I freeze in place, wondering what I should say first.
"Mom?" I repeat because it's all I can say right now. There are too many questions jumbling all around in my head. Which do I say first?
"Surprise!" She cheers as my dad pops out from the corner. He smiles at me.
"Hello, sweetie." He greets joyfully.
Dad?
I swallow hard while forcing a smile. "What-what are you guys doing here?"
"Well, you said you couldn't make time to visit us for Thanksgiving so we're visiting you." My mother smiles while lacing her hands before her.
"How did you get in?" I gulp again while still trying to process what is currently happening. I'm still wondering if they caught us kissing or not.
"With the spare key you gave us. Remember? You said you wanted it in a safe place in case you lost yours." She explains with a sweet smile.
I nod slowly. If I would have known that I was going to be fucking my professor sooner, I wouldn't have left the key with them.
"Who's your friend?" She smiles while looking at Dean.
Dean glances at me frantically. I know what he's thinking. He's wondering if my parents saw us eating each other's faces off too. From the look of things, I would assume no.
"He's-uh. . .He's my math professor. Professor Collins." I introduce while scratching the back of my head.
They're going to wonder why he's in my dorm room. Hopefully they won't get any particular ideas.
Quickly, I add, "He was going to help me with some math." My eyes draw up to his. He watches my parents.
"Oh, how nice of him." Her cheeks push up. "I know that Rosie has been working really hard and making sure she gets good grades. I'm glad that you've been such a good help." She tells Dean like she's ready to hug him.
He nods and forces an awkward grin. "Anything for my students." He steps back nonchalantly and slowly adds, "I should go and let you guys reunite." He then turns and opens the door without speech.
After he leaves, my mother smiles again at me. "What a lovely man."
I nod. "Yep. He's lovely, alright." I agree while flashes of his naked, hard body above mine appear in my head. Real lovely.
I lace my fingers behind me while walking closer to my parents.
They both seem to be fine about Dean, like as if they really believe he was here to tutor me. I feel awful for lying, but if they knew, I would be in a lot of trouble.
Obviously, with them around, Dean and I won't be able to have sex, which leads me to my next question. "How long are you guys staying?"
"Just for the week. You are aware that Thanksgiving is this Thursday, right?" She tilts her head.
Four days. They'll be here for four days.
That gives me four days without having sex with Dean. We already went the weekend without doing it, now we have another four days. I sigh.
"Of course I'm aware of that." I smile. "I'm glad you guys are here. . .unannounced."
"We're happy to see you too, sweetie." She wraps her arm around my father's waist.
"Fortunately for you guys, I don't have class at all this week." I smile. "So we can do whatever you guys want."
"I'm fine with whatever you want to do." My mother admits with a shrug. "Your father and I are just happy to see you."
"Great." I smile. "We'll spend the whole day together."
I love my parents, I love spending time with them, but they came at the wrong time. This is all too weird. I have to spend the entire day with them while pretending that Dean and I are not a thing. Great.
* * *
It's currently two in the afternoon and I'm starting to feel tired. I've not slept since the plane ride last night. It doesn't help that I've been shopping downtown with my parents all day either.
Now I'm back at my dorm. Both my parents decided to go to Cosco, since they don't have one close to them. I told them that I'd stay here. Every time they do their big grocery shopping, it takes about four hours with two full carts. I definitely was not up for that again.
There's a knock on my door.
They're back already? They just left. And why did they knock?
I rise from my bed and open the door. I'm surprised to see Blake.
"Hi." I smile at him. "What are you doing here?" My head tilts.
"I'm here to apologize." His lips press into a hard line. "Do you have a moment?"
Apologize? Does he mean about earlier today?
I glance behind my shoulder and then back at him. "Actually, my parents are here. They should be back soon." I explain while watching his soft expression.
He nods slowly.
I begin to feel awful for getting rid of him. I sigh and add, "Not here. Let's go somewhere else."
I'd hate for my parents to return to my dorm to another man in here. What kind of idea would they get?
"I know a place." He suggests.
* * *
The air is cool out here. We sit on the hood of his vehicle on top of a large hill. The view ahead of us is stunning. There's a lot of orange and red colors from the distant trees. I can spot a lake far off in the distance. It's beautiful here.
"What did you want to apologize about?" I turn to face him by bending my right leg and extending the other.
"About my behavior earlier." He picks at his caki-colored sleeve. "I just had a lot going on recently and took it out on you guys, which I shouldn't have. So, I'm sorry." He squints his brown eyes from the sun. His skin glows from the harsh light.
I grin. "It's okay, Blake. Don't worry about apologizing. You just had the wrong idea." I lean into my hand beside me.
His character falls from his face, his eyebrows furrowing. "I have the wrong idea? I'm apologizing about my behavior, not what I know is true."
I swallow hard. "What do you think is going on?"
Hopefully he isn't catching on to us. I'd hate for something to go down.
"Don't act innocent." He shakes his head. "I know that there's something going on between you two. You know you can get in a lot of trouble for that?"
I glance away and claim, "I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about." Maybe I can convince him otherwise.
He frowns. "Stop lying, Rosie. I know what you two are doing."
