CHAPTER 91: PLAYING WITH FIRE

Alexia’s POV:

Oh... shit.

Professor Sinclair’s gaze locked onto mine, his smirk both confident and knowing. The kind that said I caught you looking, and I like it. My stomach did an embarrassing little flip, and suddenly, Lucy’s ridiculous idea didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore.

I swallowed, trying to act normal, but my traitorous mind went into overdrive. Okay, so what if he’s looking at you? Professors look at their students all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.

Except... it did.

Because this wasn’t the first time.

And because the way his lips curled in amusement made it clear that he knew I’d noticed.

Lucy, beside me, was already vibrating with excitement. She gripped my arm, her nails digging into my skin. "Oh my God, he smirked at you! Alexia, do you realize what this means?"

"That I need to disappear into the ground immediately?" I muttered, heart pounding.

She scoffed. "No, dummy! It means he’s interested. And you so need to use this to your advantage."

I rolled my eyes. "He’s our professor, Lucy. There are rules—"

"Pfft. Rules are just suggestions," she said, waving a dismissive hand. "Besides, he’s young, hot, and clearly intrigued by you. And if Aiden sees you getting attention from Professor Sinclair of all people?" She whistled. "He’s gonna lose his damn mind."

I hesitated. Would he?

Aiden did rush to Liz without a second thought. He did leave me behind without an explanation, like I was nothing more than an afterthought. It was stupid—painfully stupid—but a part of me wanted to see if he’d react. If he’d care.

And if not... well. At least I’d have the satisfaction of knowing I wasn’t some pathetic little wife waiting for a husband who didn’t really want her.

Professor Sinclair was still watching me.

Still smirking.

Oh, screw it.

"Okay," I said.

Lucy blinked. "Wait, what?"

I lifted my chin, feigning confidence. "I said okay. Let’s make Aiden jealous."

Her face split into a wide grin. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."

And with that, she linked her arm through mine, practically dragging me toward where Professor Sinclair was standing.

I had no idea what I was doing.

But for the first time all day... I didn’t feel so powerless.

Oh no. Oh no, no, no.

Why didn’t I think this through?!

Professor Sinclair was standing right in front of me, one eyebrow raised, his smirk still in place, waiting. Meanwhile, my brain? Completely empty.

I could practically hear Lucy screaming flirt, you idiot! in my head, but my body refused to cooperate.

So, what did I do?

I blurted out the most basic thing possible.

"Uh... hi."

Kill me. Just kill me now.

Professor Sinclair’s lips twitched in amusement. "Hi, Alexia."

His voice was deep, smooth, and annoyingly confident. And the way he said my name? Yeah, I felt that.

But instead of responding like a normal person, I just... stood there. Staring at him like I’d forgotten how human interaction worked. Silence stretched between us, growing awkward by the second.

My inner monologue was a disaster: Say something. Anything. Compliment his stupidly sharp cheekbones? No, that’s weird. Ask about class? Boring. Oh my God, why did I agree to this?!

Lucy, the traitor, was conveniently quiet, probably enjoying my suffering.

I cleared my throat, scrambling. "So... uh..."

He tilted his head, his smirk widening. "Yes?"

I was dying.

Cursing Lucy again in my head, I went with the first thing that came to mind.

"You—uh—you look... very professor-y

today."

What. The. Hell.

Lucy let out a strangled cough beside me. Professor Sinclair blinked, then let out a low chuckle. "Professor-y?"

I nodded furiously. "Yes. Very much like a professor. You know... with the suit and the, um..." I made a vague gesture toward his entire very well-dressed existence. "The... um... outfit."

I was never going to recover from this humiliation.

To my horror, his smirk deepened. "Well, that’s a relief," he mused. "Considering I am a professor."

Kill me. Someone. Right now.

Lucy finally decided to jump in, clearing her throat loudly. "What Alexia meant to say," she said, throwing me a side-eye, "is that you always dress sharp. Very put-together."

I could have hugged her.

Professor Sinclair glanced between us, amusement still dancing in his blue eyes, but thankfully, he let me off the hook. "Well, I do try," he said lightly, adjusting his cuff. Then his gaze flickered back to me. "And I have to say... you look rather nice today yourself, Alexia."

My stomach flipped.

Oh. Oh. Was that actual flirting? From him?

