Semua Bab Case Study: You (MxM Romance): Bab 31 - Bab 37

LUCASMy fists clenched before I could stop them. For him to reduce something as significant as that, a pleasant experience that I thought about several times since it’d happened, to nothing more than a mistake, it made my chest feel tight.“You kiss pretty well for someone who keeps pretending he doesn’t want me.”His eyes widened. “Don’t.”“What? I was complimenting you.”He closed his eyes. “Please. Don’t.”I blinked.Something about the way he uttered those pleading words made me pause.He didn’t sound annoyed. He just sounded tired. Desperate. Like he was in pain and wanted it to stop.When he opened his eyes again, the warmth was gone. Only cold professionalism remained.“I need you to listen carefully.”Something in my stomach tightened at the sound of his voice.“I don’t want you coming here anymore.”The words didn’t register at first.“What?” I said dumbly.“I don’t want you showing up at my house again like you did today,” he continued tightly. “I don’t want you coming to m

ADRIANI stared at the same paragraph of a student’s essay for what had to be the fourth time, as the words blurred together.I sighed and rubbed at my temple.Concentrate, Adrian.It wasn’t a particularly difficult assignment to grade. In fact, most of the students had done reasonably well.So why couldn’t I focus?Thursdays were usually one of my least stressful workdays. No lectures, no faculty meetings. Just several uninterrupted hours in my office to grade any assignments, answer emails, prepare the next week’s lectures and attend to any pressing concerns or questions from the students.It was normally a peaceful day.My cursor blinked patiently at the end of a feedback comment I’d started about two minutes ago.“Your discussion of long-term memory demonstrates…”Demonstrates what? I had no idea anymore.A sharp knock sounded against my office door.My heart lurched. The thought that it might be Lucas arrived before I could stop it.For the past two weeks, without fail, he’d been

ADRIANI was beginning to understand why people invented excuses to avoid social gatherings.The restaurant the other professors had chosen wasn’t loud by normal standards, but after having spent some time in a bowling spot prior to this, the whole thing was beginning to look overwhelming.Conversations overlapped from every direction. Glasses clinked. Someone laughed loudly from another table.There were eight of us altogether, all from the psychology department.Professor Jenkins sat across from me.Professor Hall occupied the seat beside her, already halfway through his second beer.Dr. Moreno was enthusiastically explaining her latest research project to anyone willing to listen.Everyone seemed relaxed. Everyone except me.“Professor Frost?”I blinked.Professor Jenkins smiled. “You’ve been staring at the menu for five minutes.”I looked down at the menu in my hand. I hadn’t even realized.Professor Hall chuckled. “Either the menu is incredibly fascinating or we’re too boring to

LUCASIf he was only emailing because he was obligated to, then there was no reason for me to make his job easier by reassuring him.And if my delusion was right and a tiny part of him cared, then he could wonder. Just like I had.“Serves him right,” I muttered.“What was that?”I looked at Dad. “Nothing.”He raised an eyebrow but didn’t push.That was one thing I appreciated about him. He knew when to leave me alone.Except when it came to that woman, apparently.At least he hadn’t mentioned her in days. Or brought up the letter still sitting in my bag.That evening, Grandma finally woke up.Her eyelids fluttered before slowly opening.Relief washed over me in an almost overwhelming wave as I leaned over the edge of the bed eagerly to peer into her face.“Hey.”Her gaze moved around the room before settling on me.“Lucas?” Her voice came out weak but I knew it was probably the effect of the medications and the fact that she just woke up.At least I hoped.I smiled. “Obviously. Who el