“I guess that’s true,” she murmured. “I mostly just stuck to myself back then, honestly. It’s gotta be hard being so popular, when people outside of your family are talking about you.”
We had a quiet moment before she took a deep breath and smiled.
“Come on, let’s eat or this food will get cold. This room is on my tab, you know, and nothing here is cheap.”
Chapter Seventeen
Ben
I lay down on the bed, playing on my phone. I had my ear out listening in the shower. I didn’t really have to worry that Angela would need my help, and she’d had all day today to recover from last night, but still. It was Sunday afternoon, almost time for us to leave, and she’d insisted on us taking separate showers.
Some of my friends had sent me messages since I’d disappeared the whole weekend. We didn’t hang out together often, but I was usually around, and there was some big party yesterday, so they were surprised when I hadn't been there. No doubt, there would be a rumor spreading around about it. Sandra had texted me, too, but I just dismissed her messages. I made things clear to her already the last time we met.
When the door to the bathroom opened, I put my phone away and looked up.
“I thought you’d be naked,” I said with mock disappointment, eyeing her bathrobe. I tilted my head and considered. “Although, that still looks good on you.”
I smirked, remembering that first night I showed up on her doorstep.
She frowned at me, but couldn’t hold the look for long, breaking down in a laugh.
“Don’t even think about it, Ben. We need to go soon. I’m going home alone, and you’re heading to the dorms. It’s school tomorrow.”
I groaned and dropped back onto the bed. “I only have a single class tomorrow, but there isn’t anything important going on, so can't I skip it?”
Angela rolled her eyes at me. She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it as she dried her hair with the towel draped over her shoulders.
“It might not be my class, but you shouldn’t be skipping in your final year. Even if you can keep your grades up, the school takes attendance, you know? And even if you do skip, I can’t, and I’ve got classes to teach tomorrow.”
She stood up and slipped off the bathrobe. I watched her body appreciatively as she pulled on her clothes.
“Can't we stay for a little longer at least?” I pleaded.
“No,” she said immediately. “Ben, come on. It’s not like we’ll never see each other again.”
I knew she was right, but I didn’t want to go back to school, where I had to act like she was just my professor, not to mention I’d have to deal with my friends asking where I was the whole weekend. I rarely missed parties, so they’d expect an explanation, and if I refused to give one, they’d keep bugging me about it.
Angela was right, though. We had to leave at some point, and I would be going to her place tomorrow night. I slipped off the bed, grabbing my phone as I went, and wrapped my arms around her waist. I kissed her softly, enjoying her weight against my chest as she leaned into me.
“I had a good time,” I admitted, kissing her forehead, then hugging her to me. “It would be so nice if we could just stay like this…”
“I know,” she said, voice quiet. “But it’s not that simple. We can come here again, though, if you’d like.”
“Yeah. I guess I could always go back to catch up on my sleep.”
She huffed, warm breath washing over my chest through my shirt. “I need some of that, too.”
I pulled away to look down at her. “Why? You were mostly sleeping the whole weekend.”
“That’s because I was exhausted,” she rolled her eyes, but softened it with a smile. “And it was your fault, anyway, so you can't complain. I’ll be leaving first, and you can leave a little later. I booked it until tomorrow, anyway.”
“Then why can't we leave tomorrow?”
She glared. “Because neither of us brought a change of clothes. Which was fine since we didn’t need the clothes once they came off on Friday, but I can't lecture looking like this.”
“Fine,” I agreed with a sigh. “But only because I don’t want you showing off this dress to anyone. You already have one puppy after you, who knows how many more will raise their heads?”
“If you’re talking about Kevin, he’s completely harmless.”
“He has a crush on you, though,” I said glumly.
It was easy enough to see. Almost every single time, when class was over, he would go up to talk to her before anyone else. I’d noticed before and hadn't paid much attention, but now that Angela and I had gotten closer, the behavior bothered me.
“Are you sure you can't stay?” I asked.
“Are we really still talking about this?” She countered, looking surprised.
Talking about Kevin was enough to make me want to spend some more time with her, so I could reconfirm it for the both of us that she was mine. Besides, we didn’t get to do anything today at all. We did have quite a bit of fun yesterday, though.
“Won't you at least eat with me tonight, then?” I offered. “There’s a restaurant downstairs. Or, if you’re worried about someone recognizing us, there are plenty of restaurants in this area.”
She chuckled. “There’s a reason we didn’t step out of here. The school is still close to here. If anyone sees us together outside, it would be a disaster. I could lose my job, and you could get into trouble… only you never get in trouble, so it’s just my job in jeopardy here.”
I frowned. “How far are we from the end of the semester?”
She lightly smacked me on the shoulder, pulling away from my hold. “That’s something you should know. There’s still more than a month, nearly two. You’ve got exams soon, and you must have some assignments. Focus on those. Also, aren’t you supposed to be on the swim team? When do you even get the time to go for practice?”