My head turns toward him quickly. "We're not doing anything." I snap. "Besides, I don't know why you're so invested in this. Don't you have other things to worry about?" My arms fold.
"Because he shouldn't be with you." His voice rises. "He's your professor, Rosie. It's not right."
Heat explodes in my cheeks as my heart speeds rapidly. The stress about Dean and I getting caught returns. I swallow hard while trying to calm myself. Instead, I panic more.
"Don't you think I know that?" I shout as my hands run through my hair. My throat begins to dry out as my eyes sting.
There's no point in lying anymore. He really does know. I might as well give in. Besides, I need someone to talk to about this.
"I've tried and tried to stop, Blake." My voice becomes rough. "But I can't help it. There's just something about him."
He lowers his gaze to his folded legs. His eyes look up without his head moving. "You can stop. You're way stronger than you think." His tone is now soft and calm.
"I've tried." Tears begin to slide down my cheek. "I just can't forget him."
He's quiet for a moment. He then asks, "Did you. . ." His voice trails off.
I watch his expression momentarily, trying to read his mind. Did I what?
"You two-" He adds while glancing up. "Did you-"
I stop him. "Blake!"
He wants to know if I had sex with him. Obviously I did, but I'm not sure if he should know that.
He raises an eyebrow, as if to know that I have had sex with Dean.
I sigh. "It's fine." I try to convince. "So maybe we have had sex. So what?"
He frowns. "What about protection?" He asks like a concerned parent.
I narrow my eyes at him. "I'm on the pill."
"And him?" He leans forward cautiously, his eyes full of concern.
"Men don't take those pills, Blake." I scrunch up my nose as I consider his common sense.
He rolls his eyes and corrects, "I meant condoms."
I suck in my lips while shaking my head down at my lap. "Blake, I think you don't have any part in any of this. Why don't you just stay out of it?"
"Stay out of it?" His hand slaps the car hood. "Rosie, I'm your friend. Am I not allowd to be concerned about you?"
"There's a difference between being concerned and being nosy." I snarl while folding my arms.
He's getting way too personal now. I already gave him enough information as is. He wasn't even suppose to know about this.
"Being nosy?" His eyes narrow. "I'm looking out for you." He snaps.
"I don't need you to look out for me. I'm tired of everyone assuming that I can't take care of myself." I shout.
"I'm not saying it like that." He pushes his jaw forward. "This is about another man crossing boundaries. The fact that you're having sex with him is bad enough. He could lose his job." He grinds his teeth.
I huff. "Don't remind me. I'm not stupid. We've been doing this for about four months now and no one has found out. . . Except you because you have nothing better to do than spend time researching me." I scowl and slide off his car hood. I begin to march away from him through the woods.
"Rosie!" He calls while jogging after me.
"Go away!" I shout while speeding faster, my hands in fists by my sides.
"Stop!" He calls out breathlessy.
I feel his hand grab my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. I turn around while frowning at him. "Let go of me." I growl.
He shakes his head. "Not until you get in the car. It's too far of a walk. Let me take you back." He catches his breath. His expression tells me that he won't take no for an answer.
"No." I spit and yank my wrist more. He holds onto me tighter. "Let go!" I shout while fighting beneath him.
"Just hear me out." He pleads.
I relax into my right leg. "I think I've heard enough."
"No, you haven't." He frowns. His free hand grips my sweater collar above my right shoulder with his free hand. He exposes my shoulder to reveal the bruises Dean left me. "I saw that this morning." His hand releases my sweater and falls to his side.
I glance at the ground while thinking of an excuse.
"I know he did this to you." His tone has become lower and more concerned.
I defensively shake my head. "It's not like that. He didn't abuse me."
He pushes his jaw forward while relaxing into his right leg. "Really? Because those look like bruises to me. What else would you call that?"
I stomp in place while rolling my eyes. "I don't know. Aggressive affection?"
He huffs. "That's not how this works. He shouldn't have done that."
"He didn't mean to." I argue as I try to pull my hand free again. I fail.
He shakes his head at the ground. "Stop making excuses for him, Rosie."
The knot in my throat returns. I suck in my lips to make the stinging in my nose vanish. My eyes search my surroundings at the beautiful, fall trees. "I don't know what I'm doing. I've never officially done this before." The tears come back.
"Let me help you." His low voice offers. "I can get you out of this."
"But I want it." I fight. "Dean has been good to me. He's just. . .complicated sometimes." I gulp. More tears stream from my eyes.
"It shouldn't be like that." His free hand lightly directs my gaze to his from my jaw line. "If this is really what you want, you would know."
I begin to think about it. I thought that this is what I wanted. Don't I want to be with Dean? Now I'm not even sure. What do I do?
"Do you love him?" He asks softly after a moment.
His words cause me to close my eyes, squinting more tears out down my cheeks. I don't know.
I've never said it back, even after we discussed it. What do I want from him? Is it just the sex? Do I even want to be with him or do I just want to screw him?
"Do you love him?" He repeats cautiously.
I exhale. I didn't know I was holding my breath for so long.
"I don't know." My voice cracks.
I don't know.