THE PROFESSOR
CHAPTER 1
BRIANNA
The door to Professor Hale’s office was already cracked open when I got there, like he’d been expecting me. Or maybe he just never bothered to close it all the way anymore. Either way, my heart slammed against my ribs the second I saw him behind that wide oak desk—same desk I used to fantasize about being bent over during every single one of his undergrad seminars three years ago.
I didn’t knock. I just pushed the door wider and stepped inside, letting it swing almost shut behind me. The click of the latch felt louder than it should have.
“Professor Hale,” I said, voice brighter than I felt. “Long time no see.”
He looked up from the stack of syllabi he was pretending to read. For one heartbeat his face softened—genuine surprise, maybe even something wa
