Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 45(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
He was the holy trifecta of funny, sweet, and smart.
I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anyone, including the celebrity crushes I’d had as a preteen.
But Jack Wilde was off-limits.
Or he had been. Now he simply hated me.
I’d done everything I could to avoid him. It had been neither professional nor pretty. I’d avoided eye contact in class. I’d resisted calling on him for fear I would be seen playing favorites. And I’d written the shitty recommendation that had cost him his dream placement on the Raintree expedition.
No wonder the very sight of me had made him choke.
I moved up onto the bed next to him and put my arm around him, pulling him into my chest. How did I explain all of this? How did I even begin to apologize?
His voice was muffled at first until I realized I was holding him too tightly. “What?” I asked.
“I was trying to focus on the tennis racquet.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it more genuinely than anything I’d ever said to another human being. “I… I need to explain.”
Jack’s breathing was finally slowing down, and the fact he could make a complete sentence was a very good sign.
“It’s fine,” he said. “I’m feeling better anyway.”
He tried to pull out of my embrace, but I tightened my arms without thinking. “Don’t.”
Jack lifted his face to me. His eyes were red-rimmed but still bright and beautiful. The tip of his nose was pink from being pressed against my shirt. “I’m okay,” he said again. As if that was the only reason I was holding him.
“I’m not,” I admitted softly.
Jack studied me for a minute before snuggling into my chest again and returning the hug. We stayed like that for a long time, holding each other without a word of explanation or understanding.
Except… except I did understand. I understood why he needed this. Why he needed comfort.
One of his professors had screwed him over by denying him a spot on the research expedition he’d so desperately wanted.
I pulled away from him and moved to squat in front of him again so I could see his face. He looked surprised and confused but didn’t say anything. I wondered if he was scared or hurt or angry.
Without thinking, I took both of his hands in mine, which only seemed to make his shock more intense. His eyes were almost comically wide.
“I need to tell you something,” I said, scraping my teeth over my lip. “And I couldn’t tell you before now because I was your professor, and also the university was trying hard to keep it under wraps.”
Jack blinked, his inky lashes still wet from tears. “What… what is it?”
“It’s about your research,” I began.
Jack’s nostrils widened, and his lips pursed. “Oh.”
“No, wait,” I said quickly, trying to think. Just spit it out, asshole. “It’s not what you think.”
“Really? Because I think you fucked me over by sabotaging my application.”
He could see the truth on my face because he yanked his hands out of mine.
“Jack,” I said. “I did. But let me explain.”
He pushed me until I rocked back on my heels and hit the ground on my ass. Clearly, he wanted to get away from me. Instead of following him over to the large window, I rested against the dresser and waited.
“Go on,” he said after a minute. He didn’t turn to face me. Instead, he looked out the window as if the Houston skyline had something interesting to offer.
“Raintree is part of a fraudulent research grant scheme.”
He turned to face me. His expression was fiercely defiant. “What? No way.”
I balled my hands into fists to keep from going over there to hold him again. I wanted to touch him so fucking badly. Instead, I focused on giving him the explanation he deserved.
“It’s true. Dr. Raintree has been pocketing the bulk of the grant money. He gets his grad students to help apply for research grants, the grant money comes to him, and then he half-asses the research and pockets most of the money. He’s had two expeditions in the past five years get canceled for bad weather, and the money hasn’t been returned or used for other research.”
Jack stared at me in disbelief as his brain worked through what I was saying. He was a smart guy. I knew he’d have done his research on the Raintree expeditions, and he’d know about the canceled trips.
“How do you know about this?” he asked.
I sighed and dropped my chin to my chest. “I’ve been watching him for the past four years. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore, and I said something to the dean. If… no, when word gets out, it’s going to put all of us in a bad light. The university wanted time to mitigate the fallout.”
“You turned him in?” he asked.
I nodded cautiously. I couldn’t decide if he thought I was a terrible human being for ratting out a colleague or a decent one for trying to protect the students and the program.