I kept quiet about missing a lot of practice recently. It was just a formality at this point, though knowing Angela, she’d be irritated that I was skipping practice to spend more time with her.
“Anyway, I need to go home and catch up on my rest. I’ve got plenty of work tomorrow, and my body still feels exhausted. It doesn’t feel like I relaxed for a whole day after yesterday.”
She glowered at me, and I had the grace to look sheepish, even though I regretted nothing. I knew she wasn’t going to stay, no matter how much I begged, so I decided to stop. Also, since she’d mentioned it, I was starting to feel guilty again. I’d exhausted her on Friday night, but yesterday was so much worse. We both woke up late, and after eating breakfast, lazed around the room, then we had lunch. We switched to other, more enjoyable activities after that, paused for dinner, and continued to early morning when we finally fell asleep.
Angela went to pick up her phone, looking it over before she put it away in her purse.
“I should get going now,” she said. “You can leave sometime after I do, I already dealt with the payment so just drop the key card at the front desk when you leave.”
She winced when she leaned down to put on her shoes, and I hurried over.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
I went down on my knees to help her pull on her shoes, and she smiled wanly at me.
“Yeah, I’m just not as young as I used to be.”
I rose up and pulled her into a quick hug. “You’re not as old as you seem to think you are, either. Now, hurry up and go before I’m tempted to lock you in here for another night.”
She smiled up at me, then gave me a peck on the lips before she hurried out. I watched her go, then went to sit down on the couch. I could hide for a couple of hours before I had to go back to the school.
Chapter Eighteen
Angela
I arrived home late in the afternoon and sighed as I closed the door behind me. I leaned back against it, momentarily losing all the strength in my body.
While it was nice of him to say so, my body was definitely
not the same as before. Even after resting the whole day, I was still exhausted from last night’s activities. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to come home to catch up on sleep. I was going to be completely lazy because I had to go back to work tomorrow.
I was only there for a moment, then I slipped off my shoes and headed for my bedroom. I didn’t even feel up to eating dinner; I’d just have a heavier breakfast tomorrow.
Before I could get far, there was a knock at my door. Slowly, I turned around and stared at it. The only person to visit me recently was Ben, but I’d left him at the hotel. If he was just going to show up at my place anyway, he could have just followed me back. Or, he could have texted me.
I knew it couldn’t be him, though. He wouldn’t be that close behind me.
Even though I felt like I was about ready to drop, I went to open the door, curious. Of all people, I didn’t expect that girl to be standing on my doorstep, the one that Ben dated before. Sandra.
Though, the more pressing question was how she knew where I lived in the first place.
“Is there something I can help you with?” I asked curtly.
She ran her eyes over me, and I felt my body stiffen. I was still in the over the top dress, and I let her see me this way.
Crap.
“If you don’t mind, I’m feeling a little tired, so whatever it is, please hurry so I can have my rest, please.”
She scoffed, walking forward. I was surprised and backed away, until she closed the door behind her and folded her arms across her chest, facing me.
I stiffened. “Please get out of my home.”
“Oh, don’t worry professor, I don’t want to be here, either, but we can't have the neighbors overhearing, now can we?”
“What is it that you’re doing here then?” I asked, scowling. “I already told you I’m tired. If you have nothing, then please leave.”
“But why would I do that when I followed you all the way here? It hasn’t been easy finding you the past couple days, professor. I wonder where you went.”
Her presence had me irritated, but more than that, I was worried. There was no reason this girl had to be following me around, and the fact that she had had me worried.
“If you don’t leave right now, I will call campus security,” I said warningly. “Get out, now.”
“Go ahead and call them,” she challenged. “I’ll tell them exactly what you’ve been doing, and we’ll see who’ll get in trouble then, hmm?”
Fuck, she knows!
Before, I’d thought she had a suspicion, but seeing the way she was acting, how confident she looked, she definitely knew that there was something between Ben and me.
She tilted her chin up. “Listen up, prof, because I’m only going to say this once. You are going to leave Ben alone, or I swear I will report you to the school for sleeping with your student. Nod your head if you understand.”
I should have been afraid, but I was mad more than anything. It wasn’t like I was a dog for her to speak to me as she pleased. I didn’t complain, though, because I knew she had more on me than I did on her.
“Fine,” I muttered, glaring.
She smirked in satisfaction. “As long as you understand, professor.”
I glared at her back as she turned and left my apartment. I locked it, then once again headed for the bedroom, feeling my exhaustion about to drag me down. Then, my phone rang. I walked into my bedroom and got on the bed, then pulled my phone out and lay down. It was Dad.
Dammit, why was everything happening today? Could I not be allowed to rest?
“Hello, Dad,” I answered the call, speaking calmly. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Sorry, was I interrupting something? I can call back later if that’s the case. You sound tired.”
I was a little surprised that he could tell through the phone. I leaned back against the headboard and covered a yawn with my hand.
