Her Dirty Teachers - Mika Lane Page 0,52

to seriously consider doing something else.”

She stirred the ice in her soda, nodding. “What about that thing you were supposed to translate for the department head?”

“I finished it. But she’s still not hooking me up with anything permanent. She just hung that over my head. I think she was full of shit all along.”

She pressed her lips together and shook her head slowly. “Horrible. I’m sorry.”

I raised my hands like a stop sign. “It’s not so bad. I’m going to work in the bar Jamie’s opening.”

Her head whipped in my direction. “He decided to do it after all. Oh my god. Wow. That’s so cool.”

I reached my fingers toward hers. I needed to touch her one last time.

To my delight, she wrapped hers around mine, and gave me a small smile.

“I’m happy with the decision,” I continued. “I can always tutor French if I want to keep my foot in that world.”

I lay back and watched the clouds. We all had choices we could make. We might not always like the ones that are available to us, but we had them.

“So, you have something on your mind, Senna,” I said, continuing to look up at the sky. I wanted to give her some space to come to me.

“I do. So many things.”

I ran my finger over her arm, warm from the sun.

“Today was the last day you’ll see me in French class.”

I bolted upright. “What?”

“I’m leaving the university.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

When I could finally speak again, I struggled to string together a coherent sentence. “Wha… no. Tell me. What the hell is going on?”

I turned her face toward mine.

“I met with my advisor today. Because of the newspaper article that came out, and the fact that she basically already hated me, she suggested I withdraw from the university before they kicked me out.”

There it was. And what was weighing on my girl was worse than a shit ton of bricks.

That crazy woman had humiliated Senna for the last time.

“And she mentioned my being with Benno, which I guess is not so much of an issue now.” She laughed weakly and shrugged.

“Senna, look at me. She cannot do that. No one can make you leave. She’s full of shit. Fuck this.”

I grabbed my phone and texted Benno and Jamie. We were getting together the minute they finished the day’s classes. This would only stand over my dead body.

“It’s okay, Chase. Don’t get involved. None of you should. She’ll find a way to hurt each one of you.”

I hit send on my text. “No. I don’t think so. Nor do I care.”

I waited for a reply from the guys. It took less than a minute.

“Senna, the guys want to meet tonight at Jamie’s condo. Will you come?”

“Are you sure? I mean, do you really want to get involved?” she asked.

I could swear some of the light was coming back to her eyes. She was smart enough to know not to get her hopes up. But she could feel our strength and support. Hopefully, it would help sustain her.

She looked down, nodding, and a couple tears fell onto her lap. “Thank you, Chase. Thank you.”

Chapter 40

PROFESSOR CHASE BALDWYN

To my surprise, there wasn’t a lot to discuss when we arrived at Jamie’s. My brief text had brought Benno up to speed, who had already called in the troops.

We sat around Jamie’s spacious living room with cocktails in our hands. We knew things were far from being a done deal, but with the progress Benno had made, we were well on our way to celebrating.

“Where’s Senna?” Jamie asked, looking at his watch. “Shit, I hope she’s not ghosting us.”

God, I hoped not, too. But if she didn’t want our help, it was her prerogative. She was free to make the decisions she wanted.

But I sure as hell hoped she’d let us join her in the battle she faced. There was nothing more that I hated than someone fucking over the underdog.

“I don’t get where that woman got off with pressuring Senna to withdraw. Is she fucking out of her mind?” I said.

Benno rubbed his hand over his face. “She’s a piece of work. I’ve been putting up with her craziness for too long. Now it’s time to get rid of her. I think we finally have a solid case to make to the administration.”

“Think about how many other students she’s done this to,” Jamie said, shaking his head.

“I don’t want to. It’s horrifying,” Benno agreed.

Jamie jumped to answer his ringing doorbell.

When he returned, Senna was following