Chapter 81

Tessa’s POV

The moment was gone before it began. We stood only inches from one another. I could feel his breath on my features and his eyes were fixated on my lips. I knew what he wanted, and I wanted it too.

I was seconds away from closing that gap between us and pressing my lips against his. To feel the softness and comfort that his kiss provides me. To taste him against me.

But he stepped away, leaving me standing alone and vulnerable.

I blinked several times, trying to wrap my mind around what had happened.

Knowing that he cared enough to do research on apartments for me, I wondered why he wanted to keep the distance between us. Was it all about the professor and student thing? Or there was more than that?

He ran his hand across the back of his neck and averted his eyes from mine. My face warmed and I glanced at my feet.

“I chose an apartment,” I said, my voice sounding distant.

He managed to look at me and raised both his brows.

“I chose the one that’s closest to the school,” I told him, meeting his eyes.

He nodded but his face remained expressionless.

“Did they say when you can move?” He asked, his voice indifferent.

His question hurt my heart. The thought of him wanting me to go that quickly hurt more than anything. I had to choke back tears while I was speaking to him, but I managed to nod.

“As soon as tomorrow,” I told him. “She’s going to send over the confirmation in the morning and said once everything is processed, I should be good to move in. She said it shouldn’t take long and hopefully. It’ll be done by the morning.”

“That’s good to hear,” he said. “Then, I won’t keep you. You should be getting ready for the move and get some rest.”

This was his way of kicking me out of his office. I could take the hint.

I nodded, forcing a smile so he couldn’t see through my pain, and I turned away from him. He said nothing as I walked out of the office.

Tears didn’t wait for me to get far before they started falling from my eyes and washing over my features. I bit onto my bottom lip, chewing on it hard, to keep from sobbing too loudly. I didn’t want him to know how upset I was.

I didn’t understand what was going on in his mind and I had a feeling I was never going to know.

Once I got back into my room, I allowed myself to sob softly into my hands. My entire body trembled, and I suddenly felt exhausted. I thought about writing something for my blog, but I wasn’t in the mood to pretend to be okay for my readers. So, I grabbed my journal and curled up on my bed to write.

I filled out two pages before I allowed exhaustion to take over and I fell asleep.

…

I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon. My mouth instantly began to water. I forgot to eat dinner last night. It wasn’t really a thought. I was too wound up to even think about food. But now that I’ve slept, I realized how hungry I was.

I only packed a little bit last night, so I needed to pack the rest of my stuff this morning. I received an email from Claire saying that everything was all set, and I could move in whenever I was ready. I’m assuming that was going to be today.

I went downstairs and into the kitchen, only to find Joseph standing in front of the stove, cooking. He had a couple of plates on the counter which consisted of toast and scrambled eggs.

“You made breakfast?” I asked, raising my brows at him.

He turned to look at me and then nodded before turning back to the stove.

“I figured you didn’t eat last night so I wanted to make sure you ate today,” he answered.

My face warmed at his words, and I nodded while sitting at the kitchen counter stool.

He placed a couple of pieces of bacon on the plate in front of me and then added bacon to the other plate.

“I made coffee too,” he said, motioning his head toward the coffee maker.

“Thank you,” I said.

I went to pour myself a cup while he got the cream and sugar. He was being oddly kind this morning and after basically kicking me out of his house, I found his sudden kindness strange. But I didn’t question him. I drank coffee and ate the food in silence.

He sat beside me, also eating and drinking the coffee in silence.

“Did Claire reach out at all?” He finally asked after what felt like an eternity.

“Oh, yes. She said I can move in whenever,” I answered. “I figured after breakfast I’ll finish packing and then I’ll head there.”

“If you wait until this evening, I’ll take you there myself. I need to go to the school anyway and finish some work before tomorrow.”

“It’s Sunday,” I reminded him, furrowing my brows together.

“I left all my schoolwork there, so I figured I’d go in tonight to finish it,” Joseph shrugged.

“I see,” I responded.

Once we finished eating, I offered to do the dishes. He thanked me and went away for the rest of the day. I’m assuming he went to bed.

I spent the rest of the day packing my things and getting ready to move. It made my heart feel heavy the entire process, but I knew this was for the best. The longer I stay here, the greater the risk is of being found out.

I had to not only think about Joseph’s reputation but my own as well. I couldn’t be the girl living and sleeping with her professor. It would destroy me before I even began.

By the time we left the house to go to the new apartment, the sun had already set. Joseph helped me bring my things out to his car. The drive was quiet. I wasn’t really sure what to say. I just knew that I didn’t want to leave things off on bad terms like this.

We reached the apartment and Joseph walked me inside.

He looked around briefly while I put my things in my new room.

“This was a good choice,” Joseph said casually from the living room.

“I figured you’d like any of the ones I’d pick considering you picked all of them out,” I said in return.

When I walked out of my room, he was standing near the window.

“I liked this one the most,” he admitted, turning to face me.

“Thank you for the help by the way. I appreciate you looking into apartments that suit my needs,” I told him, giving him a small smile.

“Of course,” he said in return.

He was staring around my face momentarily before turning toward the door.

“I should go,” he said. “If you need anything, you can still call me.”

I nodded, but I said nothing. I just watched as he left, making me feel more alone than ever.

I spent the rest of the evening writing. I even updated my blog. Kimberly sent me my first assignment earlier in the day, so I began to write a longer publication for Fable magazine. I ordered a pizza and tried not to think too much about Joseph and how much I was missing him.

He’s only been gone for a few hours, but knowing I was only going to see him at school going forward, hurt my soul greatly.

Once I was finished with my writing for the evening, I shut my laptop and went over to the window that overlooked the school. It was still a far enough distance, but I could see the teachers’ offices clearly. There were only a couple of windows that had lights on, one of which was Joseph’s.

In front of his window, I saw him sitting at his desk, typing on his computer and then writing something on a piece of paper. He was far away from where I stood, but I could see his perplexed face so clearly as if he was standing right in front of me.

I found it hard to look away from him.

As if he could sense someone watching him, he glanced up from his computer and stared out his window.

His brows furrowed together.

I wondered if he could see me.

I got my answer when his expression softened, and his eyes were locked onto mine.