Addiction

16

"Please stop saying okay. It's not okay. And I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Penny."

"You don't have to explain it to me. She's your wife."

"I needed you to know."

I took a deep breath. "I need some air."

"Okay. Let's take a walk."

"I want to be alone."

"Penny, you have a concussion..."

"I'm okay. Please. I just need some air."

"Take this." He lifted up the envelope.

"I shook my head."

He folded the envelope and stood up. He slipped it into my pocket. Then he grabbed my phone out of his pocket and slipped it next to the envelope. "Please be careful."

"I promised you I would be." I went over to the elevator and pressed the button.

"Please stay."

"I can't."

"I'm begging you, please."

"I can't look at you right now." The elevator dinged as the doors slid open. I stepped on.

"Penny."

"Professor Hunter."

The doors closed.

Saturday

I hugged my arms around myself. I needed to be alone. I knew that I could forgive him for not talking to me for weeks. Hell, I already had. But sleeping with Isabella? He was supposed to be getting a divorce, not f*****g her. I shook my head and looked down at my sneakers. I hated that I was wearing clothes that he had bought for me.

The elevator doors dinged. I kept my eyes on the ground.

"I apologize in advance for what I'm about to ask you."

I looked up. Brendan had just stepped onto the elevator. He hit the button to close the doors.

"So, the dramatic guy. Did he do that to you?"

"No. It's not like that." He just spanks me when he thinks I've misbehaved. "I fell. That's all."

"Okay." He moved closer to me and leaned against the wall. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Then why does it look like you're about to cry?"

"I just found something out that I'm not happy about."

"Did you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Brendan sighed. "You seem to be having a bad day. And I don't want to make anything worse. But I do need to tell you something. And just so we're clear, it's not because I want to get into your pants. I mean, I do want to get in your pants. But I'm not telling you because of that."

I couldn't help but laugh. I looked up at him. "What do you need to tell me?"

"I'm not 100 percent sure. Closer to 85 percent. But I'm pretty sure that both of the men that have penthouse suites are married."

I looked back down at my shoes. I could feel his eyes on me. He thought I was a monster. "I didn't know that when I started seeing him."

"But you do already know?"

"Yes." I felt ashamed. "He's getting divorced."

"That's what they all say."

"I believed him." I sighed. "I believed him until about five minutes ago."

The doors opened. We both stepped out into the parking garage.

"It was nice seeing you again," I said.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"For a walk. I need to clear my head."

"I was actually going to go for a walk too. Do you mind if I join you?"

"I find that hard to believe." He was so easy to talk to. And he seemed to like offering me free advice. "But no, I don't mind."

Together we walked out of the parking garage. The sun was bright and the autumn leaves crunched under my feet. My head pounded. I was glad Professor Hunter had made me take those pills. We walked in silence for a few minutes. "Do you mind if we sit down for a second?" I suddenly felt dizzy.

Brendan grabbed my arm and escorted me to a bench. He sat down next to me and put his arm behind me on the bench, but he didn't touch me. I rubbed my forehead.

"Do you need to see a doctor about that?"

"I already have."

"And?"

"I have a concussion. I needed stitches. Because I'm an idiot."

"Should you be walking around like that?"

"Probably not," I laughed.

"I'm curious to know how you ended up with a concussion. I'm even more curious to know how you ended up dating a married man. Girls like you don't need to date married men."

"Girls like me?" I laughed.

"Yes, girls like you." He put his hand on my knee. "Tell me your story."

I crossed my legs on the bench and turned to him. "It's a long story."

"Luckily I'm free all afternoon."

"It kind of started last semester. I was dating this asshole. He made me feel small. But when things didn't work out it still hurt. He was my first boyfriend. My first kiss. My first...well, you know."

"The first person you'd ever had s*x with?"

"Yes." I looked down at my lap. I launched into the story about running into Professor Hunter before I knew he was a professor. I told him about meeting Tyler. I told him about my obsession with wanting Professor Hunter to want me. And how my feelings for Tyler had always skirted away from the friend zone. How I led him on. How I lied to both of them. I told him about when I found out that Professor Hunter was married. About my awkward speeches in class and my almost hookup with Tyler. I told him about lying about my age and my fight with Professor Hunter. I told him about not hearing from him for weeks, which led me to being a stalker and running into Brendan in the first place. I told him about taking his advice and having s*x with Tyler.

"Let me stop you right there." He hadn't said anything the whole time. He was just listening. "I never told you to have s*x with anyone. I just wanted you to let me take you on a date. If I had known there was a Tyler in the equation, my advice probably would have been different."

I laughed. "It was good advice. Until the professor showed up." I had referred to Professor Hunter as the professor since the beginning. I didn't want to run his name through the mud. "We got in a huge fight. And then he and Tyler got in a fist fight. Tyler accidentally hit me and knocked the wind out of me. I slipped on some spilled beer and hit my head."

"End of story?"

"Almost. The professor carried me back to his apartment and took care of me. It was sweet. We got in another fight. We made up. A couple of times." I could feel my face blushing. "And then he told me that while he wasn't talking to me he had s*x with his wife."