Wrecked (13 page)

“Lindsey, this is Mylie. Mylie, this is Lindsey.”

“We’re waiting Kyan.” She started to tap her high heeled shoe, and I could see that she was not happy with my presence, even though they were currently standing in my room. She really didn’t look like his type. She was tall, blonde, and dainty, but her expressive green eyes gave me a clue that she had a thing for Kyan, and I couldn’t blame her.

“Mylie, are you still living at your grandparents?”

I nodded, and I saw a grin tug at his lips. He got up, grabbed his nephew, and kissed the corner of my mouth. The cold metal of his snakebites grazed my skin. My eyes were opened wide, and I couldn’t help but laugh because he was still the same Kyan. I shoved him playfully. I heard a huff and started to laugh as I saw Lindsey walk away.

“Girlfriend?” I asked playfully, and he laughed.

“Why are you jealous?” He smirked, but I couldn’t miss the look of sincerity in the question.

“I’ll see you around Kyan, but hey, please let me know about the arrangements for Hannah.” I knew I had dismissed the question completely, but there was no way I needed any more complications in my life.

“Of course. Bye Mylie. Feel better.”

He left with his nephew cradled in his arms while closing the door behind him. I couldn’t help but sigh. I had never imagined Kyan being a gentle giant.

After Kyan left my room, I had just closed my eyes when I heard the door open once again. I turned to my back and saw a scowling Xavier at my door. He had a single red rose in his hand but kept staring out into the hallway.

“Why was Kyan here?”

Seriously?

I sighed inwardly, holding on the last of my patience, and tried to smile.

“I asked you a question Mylie, and I expect an answer. Why the fuck was Kyan here?”

What the?

“First of all, Kyan and I have been friends since we were kids. Secondly, his visit was unexpected.” I tried to keep my voice calm and collected. He was seriously pushing my buttons, and I wasn’t having it.

“Really? Kyan doesn’t make unexpected visits, not even for someone like you,” he said under his breath, and I felt the bottled up frustrations burst forth.

“What exactly does that mean,
someone like me
? What exactly am I?”

“I didn’t mean anything by that.” He tried quickly to recover, but it was already too late.

“Uh no, what did you mean Xavier?”

I stared at him pointedly as he directed an icy glare at me in return.
Who the hell was this guy?
One minute he was sweet, charming, and caring, while the next he turned cold, rude, and disturbing. I couldn’t wrap my mind around his mood swings, and I wasn’t going to drop it.

“Nothing.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest while he continued to glare.

“How do you even know Kyan in the first place?”

“We went to high school together in Morganville.”

He was one of those. The high society, stuck up, arrogant snobs who thought they were better than everyone.
What have I gotten myself into?

“You know what Xavier, I think I need a break. I will call you in a few weeks, but right now, I need to recuperate and this isn’t helping.”

“You’re breaking up with me?”

Was that shock in his voice, seriously?

“News flash. We weren’t even together Xavier, so how can I break up with you?”

“Very well. Take your break Mylie, but don’t expect me to wait for you.”

Wow!

“Would never dream of it. Oh, yeah, before you go, FYI, that little boy in his arms found his way into my bed and cried for his mother who just died. Buh bye now.”

I waved goodbye and gave him my best bitchy smile. I saw the flicker of rage in his eyes and the flare of his nose, but as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. He plastered his signature smile back on his face, and I couldn’t help but cringe.
What was going on with him?
He simply nodded and pursed his lips.

“My’. I am sorry–,” he started to say, but I quickly raised my hand and motioned him to stop.

“Don’t. Just go. I’ll call you when I am ready.”

He shook his head and left. As the door closed behind him, all I could feel was relief, and, truth be told, this was the first time I had felt any peace since Damien left. If I was being completely honest with myself, after meeting Damien, my life hasn’t been the same, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted it to be.

This was why I needed to stay the hell away from him until I figured it all out. I couldn’t keep pretending that my attraction to Damien wasn’t driving me insane. Not to mention causing me to do more laundry from all of the wet dreams I was having of him. Yet, there was something about Xavier that left me excited to see what our possibilities were, and that also scared me. How could I be drawn to two different kinds of men? Lord, I couldn’t wait until school started again.

Two more weeks! Two more weeks!

Chapter Fifteen

Damien

Today was the first day of class, and I was on pins and needles. I hadn’t seen Mylie in two weeks, but I had kept my distance, and it was killing me. I knew I needed to move on because she had made her choice, but I was riddled with guilt especially when I suspected that Xavier wasn’t being on the up and up.

I sat in my predecessor’s office waiting for my teaching assistant. I had taken down a lot of his memorabilia and added some of my own. My mahogany desk was fairly organized. I had my laptop up, and the room was surrounded with books, plaques, awards, and my degrees. A knock on the door alerted me that my TA had arrived, and I looked at the time. He or she was punctual, so I couldn’t complain.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and I looked at the beautiful face of the woman that had plagued my mind for two weeks. This had to be a coincidence; there was just no way in hell that she was here. The fates were playing a cruel joke on me. I swallowed the lump in my throat, and it appeared I wasn’t the only one.

“What are you doing here? I’m looking for Professor…,” she trailed off and looked at her sheet.

