Temptation (The Hunted, #1)(82)

"I've been lying to you ever since you walked me home from that party. I didn't mean to. At first I just didn't want to get in trouble. But now it's so much more. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want this to be over."

"Penny, I told you that I'm not going anywhere. Just tell me." He squeezed my hands.

I took a deep breath. "I'm not a senior."

I could see his body tense. It looked like I had slapped him across the face. He didn't look mad though, just surprised.

"I'm a sophomore. But my birthday is October 15th. I'll be 20 in just a couple weeks."

His handsome features looked strained. "You're only 19?" He pulled his hands away from mine. He was already slipping away.

"I'm practically 20."

He ran both his hands through his hair. "Oh God, I've been serving you alcohol. I could have been arrested."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"You're only 19?" His voice sounded pained. He put his hands on his cheeks and rubbed his scruff. "Penny."

"I know that I should have told you."

"You made me feel awful for not telling you about Isabella. And the whole time you were lying to me?"

"I know, I'm so sorry."

"I told you how hard it is for me to trust people. This is why. Because no one is trustworthy. I thought you were different."

"Professor Hunter, please. That's my only secret. You know everything about me now. You can trust me. It's still me. It's just two years difference. Two years is nothing."

"It's not the age. It's that you lied to me."

"If I had told you that first night, you could have reported me to the dean. I would have been kicked out of school."

"I never would have done that."

"But it's your job."

"I don't care about my job! I care about you. I had a crush on you. It took every ounce of control I had to not lift up that short, sparkly skirt you were wearing and have my way with you right there in the middle of campus."

"I didn't know that. All I knew was that I was drinking underage and I had a crush on my professor. I was so out of my comfort zone. I didn't know what to do."

"Well you should have told me."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

I reached for his face, but he pushed my hand away. "I thought you were different. I let myself fall for you, even though I knew better."

My stomach churned. "I've fallen for you too."

He ran his hand through his hair. "The things I've done to you. If I had known you were a teenager I wouldn't have..."

"Don't say that. Don't take away what we have. I love you." I was choking on my words. "Professor Hunter, I love you. I love you so much."

Professor Hunter looked distraught. "Penny, you don't know what love is." He pushed me off his lap.

"You promised you wouldn't get mad."

"Damn it, Penny! You made me believe that this was real. I let myself dream about a future with you. We only had to wait two semesters. I wanted to be with you. But six? Six semesters?"

I couldn't stop my tears. "Stop using the past tense."

"What do you expect, Penny? You waited a whole month to tell me. Why didn't you just tell me when we first started dating?"

"That's exactly why. Because we had only just started dating. And I'm obsessed with you. I knew you'd be mad. I knew that you'd leave me. I wanted to have you as long as possible."

"That's not an excuse. If you had believed what we had was real, telling me your age wouldn't have mattered."

"So what we have isn't real then?"

Professor Hunter stood up and rubbed his hands across his face again. "What finally gave you the nerve to tell me the truth?"

"Because it was the only thing holding me back from happiness."

"That's a selfish reason."

"I know. But I never meant to hurt you."

"Well you did."

"I'm so sorry."

Professor Hunter went to his closet and pulled a shirt on. "I'm going out."

"Where? Professor Hunter, it's late. Please stay. We can try to work this out. Don't walk away from what we have."

"I'll be at a bar so that you can't follow me. Or do you have a fake I.D. too?"

"No, I don't."

"Good." He walked out of the room. I stumbled off the bed and ran after him. He was already standing by the elevator. He hit the button and the doors opened.

"Please don't go." I walked over to him. I wanted him to hug me and tell me everything was okay and that he loved me too.

He stepped onto the elevator. "I believe that you know how to let yourself out." The doors slid shut and he was gone. I pressed my hand against the cold metal.

My whole body felt numb. I thought telling him would be a relief. A part of me thought he would forgive me. He had asked me to move in with him. And now he had kicked me out. Not just from his apartment, but from his life.





Chapter 53


Tuesday

I sat down in the coffee shop and stared at the door. This was where I had first met Professor Hunter. The memory usually made me smile, but today it made me feel sick to my stomach. A month ago I had sat here, hoping to run into Austin. The hurt of him blowing me off was no comparison to how I felt now. It felt like I was drowning. Everything seemed bleak. I had no appetite. I couldn't sleep. My hands shook slightly as I lifted my coffee cup. I took a sip, but it had no taste.