Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I didn’t get to find out. When I entered the classroom, there was a note written on the whiteboard:
Class cancelled. See assignment in Scholar+.
What the hell? Where was he? I’d been waiting days to see him.
He wouldn’t skip class for no reason. I might be arrogant, but not enough to think he’d canceled the entire class just because he didn’t want to see me. Even if he was tempted, he wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t hide from me. I was sure of that.
So what had happened? Was he sick? Or was there something else going on, something with the family business?
When I finished my classes, I got some lunch. I meant to go back to my room after I ate, but my feet started walking toward Dante’s house. It wouldn’t hurt for me to see if he was home.
As I got closer, I wondered if his neighbors worked at the university. Did he know them? How much danger was I putting him in?
If he didn’t want me here, he should’ve let me know why he was out of class. He should’ve warned me.
Do you really think he owes you that?
He fucking kissed me.
You were begging for it.
I was begging for more than a kiss, but I wasn’t going to cause any trouble now. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. What if he was sick or hurt or…?
He’d obviously let someone know he would miss class, or there wouldn’t have been a note for us.
Fine, so I was stalking him. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know if he was home. I had to know why he wasn’t in class. I had to know how he would act around me after that fucking kiss.
I’d hardly been able to think about anything else. I wanted more, so much more. How hard would I have to work to get him to give in?
One minute, he seemed to have zero patience with me, and then the next, he was so caring and kind. I didn’t really understand him. But I sensed danger, and I liked it.
I wanted to know more about his family connections. What did he do when he wasn’t teaching? Maybe I should follow him one day and find out.
Maybe you should go home and leave the man alone.
Not a chance. My family had taught me to be stubborn. They’d taught me not to give in. I’d learned those lessons well. I wanted Dante, and I was going to keep at it until I got what I asked for.
Instead of going to the front door, I turned down the alley that went between his house and his neighbor’s to the back, giving access to all the backyards. I counted the gates as I passed and soon saw his house peeking over the privacy fence.
I tried the gate, but of course, it was locked. I looked around, but I didn’t see anyone. The last thing I needed was somebody reporting me for breaking in. I backed up to get a good start, ran at the fence, and jumped, managing to vault over it and land in his backyard.
I paused, waiting to see if alarms would go off. I didn’t hear anything, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t on their way to dispatch me. Of course, no one had come when I stumbled into his yard and collapsed before. I couldn’t even remember heading this way. How had I found his house when I was that out of it?
Sure, I’d found his address after our first class ended. I’d needed to see where he lived. I considered going there and knocking on his door, but I hadn’t done it. I guess I’d really seared the route into my memory. Just like everything else about him.
I looked around the yard. The gate to the front was closed, so I couldn’t see if his car was there. I supposed he could’ve arrived in the time it had taken me to walk around the corner and down the alley.
I knocked on the back door and waited. No response. I couldn’t see him or anyone else through the kitchen window. So I sat down on the porch, figuring I’d wait it out and see what happened.
A few moments later, a black-and-white cat wandered up.
“Do you want to get in too?” I asked.
The cat rubbed herself against me, and I scratched her behind the ears. She made herself into a loaf next to me, and we both sat there waiting. The cat was probably hoping for some dinner. I was hoping Dante wasn’t going to kill me for showing up here, or at least that he’d fuck me first.
What would I do if he didn’t come home at all?
I pulled out my phone and texted him: You OK?
No response. Several minutes later, my phone buzzed.
I’m fine.