08

Sophia's POV

I sat down in the chair across from him with my bag clutched in my lap like a shield the leather was cold beneath my thighs.

He didn't say anything at first he continued working like I was invisible before he finally set the pen down letting out a breath and leaning back in his chair watching me with those dark, unreadable eyes making the silence stretched between us thick and suffocating.

I stared at a spot on the wall behind him anywhere but his face.

"So," he said finally. "Are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing." He repeated the word like he didn't believe it. "You couldn't answer a simple question in class. You were staring off into space like you were a million miles away and you expect me to believe it's nothing?"

"Yes."

He leaned forward his elbows resting on the desk. "I'm not in the mood for games."

"Neither am I." I finally looked at him. "I'm fine It was just a long night and I didn't sleep well."

"Is that all?"

"What else would it be?"

He studied me for a long moment then he stood up and walked around the desk perching on the edge of it right in front of me too close way too close I could smell his cologne.

"I'm going to ask you one more time," he said quietly. "And I want the truth. What are you distracted by?"

My heart was pounding so hard I could barely breathe. His presence was overwhelming and suffocating.

Every nerve in my body was screaming at me to run to get away from him before I did something stupid.

"Nothing," I said again. "Can I go now?"

"No."

"I don't have to sit here and—"

"You'll sit there until I say you can leave."

I stood up abruptly my chair scraping against the floor. "You can't just keep me here I have other classes."

"Sit. Down."

"Make me."

His eyes flashed with something dangerous flickering across his face. He stood up from the desk, towering over me, and I instinctively took a step back.

"Careful, Sophia."

"No." I shook my head my voice rising. "No, I'm done being careful. I'm done pretending and sitting here while you act like what happened between us didn't happen."

He went still.

"You want to know what I'm distracted by?" I continued, my voice shaking. "You. You're what I'm distracted by. Every time I close my eyes, I see your face, we cant keep lying to ourselves that nothing happened. Like you—“

"Stop."

"Like you didn't take my virginity—“

"Sophia I said stop."

"No." I snap my eyes burning with tears"How am I supposed to focus? How am I supposed to concentrate when I'm living under the same roof as you? When you're my stepfather? When you're my professor? And you expect me to just pretend like everything's normal?"

He didn't answer his jaw only tightened with his hands clenching at his sides.

"That's enough." He warns

"No It's not enough nothing about this is enough." I wiped my face with the back of my hand. "I hate this. You're my mother's husband and my professor I shouldn't want you. I don't want to want you but I do and that's killing me."

He stared at me his expression unreadable.

He was silent for a long moment. Then he spoke, his voice cold and flat. "What happened between us was a mistake."

I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.

"It was one night," he continued. "One night that should have never happened and it will never happen again."

"You can't just—"

"I can." He stepped closer his eyes boring into mine. "I'm married to your mother. Do you understand that? I made vows to her. Vows that I intend to keep. What happened between us was a lapse in judgment. A moment of weakness and I am going to bury it. We are going to bury it and you are going to respect that."

"Respect that?" My voice was barely a whisper. "You're asking me to just forget?"

"I'm asking you to be mature about this. To act like an adult and not a child throwing a tantrum because she didn't get what she wanted."

"Get what I wanted?" I laughed, but it came out hollow. "You think I wanted any of this? You think I wanted to find out my best friend was sleeping with my boyfriend? You think I wanted to go to that club? You think I wanted to sleep with a stranger who turned out to be my stepfather?"

I couldn't finish the tears were coming too fast now.

He didn't move or try to offer comfort not that I expected him to.

He just stood there, cold and distant.

"Ihave a career to protect, a marriage and a reputation. And I won't let you destroy any of it."

"I wasn't trying to destroy anything—"

"Then prove it." His voice was sharp. "Walk out of this office. Go to your next class and never speak of what happened again."

"Thorne—"

"Professor Sinclair." He cut me off. "I'm Professor Sinclair to you here, Just your professor. Do you understand?"

I stared at him my heart aching.

"Do you understand Sophia?" he repeated.

I nodded.

"Good." He walked back to his desk and sat down, picking up his pen like nothing had happened. "You can leave now and Sophia? Do better in my class. I won't give you another warning."

I walked to the door with my legs feeling like they were made of lead and my hands shaking as I reached for the handle.

And then I walked out.

I shouldn't have cared.

It was supposed to be a one-night stand just sex with no strings attached.

That was the deal.

That was what I'd wanted.

But it wasn't what I'd gotten.

He'd said it was a mistake.

And the worst part? The part that made me hate myself the most?

It hurt.

It hurt so fucking much.

Because I'd l I'd let him touch me. I'd let him see me at my most broken and vulnerable.

Now I had to live with that for the rest of my stay at his mansion and school.