“No, you’re fine, Dad, go ahead. I was just going to take a nap.”
He hummed. “Alright. Anyway, remember when I told you I was getting married? Anyway, she’s been trying to get ahold of her son, Ben, to ask if we could all get together for lunch. I’ve already met them, so we can just introduce you to them together. Would you be free next weekend for lunch?”
I frowned. “Ben?”
What a coincidence that the woman my dad was going to marry had a son called Ben as well. It was a common enough name, but hearing it come from Dad still made me pause.
“Yes. Ben is actually in your school,” he said, astonishing me further. “He’s young, and he’s an athlete. Oh, he’s also a business major, so he could be in one of your classes, he should be in his senior year this year.”
My mouth had already dropped open, and I was gaping at my empty room. The words dad just said were still going around in my head, and I didn’t want to believe them.
“A student?” I breathed out, feeling like I’d been punched in the chest. “Why would her son be my student, Dad? That makes him really young. I thought you said she was a student at the same time as you?”
I remembered him saying they were in the same class. On the other hand, she could have chosen to have her child later, but by more than ten years?
Dad gave a sheepish laugh. “Well, I might have exaggerated that a little bit.”
“Don’t tell me you were already a professor by then!” I blurted out.
“Okay, yes,” he admitted. “I was a professor when she and I met, and we did try to date, but she was younger than most of her peers even back then, so we could only put the relationship aside. Then I was with your mother, and she got pregnant with you, so we got married. I didn’t want to say anything, so you wouldn’t think of me as a pervert. I met her about twenty years ago, not thirty, I think she got married right out of college and had her son. He got into school early as well, so he’s only twenty-one.”
“Oh, Dad,” I murmured, blinking my eyes as I felt them start to sting.
There were no such coincidences. If there were two people with that description named Ben in any of my classes, then I would hunt this other Ben down, but I wasn’t stupid. I’d already made the connection. The woman Dad was going to marry had to be his mom.
“Do you know him, Angela? Also, why does your voice sound so strange?”
I cleared my throat, swallowing down the lump that got stuck there.
“Okay, Dad,” I murmured, tilting my head back and closing my eyes. “Yes, I know Ben. He’s the only one in my class, so I think it should be him. I’m really tired right now, so I’m going to sleep, okay? You can tell me about lunch later.”
I hung up without waiting on his word.
Crap.
Could things get any worse today?
My phone vibrated, and I saw it was a text from Ben. I ignored it, feeling the growing lump in my throat once more, but I just buried myself under the covers and ignored it.
Chapter Nineteen
Angela
A few days passed, and I did my best to avoid Ben. Now that I knew our parents were going to get married, it changed things. Majorly. I didn’t know if he knew already since Dad had said Ben met with Dad and his mom before. Did Ben know? Did Dad mention he had a daughter who happened to be a professor at his school?
I wasn’t sure he did, and that just made it worse, because I didn’t want to be the one to tell him that we were going to be stepbrother and sister soon.
Avoiding him wasn’t all that easy. Especially on the days, I had a class with him. I arrived early for class and left as soon as I was done with the lecture, then went and hid in the faculty lounge. I was too afraid to even spend time in my office, in case he went looking for me there. I was lost, and I didn’t know what to say to him. How do you tell your lover that you’re about to be step-siblings? It made my eyes roll and made me shiver just to think about it.
Somehow, I managed to avoid him completely. I managed to avoid him so well, I had to wonder where all the good luck suddenly c
ame from. I thought I’d suddenly become a master at avoidance up until the point where I arrived at my apartment and walked inside. It didn’t take long to figure out there was already someone inside. There were shoes left by the door, men’s shoes. Ben’s shoes. I hurried inside, and found Ben in my bedroom, sitting at my desk.
For a moment, I could only stare. It was late evening, but the sun hadn't gone down yet. The window was behind him with the curtain open, and the fading sunlight hit his dark blond hair and made it glow just as it slanted over his beautiful hazel eyes. He had on a serious expression as he read something on my computer monitor.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out, surprised.
His eyes rose to mine, before going back to my laptop, that he had open.
“It’s been hard getting through to you at school, and you haven’t returned my texts or calls since the weekend. I was worried.”
“But how did you get into my apartment?”
His eyes rose again, and he leaned back in the chair, staring at me with arched eyebrows.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Except I do,” I retorted with heat in my words. “I don’t remember giving you a key to this place, so how did you get in?”
“Did you not want to see me?” He countered.
I pursed my lips but said nothing. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see him. Seeing him in my house made me realize that I’d missed him. I was also surprised it took him this long to come to my place. I didn’t think if he showed up on his own, that I really would have left him standing outside my doorstep.
“Besides, isn’t this better?” He continued. “If I came and waited for you outside, people would see me. That worries you, doesn’t it?”
Dirty Sext (Accidental Stepbrother Book 3) Page 8
