Page 146 of Their Naughty Student (Office Intrigue Duet 6)
When Edge paused this time, Jamie got to her feet, walked toward him. He didn’t look her way, didn’t even flinch when she wrapped her arms around him from behind.
“I stayed at a friend’s house that night. Didn’t come home after school because I didn’t want to hear it anymore. Gretchen called me, asked if I was at home. Said she needed to talk to Dad, but he wasn’t answering. I told her about the argument, said I wasn’t going home until Sunday night. I needed a break.”
Edge took a deep breath and it shuddered when he exhaled.
“Gretchen called me again that afternoon, told me I needed to go home, to have Dad call her immediately. It was important. I didn’t ask her why, didn’t care. Still don’t know what it was about.”
He swallowed hard, set the beer on the counter.
“I walked in and found my father and grandfather dead in the living room. The house was a wreck. Broken glass, torn furniture, the curtains hanging off the windows. My mother was in the kitchen, on the floor in a pool of blood, the gun still in her hand. From what the police said, she’d shot them both, then destroyed the house before putting the gun to her own head and pulling the trigger.”
“Oh, God,” Jamie whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
Edge turned, put his arms around her, and held her tightly. I watched, unable to move.
“She was sick,” he muttered. “We all knew it, but we pretended it didn’t matter, that we could handle it on our own. Gretch did research on the disease, said it was genetic, that one or both of us could have it.”
I hadn’t heard this before, so I got to my feet, moved to stand beside them in the kitchen.
Edge met my eyes. “I’ve had this voice in my head for the longest time. Thought maybe I was going insane, too.”
I didn’t look away. Couldn’t.
“I ignored it, fought it. Did the opposite of what it was telling me to do.”
Jamie pulled back, stared up at him.
“It wasn’t telling me to do specific things. More like to let things go, to stop fighting myself. Nothing harmful.”
“Your conscience,” Jamie whispered. “Not a voice.”
He smiled. “Yeah. It took me a long time to realize that. You, actually,” he said, “both of you. When I accepted what I really wanted, to love you both, it disappeared completely.”
“You’re not crazy,” I told him, stepping closer and sliding my hand around his head, pulling his mouth to mine.
“No,” he said softly. “Not in the technical term. But I am crazy about the two of you.”
“Ditto,” I whispered, smiling against his mouth.
“Hey,” Jamie said in a huff. “Care to include me in this mushy moment?”
She broke the tension in that instant. Edge reached for her, lifting her off her feet and setting her on the counter.
“I love you,” he said as he leaned in, pressed his forehead to hers.
“I love you, too.”
“What am I?” I harrumphed. “Chopped liver?”
Edge threw his arm around me, jerked me forward and crushed his mouth to mine. When he released me, Jamie did the same.
“I quit the club,” Edge blurted.
Jamie and I drew back at the same time, staring at him. He could clearly see our confusion because he continued.
“I talked to Trent. Decided it was best to resign my position. I’ll stay on until he fills the spot. I’ve been getting in my own way for too long, trying to structure a world that I fit in, rather than fitting in the world I want.”
Jamie stepped up, cupped his face. “Whatever makes you happy… That’s what I want.”
He kissed her gently and I could see he had needed that approval.
“You know what I want?” I asked when the moment had passed and the tension had fully dissipated.
“What’s that?” Jamie asked.
“I think I’m gonna take a shower. Thought maybe when I got out, I might stumble across something happening”—I pointed toward the sofa—“over there.”
“Something?” Edge probed.
“Something hot,” I clarified.
“Well, I was thinking maybe the three of us should take a shower,” Jamie said with a grin. “Maybe something hot could happen in there.”
Edge reached for her. “I like your suggestion better,” he told her before looking my way. “And yours … we’ll work on that tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
I definitely liked the sound of that.
A lot of tomorrows.
TWENTY-TWO
EDGE
Three months later
Thursday, February 14, 2019
“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” JAMIE ASKED AS I led her out of the elevator and down the hall. The blindfold covering her eyes made it impossible for her to see. Which, of course, was the point.
“We told you. It’s a surprise,” Cav repeated for what had to have been the tenth time since we left Jamie’s apartment.
“Can you at least give me a hint?”
Cav unlocked the apartment door, then opened it, allowing me to guide Jamie inside.
“Is this some sort of submissive thing? Are you going to make me strip?”
