Her Dirty Teachers - Mika Lane Page 0,53

him, beautiful as always, boldly holding her head up in the face of an ugly situation. She took a seat on the sofa next to me, and I grabbed her hand, bringing it to my lips to kiss the back of it. We might not be lovers any longer, but I wanted her to know how much I cared.

“Hey, darlin’,” Benno said, coming over and kissing her cheek.

She smiled wanly. “Hi, guys.”

“Sounds like you had kind of a shit day, huh?” Jamie asked.

“I’ve had better,” she said with a laugh.

“I’m sorry—we’re all sorry—you’re going through this. It’s not fair, it’s bullshit, and we’re putting a stop to it.”

Senna frowned. “But, Chase, what can you do? What can any of you do?”

Jamie and I turned our focus to Benno.

“We’re going to bat for you, honey. Did you ever doubt that we would?” he asked.

Senna’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you. Thank you, all of you.”

I squeezed her hand.

“We’re here for you, baby,” I said.

Benno continued. “I’ve briefed the university provost on this situation. You have a meeting with him tomorrow at nine a.m. Can you make that?”

“Sure. It’s not like I have classes to attend,” she said cynically.

Couldn’t blame her.

“This will be taken care of. You are not leaving school,” he added. “At least not until you are ready to.”

She looked at each of us, one by one. “I knew I could count on you.”

She leaned toward me and planted a kiss on my lips. Then she got up and did the same to Jamie and Benno.

We looked at each other, wondering what was up. Only a few days before she’d called things off. There was to be no relationship between her and the three of us. It had torn me up, truth be told, but I got it. If it didn’t work for her, it didn’t work for any of us.

“Oooh, that was a sweet kiss,” Jamie said. “I’m gonna miss them.”

Now standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by us, she turned toward him. “Maybe you don’t have to miss my kisses.”

Huh?

Benno took his glasses off. “What do you mean, Senna?”

She looked at him, then turned to me. “Do you know what I’m saying, Chase?” she asked flirtatiously.

“Lay it out for us, baby,” I said, hoping she was getting at what I thought she might be.

“After a lot of thought, very careful thought,” she said, looking at each of us, “I realized how much I wanted to be with you. All of you.”

Holy shit. I jumped to my feet, grabbing her and swinging her around.

“Hey, put me down,” she squealed, laughing.

Benno, always the cautious one of us three, looked confused. “I thought… I mean… “

“Stop thinking so hard, Professor Adler!”

Benno and Jamie stood up, and we all high-fived each other while we took turns embracing our beautiful girl.

Our girl. She was staying with us. And if we had anything to say about it, she’d stay with the university, too.

Chapter 41

SENNA

Crap. I’d never met with a provost before.

Hell, if I were honest, I wasn’t even sure what a provost was. But he was obviously a big deal. Not to mention kind for being willing to listen to my situation.

Or was he going to be as horrid as Krishelle Abalone?

No way. Benno would never send me into another lion’s den.

I got to Dr. Gilpin’s office early in case there was bad traffic or, I don’t know, the earth broke open and tried to swallow me up. But, so as to not look desperate or pathetic, I waited in the hallway until three minutes before our nine a.m. meeting.

I wasn’t sure what this man could do for me since I’d already signed the withdrawal papers, and I had no doubt Abalone had run to whatever office processed them so she could get rid of me as fast as possible.

It was all pretty incredible how this woman had it out for me. I mean, what the fuck did I ever do?

Actually, I knew I’d done nothing. She was a psycho, and I just happened to be available for her to torment. Next semester it would be a new student, and she’d shit all over them.

But even if Gilpin couldn’t do a damn thing for me and I was never to set foot on the Wellshire campus again, I’d come out on top, anyway. I had Benno, Jamie, and Chase by my side, and with them, I could handle anything that came my way.

Well, I could handle my shit before they came on