Shatter (True Believers #4)(56)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“I can’t tell Jonathon! What if he doesn’t believe me?”

“Why wouldn’t he believe you? What happened exactly?” Jessica asked.

“He asked to see me after class so I went up to his desk and he suggested again that I drop his class. I said Jonathon was helping me study. He said unless Jonathon took the midterm for me there was no way I was going to pass. Then he said that if I like the son, maybe I would appreciate the father even more, and that if I went back to his place and was very nice to him, he would see what he could do to help me pass.” The words all came out on a rush, and frankly, sounded even worse in retelling that they had at the time. I had been upset, and disgusted, but I hadn’t been afraid. Mostly annoyed that I had to deal with this kind of bullshit. But now I felt more than annoyed. I felt downright pissed.

“No, I guess there is no mistaking that.” Jessica made a face. “God, what an ass**le. A creepy ass**le. First of all, the breach of power is disgusting. Second of all, he’s your boyfriend’s father. Third of all, doesn’t he know he’s just an old nerd? Why would anyone want to have sex with him?”

Riley gave her a look. “Jess, if the dude thought chicks would voluntarily nail him, he wouldn’t be blackmailing them. Side note—taste this chili. I don’t think I put enough cayenne in it.”

“You made the chili?” I asked Riley.

“Of course I did. You don’t think Jess cooks, do you?”

“No, I guess not.”

“She heats stuff up, that’s about it. But she can vacuum the shit out of this house. We split the household stuff.”

He looked proud of that fact, as he should be.

I knew that right now Riley made way more money than Jessica did waitressing, because she worked limited hours because of school. But once she graduated and got a job in a salon, she would probably come pretty close to equaling his income, and they would continue on the same path. That had to make it easier. Rory and Tyler, on the other hand, were going to flip completely once Rory graduated med school and I wondered what that would do to their relationship. It seemed Tyler wondered, too. Now, Tyler made the money and she made absolutely nothing, living off him and loans and her dad’s willingness to pay her tuition. They seemed to be equal in terms of who did what around the apartment, and the same went for Robin and Phoenix. He was paying all their bills while she went to school.

Jonathon and I would never be equals. He would always make way more money than I would and he would hang with uber smart colleagues every day while I would be with five-year-olds.

“Definitely more pepper. Anyway, you have to tell Jonathon about his dad.” Jessica looked at me in concern. “I actually think you should complain to the university but I know you and I know you won’t do that.”

“No, I’m not going to do that. It’s his father! How can I do that?” The thought made my stomach clench. “I don’t think this is a common occurrence. I just think he thinks I’m easy because I got pregnant.”

But even as I spoke the words, I worried that maybe he had pulled this with other students. God, how could I stay quiet and risk some other girl getting pressured by him? “Maybe I should try to get his threats in writing before I go to the dean of the department.”

“I doubt he’ll put anything in writing. He’s too smart for that, don’t you think?” Riley asked.

“Men are not smart when it comes to getting busted misbehaving,” Jessica scoffed. “Hello, Anthony Weiner. John Edwards. Bill Clinton. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Tiger Woods. Should I continue?”

“I get the point.”

“That’s what I need to do, then,” I said, feeling empowered. “I can’t let him get away with this.” My thought was that I would confront him with the evidence and make him repent and agree to never do it again. That way Jonathon wouldn’t have to know his father was a pervert. Professor Kadisch wouldn’t lose his job. I wouldn’t lose Jonathon. If he wasn’t contrite, I would go to the dean.

It seemed simple. Plausible.

It was stupid.

So totally stupid.

And when that became apparent, all I could think was that I was as dumb as everyone had always insisted I was.

* * *

Sometimes I looked at my girlfriend and I knew exactly what she was thinking or what she was going to say. Granted, I couldn’t always predict the particular Kylie spin she might put on phrasing, but I knew the general idea of what she was going to say, or the emotion behind it.

But then other times, I realized I had no clue what went on in that gorgeous head of hers.

Such was the case when I came out of my room post-sex to get a drink and Devon was sitting at the kitchen table, biting his fingernail and eyeing me nervously. “What?” I asked. He looked guilty.

“I didn’t mean to look,” he said. “I swear. But her phone was just sitting here on the table while you two were doing your thing and I glanced at it automatically when it buzzed because we are essentially programmed to do that. It’s Pavlovian.”

“Okay.” I popped the top on my soft drink and came over to the table. “What did you see on her phone?” I had a feeling it was Nathan sending her some lame vow of love. I suspected he still texted her from time to time, though I trusted that she was completely not interested.

“Your dad texted her.”

I choked on the sip I had just taken. “My dad? What the f**k? Are you kidding me? How did you know it was him?”

“It came up as Professor Kadisch.” Devon looked horrified. “Dude, I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to creep. But when I saw that, I couldn’t help it. I read it. He’s trying to get your girlfriend alone and I don’t think he has extra credit in mind, unless extra credit is a new euphemism for blowing him.”

My face felt instantly hot, my gut tight. I squeezed the can in my hand so hard liquid sloshed over the side. Kylie was half asleep back in my bedroom. The fact that she had left her phone out on the table with no lock indicated she had nothing to hide, right? Yet I still glanced back down the hallway as I reached for the phone.

There it was. Professor Kadisch.

Make sure you have at least an hour.

“He could be planning to help tutor her.” Not that my father was big into helping his students. He was of the camp that you either sank or swam.

“Oh, look at the one before that. The one before the text from Jessica asking her to let her wax her eyebrows for practice. It’s a picture, you know, which when small like that is hard to decipher but shows certain characteristics of . . .”