All Chapters of Professor Off-Limits: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

ALEENA'S POV I finished my shift that night like nothing happened. When Vivienne's group finally cleared out sometime past midnight, and when I caught Xavier’s silhouette disappearing though the exit not long after, I didn't let myself look twice. I just kept pouring drinks, kept clearing and pretended like I hadn't seen either of their faces at all. If I acted like it didn't rattle me, maybe they wouldn't think too much of it. By the time Damien waved me over to settle for the hours I worked, my feet had gone past aching into something closer to numbness, and the wads of cash he counted into my palm felt heavier than it should be for a single night's work. I folded it into my bag without counting it twice, bid Rosie goodnight and headed out into the cold. The walk back to my dorm was quiet—the whole city was already asleep except for me, and that was when my mind decided to circle back to the club incident. Vivienne's face, sharp and pleased, smiling like she had gotten what she

LORCAN'S POV I got back to my office, and it was quiet in a way it only got during classes, and the only sound left was the faint hum of the radiator and the occassional footsteps passing the hallway outside. I sat behind my desk with a stack of papers I had no intention of grading that moment, my pen resting untouched beside thdm, and my attention was focused on the bottom drawer ony left. I hadn't opened it since the night I had put that photograph inside, and that was the first time in a long time I had opened that drawer. There was something I needed to know. Something I couldn't get from watching her in class, the careful way she arranges her face whenever I was near. Those versions of her are oerfomances, calibrated for me, shaped by whatever she thought I wanted to see or what she refused to give me. What I needed was something unscripted. I needed to see her tested by someone who knew her before any of this—before the detentions, before I existed in her life as anything m

ALEENA'S POV Mira was already asleep by the time I finally set my phone down, and her breathing was slow and even across the room, completely unaware of the two messages I had received a while back. I lay there in the dark for a very long moment, staring at the ceiling, and Vivienne and Lorcan’s text kept replaying in my head every time I tried to close my eyes to think of something. Then I remembered I was supposed to be at the Velvet room in two hours, and I was not even ready yet. But I couldn’t go—not now. I couldn’t stand behind a bar, smiling at strangers with my mind spinning this hard—with real trouble apparently in motion and no idea of what it could possibly be. I pulled my phone and texted Rosie before I could talk myself out of it. “Hi Rosie, could you please cover for me tonight?” Then a few minutes later, her text came in. “Sure Aleena… but what’s the problem?” I read her text and replied, “it’s a long story, but I owe you a big one.” She responded in less t

ALEENA’s POV By the time I arrived at the Velvet room that evening, I had already convinced myself that I was going to be fine. It was a place I could earn money, pay my bills, and keep my scholarship from slipping through my fingers and nothing more. I wasn’t going to think about Lorcan, or his office, or the way he’d looked at me when I told him he was part of the problem. Tonight, I was just going to do my job and go home—as simple as that. The music was already pulsing through the club by the time I stepped inside. The room glowed beneath the low golden lights, and the familiar mix of expensive perfume and strong liquor greeted me. I hadn’t taken a few steps before Rosie spotted me from behind the bar and lifted her chin in greeting. “You’re late, Aleena.” I glanced at the clock on the wall and back at her. “I’m three minutes early.” “Exactly. I was expecting you five minutes ago.” I rolled my eyes, “Really?” and she laughed. “Come on, sleepyhead.” She inclined her head

ALEENA’s POV By the time I returned to Velvet Room for my next shift, I already felt like half of the burden I had carried for weeks about my scholarship had been lifted. Rosie greeted me behind the bar, and I spent the first part of the evening moving between tables, taking orders, and doing my best not to think about university. Then Ray arrived shortly. He went to his usual seat and settled down, waving over Rosie to take his order because he probably hasn’t seen me yet. After Rosie left, he glanced around and when his eyes finally met mine, he gave me a small smile. I smiled back at him and went back to work before he thought I was trying to dosomething else. When Rosie and I had literally attended to all the tables at the bar and it was a bit less busy, Ray called me over. “Hey Aleena. Have you made any progress?” I glanced at him. “You remembered?” “Should I be offended that you sound surprised?” “No… I didn’t say that.” I laughed and set my notepad down. “I went to th