Chapter 5

I couldn't feel any worse at the moment. My memory was so jumbled up, and I hardly had any recollection of that situation. I closed my eyes for a second and focused. I could see faint outlines of a scene. Everything was disjointed, but I could remember sitting at the bar waiting for Elise and the girls to return. I could faintly remember the pretty bartender, and how full the place was.

Then memories started flooding through. A college-aged guy took a seat beside me, his friend on the other side. He kept inviting me to a party. Asking me if I would like to go with him and his friend. His friend touching my hair, making me nearly jump from my seat as I tried to politely say, "no I'm good."

I remembered bringing my Mai Tai back to my mouth and taking a few sips; I wasn't drunk at this point. I kept wishing they'd go away, but they continued to try to make conversation, asking about my major and my career goals. They were trying so hard and I felt trapped.

A few more sips into that delicious Mai Tai and I started to feel strange. I remembered thinking to myself,

this is only my second one.

At that point, I placed my head into my hands as it started to throb. Where were the girls? I knew Elise's cousin Sammy was feeling sick, so they rushed her to the bathroom, but it had felt like so long ago.

I needed these guys to stop talking to me. I felt the one on my right, with short blonde hair, place his hand on my arm and tug at me.

From there, things got fuzzy again. I faintly remember someone else walking up behind me and saying, "Come on, I finally got us a booth."

It was Wyatt. Wyatt had slowly pulled me away from the scene, ignoring the two guys and walking me over to an empty round booth.

He told me to sit and pushed water towards me.

I couldn't grab it. I physically could not grab the glass of water, but I was parched.

The next thing I knew, Wyatt was moving beside me and placing the straw into the water, holding the glass up closer to my lips. His arm brushed mine by accident, and I felt a chill run down my spine. I wanted to be afraid of him, but I couldn't. I would never drink what a stranger offered, but I did.

My mind snapped back to the present. I could feel my face flush when I remembered the rest. I was all over my professor, hugging him, kissing his cheek, placing my hand on his thigh—something the real me would never do. He never reciprocated, as far as I could remember. All I could faintly see in my mind's eye was getting a glimpse of his eyes, and for a moment, everything around me froze. Something in me told me I knew him. Something seemed familiar, but I couldn't place my finger on it.

I didn't remember much more than that, let alone any words that might have been exchanged. It was clear enough that I had embarrassed myself and now had to deal with the fact that I had hit on my professor at a bar while drunk.

When my eyes met his again, his smirk was evident, and his hazel eyes were teasing. "I warned you wouldn't like what I had to say."

I turned around and noticed the button to the first floor wasn't pressed yet. His fingers had uncovered it, giving me time to hit the button myself. "Professor Wyatt, I am extremely sorry for what happened. I usually hold my liquor pretty well—but I had skipped all my meals that day—I just—I'm sorry." I had to bite my tongue to avoid saying anything else.

He chuckled lightly and gently patted my shoulder, chilling my back. "There's nothing to be ashamed about. I'm grateful I was there and could intervene at the right time."

I nodded politely and bit my lip. I couldn't turn around to look at him. My face was burning, and I just wanted the elevator to reach the first floor.

Unfortunately, the elevator seemed to be crawling to the next floor. All I could do was bite my lip, breathe in, and hope those blinking numbers would change faster. There was something strange about being enclosed in such a small space with him. It was more than my humiliating circumstances. I could feel the air thickening between us, but he stood calmly, his arms crossed and his eyes on the numbers above us.

I took a deep breath and focused on those numbers as well.

Once the doors opened, I grabbed my backpack straps and walked away towards the exit of the building, Wyatt's footsteps close behind me. I thought I had heard thunder outside, and I hoped more than anything that there was no rain waiting for me. Though I lived close to campus, our campus was enormous. I refused to walk in the rain for fifteen or so minutes to reach home.

"Damn it," I whispered to myself once I reached the glass doors. Everything was blurry outside. The rain was pouring to the point that visibility was at its worst.

"Don't tell me you didn't bring an umbrella."

I shook my head at the voice that came from behind me. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I have to head to the parking garage. If you'd like, you can go with me and I can give you a ride home. I wouldn't want you getting caught in this. At least I have an umbrella we can share until we get to the safety of my car."

I rolled my eyes before turning around. I knew better than to decline. I wanted to call Elise and ask her to get me, but she was terrified of driving through storms. I could never do that to her. I felt so awkward—having to accept and share an umbrella with him. "I don't have a choice..." I murmured to myself, knowing he could very well hear me.

"How about you take the umbrella then?"

I shook my head, immediately feeling bad about what I had said. "No! I didn't mean that in a bad way—I just—look, I feel awkward, okay. I don't remember half of last night, and being told by my college professor that I hit on him is really embarrassing."

I was caught off guard when he smirked and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into the rain. I could feel the fabric of his white shirt and his warmth. He immediately opened the umbrella so that no more than a few drops had fallen on us.

"Relax, let's just get to my car. It's late, and you can't see a thing in this."

He was right. You couldn't see a thing in this rain, which was a good thing. My face had flushed such a deep shade of red I didn't even have to look at my reflection to know. His arm around my shoulders was putting me on edge, and his scent was intoxicating. An earthy, steady, and eerily familiar scent mixed with the rain tempted me to press my face into his shirt and disappear. There was a strange sense of comfort that was so different from the fear I had the moment I first saw him.

Walking in the rain wasn't fun, to say the least. My shoes were already soaked in water; thankfully, I had worn shorts, so only my bare legs were wet. Thanks to the giant umbrella that Wyatt had with him, my upper body was pretty well-protected. His arm around my shoulders also protected me from the cold droplets that would occasionally hit the back of my neck.

At this point, the rain was coming down so hard, and the thunder was so loud, that I pushed myself into the side of Wyatt's body and clung onto him, hoping that the closer we were, the less water would get all over me.

"Afraid of the rain?" He interrupted the silence.

I shook my head. "No. I just hate rain. I'm sorry if I'm too close, but I don't want to get poured on."

"I understand; it's fine." His reply was sincere and polite. I could tell he wasn't trying to make me feel uncomfortable.

I stayed silent the rest of the way, hoping we had no more awkward moments. I wanted to ask him if there were any other things I might have said or done the previous night, but was terrified to do so. I tried to pretend nothing ever happened.

"Okay, we're almost there," he murmured.

I held my breath as I whispered, "Thank you."

"Ms. Noelle, there's nothing to thank me for..." he paused for a second, "you've already provided me your thanks last night." Though the last part was whispered, I heard it clear.

I pushed him away from me and let myself get caught in the rain. We were only a few feet from the door to the entrance of the parking garage and I didn't care at this point.

"You know, for a smart one you really don't know how to take a joke."

I rolled my eyes and felt his arm around me in an instant, the safety of the umbrella and his body around me and keeping me warm.