ROWAN I couldn’t take another step after what he said.
My entire body froze.
So he did remember last night.
He fucking remembered everything.
The realization hit me so hard that for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
My head suddenly felt heavy, and a strange pressure started building behind my eyes.
It was as if my brain had decided that everything happening tonight wasn’t already enough and had chosen that exact moment to give me a headache too.
Of course.
Why not?
I had already been humiliated by my ex, emotionally drained by my mother, embarrassed at a family party, and nearly swallowed alive by awkwardness every time I saw Professor Ashford.
Now I had to deal with the fact that the man I had been desperately hoping that didn’t remember our one-night stand actually remembered every damn detail.
Great.
Just fucking great.
My mind began running in a hundred different directions at once.
Why had he ignored me throughout the entire day?
Why had he looked at me like I was a complete stranger earlier?
Why had he acted like he didn’t know me when he saw me crying in my car?
And now, suddenly, he remembered everything?
What the hell was wrong with this man?
Did his memory only work after sunset?
Was there some kind of switch in his brain that turned on at night?
I almost laughed at the ridiculous thought, but nothing about the situation was funny anymore.
I couldn’t let him see how badly this was affecting me.
And right now the last thing I needed was to break down in front of him so he could look inside me and confirm that I remembered every single detail too.
There was no way in hell I was going to stand there and confess that I had spent the entire day trying not to think about the man I had slept with.
I needed to deny everything, even if the lie sounded stupid.
“I… I think…” My voice caught in my throat.
I swallowed and tried again “I think you have the wrong person, sir.” I said carefully without showing any emotions.
Professor Ashford raised one eyebrow.
I quickly continued before he could say anything.
“I didn’t go to a nightclub last night.
And I definitely didn’t follow any man to his penthouse.
So it is definitely not me.” I forced a small smile while the lie left my mouth hoping that he would believe everything that I had say.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
He simply stared at me and that stare made me so uncomfortable.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted as a slow, knowing smirk appeared on his face.
Oh, no.
No, no, no.
That wasn’t the face of a man who believed me.
That was the face of a man who had just caught me red-handed.
“I didn’t say anything about you going to a nightclub,” he said calmly and that made my stomach dropped “Or following anyone to a penthouse.,….
but here you are, already telling on yourself.” My mouth fell slightly open.
Oh, shit.
How the hell did I walk straight into that one?
How dumb could I be to get caught in a lie that fast?
I couldn’t even finish the lie properly before he saw straight through it.
I could have simply denied knowing what he was talking about.
Instead, I practically handed him a written confession with my signature at the bottom.
I looked away from him, desperately searching for another lie that could somehow repair the disaster I had just created.
Maybe I could pretend I was talking about something else.
Maybe I could say I had heard those words from someone.
— No.
Nothing was going to save me.
I had already exposed myself.
The only thing left to do was shut my mouth and ignore everyone words that he is saying to me If I stayed quiet long enough, he would eventually get bored and leave me alone.
And if he left me alone, I could disappear into the crowd and spend the rest of the night hiding somewhere he couldn’t find me.
At this point, I was genuinely considering hiding behind a flower vase.
Anything was better than standing there with him.
I slowly shifted my feet, preparing to walk away.
Just run, Rowan.Don’t think.
Just move.
I thought to myself.
But before I could take another step, his voice stopped me.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” I froze and my fingers curled slightly at my sides.
“You don’t need to run away from me.
How long are you going to keep running?” he asked.
I said nothing.
“How long do you think it will take before I find you again?” His words were making my heart skip in fear.
“You might run away from me,” he continued, his voice filled with certainty, “but you should know that I will always find you.” I froze as the words sent a shiver down my spine.
My feet refused to move.
Slowly I turned my head and looked at him.
Why was he tormenting me like this?
I no longer wanted him to know me.
Was that too much to ask?
Why was he suddenly acting like last night had actually meant something to him?
It was supposed to be nothing more than one stupid night, one mistake that happened between two people who probably should never have met that way in the first place.
Whatever happened between us should have ended the moment we walked away from that penthouse.
It should have stayed there, where neither of us had any reason to bring it up again.
That was what I had told myself and wanted to believe I didn’t want him knowing me.
I didn’t want him remembering me.
I didn’t want to think about his hands, his voice, his eyes, or anything else from that night.
I certainly didn’t want to be standing in a restroom at a family party, listening to my professor remind me about things I was desperately trying to forget.
And now there was something even worse.
He was Kelvin’s uncle.
How the hell was I ever supposed to explain any of this to him?
Hey, Kelvin.
Guess what?
Your uncle already knows me.
Actually, we met before I even knew he was your uncle.
And yes, I slept with him.
Just imagining that conversation made me want to disappear.
How had my life become this fucking complicated?
I took a slow breath and forced myself to calm down.
Running away clearly wasn’t working, and lying had only made things worse.
So, if Professor Ashford wanted to talk about last night so badly, then fine.
I would tell him exactly how I felt.
I turned fully toward him, refusing to let my nervousness show even though my heart was still beating wildly against my ribs.
“How come you suddenly remembered everything about me from last night?” I asked.
His expression shifted slightly, but I continued before he could answer.
“And why did you wait until tonight to say something?
You spent the entire day acting like you didn’t know me.”