Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 134133 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 671(@200wpm)___ 537(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134133 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 671(@200wpm)___ 537(@250wpm)___ 447(@300wpm)
He gazes at me, still managing to make me feel like I failed to find the right one.
Without another word, his gaze leaves me, and he walks back to his podium at the front of the class.
I breathe a sigh of relief and grab my pen with shaky hands. The nervous sensation lingers since I still felt like he was unconvinced when he walked away, but I try to shove it down and focus as he tells everyone to open their textbooks to page 77.
___
When class is over, I make my way out of the building prepared to encounter Hugh and the limo, but unsure how I should respond.
This morning, I was desperate.
I was also confident that he would take me to school without any chance of encountering Silvan because Silvan probably has classes starting around the same time, so surely, he knew I needed to get to class.
But now the school day is over so I'm less certain Hugh would take me straight home.
I'm also not sure if I should go back to my dorm so I can get started on my homework or go to Mom's house. I can do my homework there, and I do need to get my car.
I grab my phone and text her to see if she'll be home tonight.
Hugh isn't waiting by the curb, but it doesn't occur to me until I've been standing there waiting for several minutes... Could it be he's not coming? He never actually said he would pick me up after school.
I'm horrified to realize I just assumed Silvan would send the car for me.
That is an embarrassing realization.
My cheeks flushed from more than the chilly weather, I hoist my bag on my shoulder and start to make my way home, the whole way there trying to understand how I let myself get so wrapped up in Silvan's peculiar courtship.
Because that's what this is, isn't it? It's the strangest courtship I could ever imagine, but he's not doing all of this out of the kindness of his heart.
He wants something from me.
His actions the night we met made it extremely unlikely he would ever get it, so he's taken steps to erase the difficulty from my life and make me... start to rely on him.
And it’s working.
Without even realizing it, he has made me comfortable enough to get in that car this morning with almost no hesitation, and it was just this past weekend that he locked me in an escape room and nearly raped me.
Wow.
It feels crucial that I get a breather from him, so instead of heading straight home, I decide to go somewhere he wouldn't be able to find me even if he wanted to.
There's a little coffee shop I've been meaning to stop at on my way home, anyway, so I stop in and order myself a hot chocolate. I set up at a table in the corner and get started on my homework.
My head feels clearer than it has in a while with this little pocket of independence from Silvan. I don't understand why I had to make an effort to find a Silvan-free corner of my world, anyway, since I never agreed to be in any kind of dysfunctional relationship with him, but I feel like he has access to me in all the places he has sent Hugh to pick me up.
Not here.
I'm free here in this little coffee shop.
It feels good.
Right.
I feel like my own person here. Like no one knows who I am, so I could be anybody.
A girl without a dodgy past and far too much baggage.
I could start over and be someone new.
"Sophie?"
My heart stalls as I hear a familiar voice behind me.
I turn to look, and my heart melts into a puddle and pours down my legs when I see Professor DeMarco standing there in a brown coat with his briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
"H-hi," I stammer awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"
His lips tug up. He glances around the coffee shop which I didn't realize had filled up with the post-school crowd. "Just coming in for my usual cup of coffee before I head home, but it seems someone has taken my table."
My tummy flutters at the teasing censure in his gaze when he looks at me. "Me? Oh, I'm sorry," I say without thought, turning and grabbing for papers so I can put them away and leave him to his spot.
A firm hand comes down on the papers and he meets my gaze, leaning close enough that I can smell him. "You don't have to do that," he says.
I swallow.
"But," he continues, his tone light since he can see how nervous he makes me, "maybe I could join you?"
Oh, Silvan wouldn't like that.
I don't know where that thought comes from, but it infuriates me and solidifies my decision.