To Professor, with Love (Forbidden Men #2)(79)

Alarm raced up my spine, but I kept playing it cool. Clueless. I wrinkled my eyebrows. “Who’s who?”

“The new girl you’re f*cking? I haven’t seen you with anyone around campus.”

“Marci,” I gritted out, growing annoyed with this conversation. “I didn’t want to be an * and say this, but I’m just not interested in you.”

She snorted. “Not interested?” Backing up, she splayed out her hands to encompass her body. “In this?”

Meh. I actually preferred Aspen’s look more. But I couldn’t say that. I could, however, put a dent in Marci’s inflated ego.

“Look, Tianna told me how obsessed you are about me. And I’m not looking for anything like that. I don’t do relationships, or clinging women, or sobbing midnight phone calls, begging me to give you another chance. And you have exactly that kind of drama written all over you.”

When her mouth fell open, I realized I’d probably gone a little overboard. I sent her another apologetic wince and friendly pat on the shoulder. Then I turned and got out of there as quickly as possible without looking as if I was bolting. She didn’t follow, but I had a feeling I hadn’t heard the last from her. I’d never been into cutting down a woman like that before, so whatever she did to me in response, I’d probably deserve.

I faced a whole new set of problems when I entered the next room, though. Less crowded, it had a couple couches sitting around a coffee table and facing a television. And my roommate was in the center of the action, drinking from a funnel and looking completely lit.

“Ow!” he shouted when he saw me. Jumping onto the coffee table, he pretended to strum a guitar like a rocker. “I got it bad. Got it bad. Got it bad. I’m hot for teacher.” Then he fisted his hands and pumped his hips, dry humping the air as he continued to sing the golden oldie Van Halen song.

I shook my head and sighed. “I’m gonna kill him. I am seriously going to kill him.”

“Hey, Gamble.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. “Sing it with me. Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad—”

“You’re f*cking drunk,” I shouted back.

“No, really? How’d you guess? Hey, does she like to play naughty schoolgirl? That way, you could be her professor every once in a while.”

Quinn appeared next to me, holding a red plastic cup as he peered up at Ten. “What’s he talking about?”

“I have no idea.” I couldn’t stop glaring at my roommate, thinking up the quickest way to silence him.

Death.

Yes, it’d have to be death.

“What kind of stuff does she make you do for extra credit? Write f*ck me silly fifty times in a row? Do you call her Dr. Kavanagh when you’re inside her? Hey, do you even know her first name?”

“Enough!”

“Think she’d lift my grade too if I offered to lick her—”

With a roar, I launched myself at Ten’s legs. When we both toppled over backward off the table, someone screamed and about a dozen players surged forward to break us apart. But I still got in a couple decent punches before I was pulled off him.

Quinn was the only one with enough muscle to drag me away. Breathing hard, I pushed him off me as soon as he got me alone in a brightly lit bathroom. But Jesus, I couldn’t believe my best friend on earth had just ousted me like that.

“I’m gonna kill him,” I muttered even as I grew sick to my stomach. Aspen would never forgive me for this. Oh, God. Had I just ruined her entire life? “I can’t believe he...he...”

“Jeez, Noel.” Hamilton tugged at my arm to get me to face him. “He’s drunk. He always talks stupid when he’s drunk.”

My chest heaved from how strongly I was breathing. “But he said—”

Quinn laughed and shook his head, looking completely unconcerned about how shit was about to hit the fan. “You’re not honestly worried we believed a word he said, are you? We all know how much you hate Kavanagh.”

When I shot him an irritated scowl, everything inside me was still too open and raw. The truth must’ve reflected on my face because his eyes widened.

“Oh,” he breathed, his mouth falling open as he gaped in absolute shock.

I hissed, “Shit,” and squeezed my eyes closed.

Damn it. Hamilton did not need to know about this. Too many people already knew. Hell, after Ten’s little show, I’d be surprised if everyone didn’t know. When I risked a glance his way, Quinn was still staring, badly.

“Look, it’s not what you think.”

He immediately lifted his hands and shook his head. “No. No, of course not,” he agreed. “I mean, after Coach Jacobi’s decree and the scandal on the volleyball team, you’d never risk her job and your own future like that, just to...” His eyes were wide and seeking. “Would you? You love her, right?”

It struck me just how truly innocent Quinn Hamilton was. I’d never heard the kid cuss, or say one disparaging thing about anyone else. He had that pure, boy-next-door edge about him and thought the best of everyone. We all teased him about being a virgin, and looking at him right then, I had to wonder if he really still was.

He stared at me with his hero-worship gaze on. I was the leader of our team, and he’d always looked at me as if I could do no wrong. If I said the wrong thing right now, I could wipe out his entire belief system.