Page 9 of American Love Story

Ted was in the sociology department. He’d gotten tenured a few years back, but unlike Brad, he was the opposite of pretentious. He was also Jude’s friend and an all-around good guy.

“Hey, I was about to go to the coffee shop downstairs.” He cast an icy look in Brad’s direction and then turned his attentionback to me. “I was wondering if you wanted to walk down together.”

I was not one to show emotion, but at the moment I hoped the expression on my face could convey just how grateful I was to be rescued from this train wreck of a conversation.

“Sure. I could use some caffeinating.”

Brad got a clue for once and stood up. But not without a “Coffee break already, it must be nice to be in a field where the pressure to publish isn’t as rigorous.”

Ted only nodded and kept talking to me. His wife Carmen’s salt must’ve been rubbing off on him. “The barista that makes the good lattes is there today, Patrice.”

Yeah, that ice he was sending Brad’s way was all Carmen.

Brad made a big show of shoving the chair back and popping up. “I should get going, I’m almost done with that revision I’ve been working on.” I loved how all of a sudden Brad was Mr. Hustle when he’d been sitting in my office like he had nothing but time for the last ten minutes.

Ted shook his head as we started for the stairs. “That dude is a fucking pill. I can’t stand him. I wasn’t even going to get coffee, but when I walked by and saw his ass parked in your office, I figured you needed some rescuing.”

I just nodded, not wanting to get into how the conversation with Brad had annoyed the hell out of me. One of the reasons why I liked Ted was that I didn’t need to explain to him why certain things people said landed poorly with me. He was a good ally and listener, and I appreciated having him around.

As we walked to get our coffee, Ted didn’t push me to talk, which I appreciated. “Speaking of infuriating things, did you see the story of the two students that got stopped by the police yesterday?”

I shook my head, already dreading whatever he was about to say.

“From what I read about it, it sounds like they were barely going five miles over the speed limit. They’re filing a complaint for harassment. Of course, nothing so far about accountability for the officers who’re doing this shit.”

I exhaled at the same time I felt the muscles in my shoulders tense again. “I didn’t hear.” I sighed, weary as fuck already, and it was barely 10:00 a.m. on a Monday. “I mean it’s not like I expected this kind of thing to only happen in the city, but it’s never not disappointing.” Ted only nodded, his handsome face thunderous, as I pulled out my phone. I opened the app and noticed a tweet from earlier this morning, where I’d dragged some DC flunkie for some mess brewing down there, had blown up. I started tapping out a new one.

Nice to know the move from NYC to Upstate is not going to let me get rusty. Driving While Black seems to be enough to get hassled up here, too. Any students getting stopped for going five miles over the limit? @ me if you are.

I hit send and put my phone back in my pocket and when I looked up at Ted, he was grinning at me.

“You’re going to be good for this town.”

chapter three

easton

I’d never been the jealous type, but whatever was happening had turned me into a possessive asshole when I was around Patrice. I’d been seething in silence for the past twenty minutes, watching him get chatted up by some guy at Nesto and Jude’s party. I had no clue who the guy was, but he’d been stuck to Patrice like a fucking shadow since I’d gotten here thirty minutes ago.

“You can’t actually burn a hole through a person by staring, Easton.”

I turned around and saw Jude standing behind me with an amused look on his face.

“I don’t know,” I said through gritted teeth. “I feel like I was making progress. Who is that guy anyway?”

He used his glass of rosé to point in the direction of Patrice and his new chat buddy. “That’s Peter. He’s a mathematics professor from somewhere on the West Coast. He knows Ted from undergrad and was here for the week doing something up at Cornell. They brought him along since he’s not leaving until the morning. No need to worry, he will be on his way out of town soon.” Jude was having a little too much fun at my expense.

I kept looking in Patrice’s direction but turned my head slightly to continue talking with Jude. It seemed my desperation was showing.

“Am I that obvious?”

Jude chuckled and took a sip of his wine before answering. “I wouldn’t saysuperobvious, but I may be hyperaware of people pining in silence. It was kind of my thing for a while.”

In that moment, Patrice turned his head and finally looked my way. When his eyes landed on me, the intensity in them heated my skin. For a second he looked at me like he was reaching across the room to touch me. It was gone in a flash though, and then he was back to aloof Patrice, but it was too late. I’d felt the heat of his stare on me. This dynamic was becoming a pattern for us: Patrice momentarily letting his guard down and me pouncing.

I pointed at the sideboard where they’d set up the bar. Which was conveniently located next to Patrice. “I’m going to get myself another drink.”

Carmen scoffed, “We can tell you’re thirsty, Easton. You go and get yourself that drink.”