“They’ll wait.” I stood up. “Aren’t you coming? You gotta check out where to put surveillance.”
“Rich people are so weird.”
“Says the guy who owns a Tesla.”
Ian laughed. “I like the new you,” he said. “You’re way more fun.”
Life was more fun when you didn’t want to jump out the window of your high rise.
Chapter 21
Saturday
I readjusted my glasses and continued to read through the papers I was grading. But my mind kept shifting focus to Penny. We didn’t get a chance to talk on Friday because another student had a question for me after class. I thought the distance from Penny might give me some clarity. And in a way it had…just not in the way it should have. Not being allowed to talk to her. Touch her. Taste her. It was driving me slowly insane. I had all the fucking clarity I needed.
It had been a long time since I’d had something to look forward to. It had also been a long time since I’d been on a date. But I wasn’t worried about that. It was clear to me that Penny hadn’t dated anyone worthy of her. And even though I wasn’t worthy, I was very capable of showing her a good time. A better time than some broke college student could. I thought about the blood dripping down her knees when I’d picked her up from her last date.
The edge of the paper in my hand crinkled in my fist. Shit. I tried to focus on the paper I was grading, instead of Penny walking alone in the rain. Seriously, what kind of idiots had she been dating? I wasn’t a good person. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t be good to her. She certainly wouldn’t be walking around alone on my watch.
“Surveillance is all set,” Ian said as he came into my apartment.
I looked up from my papers. “I thought you finished that yesterday?” I welcomed Ian’s distraction. Thinking about Penny with other men made my blood boil.
“Yeah…at the restaurant. I put a few test cameras throughout your apartment complex and right outside. I stopped by your office too. And I left some around campus. Don’t worry, they’re undetectable.”
I ran my hand down my face. What he’d just done wasn’t legal. It was one thing to have them in my apartment and new country club. I owned those things. But he couldn’t just put cameras around campus. “That really wasn’t necessary.”
“Peace of mind.” He set down one of the to-go coffee cups he was carrying down in front of me.
“So where exactly are these cameras?”
“I thought it might be nice to set one up outside Lerner Hall. That way you’ll never have a surprise visit from someone you don’t want to see.” He sat down on the stool beside mine. “Like Isabella.”
That did give me a little peace of mind. And if it was just one tiny camera on campus, it wasn’t a big deal. “So that’s it?”
“I may have put one outside of Sussex Hall too. This coffee is good, right?” He took a long sip like that was somehow going to distract me from what he just said. Penny lived in Sussex Hall.
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why? I told you I was worried she had ulterior motives for dating you. Let me tail her for a few weeks to make sure. Besides, aren’t you curious about who she spends her free time with?”
I could easily dismiss the first part of what he said. But I was curious about who Penny hung out with when she wasn’t with me. Besides…wouldn’t it be safer if I was watching out for her? She didn’t keep the best company. I knew it was wrong, but now I was curious. “If you have information, you might as well tell me.”
He smiled as he pulled out his phone. “She left her dorm building around noon today to go to brunch.” He pulled up a video on his phone of her leaving her dorm.
It was wrong to look. I didn’t want to spy on her. But I couldn’t help it when the footage was right in front of my face.
“She was with Melissa Monroe, her roommate. Apparently they were randomly assigned to be roommates last year. They must have hit it off if they’re roommates again. They’re the same age. Both have birthdays in October. They both have great GPAs. But Melissa’s family isn’t as well off and her mother is just barely scraping by. She lives in lower Delaware which apparently is called Slower Lower to locals. Which is kind of funny.” He laughed to himself.
It was scary how much he could find out about someone in such a small amount of time.
“Anyway, that’s her,” he said and pointed to the girl next to Penny in the video. There was a boy with shaggy blonde hair on the other side of Penny. “And that’s…”
“Tyler Stevens,” I said.
“You already know him?”
“He’s in my Comm class with Penny. They sit next to each other. Does he live in their dorm too?”
“No. He lives in a frat house off Main Street. He must have been visiting them or someone else.”
I stared at the video footage until they left the screen. The three of them looked like friends. They were all laughs and smiles. No hand-holding. But there was something about the video that still pissed me off. Maybe it was because I knew I would never have a moment like that with her. I could never go inside her dorm. I could never walk around campus with her. Or go to brunch at the dining hall. We’d never just be us. Our relationship would always be professor and student first. What the fuck am I doing?
“Remove the camera,” I said.
“But…”
“I don’t want to spy on her.” Honestly, I did. And that was the problem. The incredible violation of privacy didn’t matter to me. What worried me was that I would watch her. That I wouldn’t be able to stop.
“You wouldn’t be. I’m running surveillance on her. I’ll just tell you if anything important happens.”
“I don’t think…”
“Like if Isabella shows up there,” he said before I could continue.
“She wouldn’t do that.” As soon as I said the words, I didn’t believe them. Honestly, Isabella would do that. She’d never been one to care about consequences. Only results.
“We have no idea what she will and won’t do. You were pretty sure she’d sign those papers, and she hasn’t done that yet. You were pretty sure she’d never step foot in Delaware, but she’s been to your apartment before. Cutting ties isn’t always as seamless as you want it to be. Just look at the surveillance as a way to protect Penny.”
I took a deep breath. “Fine. But you can’t stay in my guestroom anymore.” I pulled a key out of my pocket and tossed it to him. “I’m renting out another apartment in the building for a few months.”
Ian smiled. “I can stay?”
“Just don’t let anyone see you. I’m trying to keep a low profile. And I didn’t buy it, I’m just renting it…so don’t piss me off.”
He laughed like it would be impossible to piss me off. Maybe he didn’t know me as well as I thought he did.
“It’ll be like I’m not even here,” he said. “Except on game nights. And then I’ll be on your couch.”
“Deal.”
“Great. My furniture should be arriving any minute…” he glanced at his watch and then back up at me.