
I held onto her for a few more moments, and then I let go. She had stopped crying and was wiping at her eyes.
“I’ll call you later, okay?” I said. “Or if you want to talk or anything, go ahead and give me a call.”
“All right,” she said, trying to smile, her chin trembling slightly. I got dressed and then I gave her one last hug and a kiss on the forehead. My dick was still hard, and my balls were aching, but I ignored it the best I could and gingerly walked out of the apartment. It was uncomfortable, but it was Tessa I really felt bad about. Rather, her mother walking in on us like that. Under other circumstances, it would have been fucking hilarious, but in this case . . . not so much. I didn’t really know Tessa’s mom, and I’d never met her dad before, but from what she had told me about them, they certainly seemed like the sort of people who wanted things done a certain way, and if it wasn’t, then there would be hell to pay.