I looked to the ceiling, cursing inwardly at the cruelness of the situation. I knew someone up there was enjoying it way too much. I looked back down and saw the fear in her eyes, and it hurt. She didn’t want to be around me, probably about as much as I
wanted
to be around her.

“He retired, and I am the replacement. Have a seat Ms. Mier.”

I knew my voice sounded cold, but it was clear that she didn’t want anything to do with me. It was obvious it never would be as long as she was my student. She took a seat and said nothing, revealing nothing more than a frigid glare.

“Now, the semester will be pretty simple. I expect you to report every day at the same time. Your time with me is exactly two hours and forty-five minutes and nothing less. Are we clear?” She just nodded, but said nothing. “Your day will consist of typing my notes and preparing the day’s lesson. Occasionally you may have to oversee the class. Can you handle that?” Once again, she just nodded. “Good. Type these notes for the syllabus and let me review it before you print them out.”

I got up and left my laptop open for her to use. I needed to get away from her, and it was evident that this would be an awkward situation for the both of us. I walked into my classroom where I saw a guy sitting there already.

“What’s up Teach?” Xavier got up from the seat while I continued to walk down the stairs to the front of the room.

“Xavier.” I sat at the edge of my desk and crossed my arms over my chest.

“I just came to make something very clear. Just because you
saved
Mylie,” he emphasized with air quotes, “it doesn’t mean that she will be with you. She’s mine.”

“Now Xavier, this is very unlike you. You’re still not bitter about Jen are you?”

“You act like I even– right, Jen.”

He seemed to have caught himself saying something he didn’t want anyone to know. I looked at Xavier. He was never one to be bitter or vengeful, let alone insecure. These traits seem out of character even for him.

“Xavier, what are you doing here?”

I looked up to see Mylie walk into the room, and all sense of reason went out the window. She held a paper as she approached us, but she looked wary of Xavier and something in me stirred.
Could it be that there isn’t anything going on between them? Is that why Xavier came here fluffing his feathers like a peacock?

“I came to surprise you.”

All hostility left his face, and he smiled broadly, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. She was a conquest, that was all, and I knew I had to save her from him.

“I told you I needed time Xavier. Why are you here?”

She crossed her arms over her chest while holding the white sheet of paper off to the side clenched in her fist. Everything in me was telling me that something was very wrong here.

“It’s been two weeks Mylie. I think that is more than enough time, don’t you?”

Two weeks? She has been alone for two weeks? She locked gazes with me, and with a slight shake of her head, warned me to stay out of this.

“Xavier–,” she started to protest, but he shook his head. “I will call you later.”

He looked back at me. “Remember what I said.” He turned away and walked out of the room.

“I apologize, Professor. He doesn’t understand boundaries, apparently.” She looked flustered, but I couldn’t pin down what was the story behind her behavior towards Xavier.

“Is that the syllabus?” I asked, changing the subject. The tension visibly left her body, and she sighed in a welcome relief of the change of topic.

“Uh… yeah.” She sheepishly looked at the crumple piece of paper in her hand, and then blushed, which only made my heart skip a beat. She tried her best to straighten out the piece of paper, but to no avail. “I’ll just go to print another one.”

“NO! I mean, don’t worry about it.” I tried to give her a sincere smile, but I just didn’t want her to leave now knowing that there might be a chance for us.

“Uh… okay.”

She handed me the wrinkled paper, and I read over the syllabus. I could feel her stare. I looked up to see her gaze zeroed in on my mouth while biting her lip. I felt my dick tingle, and my gaze locked on her plump cherry lips currently being pierced by her teeth. We were in a trance. Neither one us stopped staring until we heard someone clearing his or her throat.

I looked up and saw Andrea coming down the stairs smiling broadly. I watched as Mylie’s eyes flickered from her back to me as if in some kind of confirmation of the questions playing in her head. As Andrea walked next to me and wrapped her slender arm around my waist, it was all the affirmation she needed, and I saw the hurt in her eyes.

“Hello darling…” Andrea cooed, and I felt my anger rise. I could only watch Mylie leaving the room, taking the stairs two at a time.

“What the hell was that?” I threw Andrea’s arm off of me and stared her at pointedly.

“I am saving your career you idiot. If you’d stop thinking with your dick, you’d realize that you were about to make a monumental mistake. As long as she is your student, you can’t be with her!” She walked away as she yelled back at me, up the same stairs Mylie had, and slammed the door.

“FUCK!” I yelled into the room and covered my face with my hands.

What the hell am I going to do?

Mylie

I couldn’t breathe!

I ran up the stairs, my legs burned but not as much as my heart. I needed to get away from that room as far as possible. I walked into the dark hallway, which lead to a utility closet. It finally hit me; I fell in love with him, and he was with someone else.
How the hell did this happen?
The wall held me up, and everything was spinning while my head throbbed. My heart, Jesus my heart had broken apart.

I slid down the wall next to the utility closet door and rested my face against my knees, taking deep breaths. I looked at the floor, trying to find the pieces of my shattered heart. I was a fool for thinking that he loved me, and he was with her. I slammed my head against the wall as the first tear slid down my face. The pain in my head was a welcome relief from the pain in my heart.