Lucy grinned like she just won the lottery. I, on the other hand, could barely form a coherent thought.

"Thanks," I mumbled, my face heating up. "It’s just, you know, clothes."

CLOTHES. REALLY, ALEXIA?

Professor Sinclair chuckled again, but before I could humiliate myself any further, my phone vibrated in my pocket. A welcome distraction.

I glanced at the screen. A message.

From Aiden.

Be home early. We need to talk.

And just like that, my heart did a completely different kind of flip.

The professor cleared his throat, snapping me back to reality. I quickly returned my gaze to him, forcing myself to focus.

"It’s a good thing I ran into you, actually," he said smoothly. "I’ve noticed you’ve missed a couple of my lectures recently. There’s a crucial subtopic you missed that will be on the finals. I’d like you to make some time to stop by my office so I can give you some guidelines."

For a second, my brain short-circuited. His office? Alone? With him?

Lucy bumped me—not subtly, might I add—nearly making me stumble forward. I shot her a glare, but she just wiggled her eyebrows at me like the little menace she was.

Professor Sinclair was still watching me, waiting for a response, his expression unreadable but undeniably expectant.

"Oh—uh, yeah," I stammered. "Of course. I’ll, um... I’ll find time."

His lips twitched slightly. "Good. My office hours are listed, but if you need a different time, let me know."

Lucy bumped me again, this time not even pretending to be discreet. "She’ll make time," she chirped, all too eagerly. "Wouldn’t want to miss any crucial information, right, Alexia?"

I wanted to strangle her.

Professor Sinclair simply nodded, seemingly pleased. "I’ll be expecting you, then." His gaze lingered on me for a second longer before he turned and walked away, his strides confident as ever.

I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.

Lucy? She was grinning like she had just orchestrated the greatest love story of our time.

"You’re so going," she declared.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Lucy—"

"Nope! Don’t even try to back out of this." She looped her arm through mine and started dragging me along. "The hot professor just invited you to his office for one-on-one tutoring. Do you know how many girls in this school would kill for that?"

"He’s just being professional," I muttered.

Lucy scoffed. "Sure, babe. Keep telling yourself that." Then her grin turned wicked. "Meanwhile, Aiden is busy playing knight-in-shining-armor for that woman. If he can play his little games, so can you."

I bit my lip, a tiny, petty part of me agreeing with her. It wasn’t like I was actually trying to make Aiden jealous. But... maybe a little bit of attention from someone else wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Still, as we walked toward the next lecture, I couldn’t shake the feeling that agreeing to meet Professor Sinclair might be inviting a whole different kind of trouble.

************

Lucy gave me a knowing smirk when I told her I’d meet Professor Sinclair tomorrow instead of today. "Oh? And what’s so special about tonight?" she teased.

I sighed, adjusting my bag on my shoulder. "Aiden said he’d be coming home earlier and that he had something important to tell me."

Lucy’s smirk wavered. "Oh."

I didn’t miss the way her expression turned slightly skeptical, but she didn’t voice it. Instead, she just shrugged. "Alright, I guess Husband Dearest gets priority. But if he ends up wasting your time, you better let me sign you up for Sinclair’s office hours for the rest of the semester."

I rolled my eyes but smiled a little. "Deal."

But honestly? Now I kind of wished I had gone to meet Professor Sinclair instead.

After classes, I expected Aiden to pick me up himself, maybe even explain whatever he was so eager to tell me. But no. Instead, Tobias was waiting by the car, looking as expressionless as ever.

I hesitated for a second, staring at the car, irritation bubbling inside me. Seriously? He told me to go home early for something important, and then he doesn’t even bother picking me up himself?

I was this close to turning around and walking right into Sinclair’s office instead. But I wasn’t exactly in the mood to fight with Aiden later. So, with a sigh, I got into the car.

Tobias didn’t speak as he started the engine, which only annoyed me more. Finally, I caved. "Where’s your boss?" I asked, my arms crossed.

"Still at the hospital," Tobias replied simply, not even glancing my way.

My mood took an even deeper dive.

Of course, he was.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to let my frustration show too much. I knew Liz must be seriously unwell if Aiden was still at the hospital with her. But then why the hell did he tell me to go home early if he wasn’t even going to be there?

I didn’t want to be upset. I didn’t want to care. But damn it, I did.

And that pissed me off even more.