Chapter 74

Audity

"But... What about your girlfriend

Edwin's eyebrows shot up and he immediately looked confused, followed by concerned, then confused again. Clearly, my words had taken him off guard. Maybe he didn't expect me to find out about the reality of his situation.

"Girlfriend? What girlfriend?" he finally asked.

"Don't play dumb, I muttered, feeling a bit of frustration bubble up beneath my skin. Without waiting for a response, I turned on my heel to leave.

But he caught my arm, his grip firm but gentle, and pulled me back to him with ease. "Audrey, what are you talking about?" For a moment. I felt my face flush at his touch. But I quickly pushed that feeling down as best I could. "Don't act like you don't know, I replied coldly, ripping my wrist away from his grip.

He quirked his eyebrow. "I really don't know what you're talking about."

Sighing, I placed one hand on my hip while the other gripped my cardboard coffee cup like my life depended on it. "I saw the photo of you with that beautiful woman at your apartment during dinner. And I saw you in the convertible with her, and at the club last night. You shouldn't have danced with me like that if you were with someone else." I hoped he couldn't see me trembling. "Audrey, 1-

"And I certainly hope you weren't in a relationship when we**ed up on New Year's Eve," I added, my voice lowering to a

hiss

There was a long weighted silence after that. Then, to my surprise, Edwin burst out laughing. I blinked in surprise, not sure if he was mocking me or if it was something else, "You think I have a girlfriend?"

"Don't patronize me, I growled.

"I'm not." He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and held it up to me. "Are you talking about this woman?" he asked.

Pursing my lips, I leaned forward to see a picture of the woman that I had seen-beautiful as ever, her blonde hair practically shining with a light of its own. "Yes," I replied, feeling my chest tighten just upon looking at her.

Edwin huffed. "Audrey, that's my sister.

For a moment, I didn't believe him; but then I looked up and met his gaze, and saw nothing but sincerity there. My face instantly went red. "You have a sister?"

Edwin nodded, still chuckling. "Three, to be exact." He tapped his phone again for a few moments before turning it back around to show me what looked like her Facebook page. "Eliza Brooks," he said. "See?", Several seconds passed as I stared at the screen, taking in the beautiful woman's relationship status: single. And she was definitely his sister, because there was a picture of the two of them with an older man and woman, as well as two other equally beautiful ladies: clearly their parents and their other two sisters.

Mon, Sep 16

Chapter 74

covering my face with my free hand "I'm...

mistake. We don't look much alike and she keeps herself out of the public eye, so a lot of people have made that assumption that

with my sister." His face grew

couldn't decide if I was relieved or if

a response, Edwin stepped back and glanced over at my friends, who were still sitting at the table outside. They seemed to be looking around in mild confusion, likely wondering what was taking me so long.

nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah. I should

interrupt your vacation again," he said, gesturing for me to go. "But please, be more careful with random men at

his head and chuckling slightly. "That was quite the beating you gave him.

thought I had physically fought Jake off. "Oh, um, yeah. I

With that, he picked up his coffee and turned to leave.

"I won't"

from his broad back until he

the conversation when I returned to

as I shakily set our tray down

so long." I mumbled as

top of my coffee

now. "Oh, it was... in my purse." The lie felt heavy on my tongue, but I couldn't bring myself to explain the truth right

relationship. It was ridiculous, I knew. I might not have been his TA anymore but he was still my professor, still off-limits. But

interactions

mean that someday-maybe, just maybe, once I was finished with his class-we could have a

passed in a blur, the days spent laying in the sun and splashing in the ocean. After a couple of days, I managed to push away the thoughts of Edwin and simply focus on my trip with

21-15 Mon, Sep 16

Chapter 74

around and I would find myself tossing and

the car and heading back to campus. As we pulled into the parking lot outside the dorms, I felt a bit of sadness that the vacation was over-but also a

we hauled our bags out

later in the week. I trudged up to my dorm room, dropped my bags on the floor, and

for my laptop to check my email. As I scrolled through the notifications that had piled up over

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