No Escaping My Billionaire Professor

KAREN

“What's with the cookies?"

I glanced up to find Abby leaning against the brick wall outside Matt's dorm building, her backpack slung over one shoulder and a knowing smile tugging at her lips.

"They're for Matt," I said, shifting the bakery box to my other hand. My duffel bag kept sliding down my shoulder.

I was pretty sure I looked exactly like what I was, exhausted, sweaty from the Florida heat, and desperately trying to hold everything together.

"I've been working at my mom's diner all summer. Barely had time to call him, so I thought homemade apology cookies seemed like a good idea."

"Red velvet?" Abby pushed off the wall.

"His favorite."

"You're too good to that boy." She fell into step beside me as we approached the entrance. "Want me to come up with you?"

"It's the guys' dorm, Abs. Pretty sure they'll kick you out."

"Fair point." She grinned. "I'll wait here. Go surprise your man."

I nodded, suddenly nervous. Matt and I had barely talked all summer. Every time I called, he seemed distracted or busy. I told myself it was fine, that we'd make up for lost time once I got back.

The cookies would help. Matt loved my baking.

I climbed the stairs to the third floor, my heartbeat picking up with each step. When I reached his door, I paused, smoothing down my hair and adjusting the bakery box.

Then I knocked, there was no answer.

I tried the handle. It was unlocked.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped inside was the heat.

Someone had turned off the AC, and the room was thick with humid air and the smell of lavender detergent, my lavender detergent, the bottle I'd left in Matt's room before going home for the summer.

The second thing I noticed was the sound.

My hands went numb. The bakery box slipped from my fingers and hit the floor with a dull thud. Red velvet cookies scattered across the tile.

They didn't notice.

Matt and Jessica, my boyfriend and my roommate, were too busy tangled together in sheets I recognized. Sheets I'd washed and folded and left in Matt's closet.

It was the crunch of a cookie under my shoe that finally made them look up.

Matt's eyes went wide. Not guilty. Not apologetic. Just... surprised.

"Karen," Matt said, like my name was an inconvenience. "You're back early."

Not, I'm sorry. Not, this isn't what it looks like. Just... early.

"I spent all summer working seventy-hour weeks at my mom's diner," I heard myself say, my voice flat and distant. "I came back three days early to surprise you."

"Yeah, well." Matt swung his legs out of bed, not bothering with modesty.

"Maybe if you'd made time for me during the summer instead of ignoring my calls, I wouldn't have needed to find someone who actually gave a shit."

The words hit like a physical blow.

"So this is my fault?"

"You're deadweight, Karen." His voice turned cold, clinical.

"You always have been. I carried you through two years of classes you couldn't pass on your own, and what do I get? Radio silence and some pathetic cookies?"

Deadweight.

The word echoed in my skull as I turned and walked out, leaving the cookies scattered like broken promises across his floor.

I made it down the hallway, down three flights of stairs, and out the front door before my vision blurred.

Abby was still there, scrolling through her phone. She looked up when she heard my footsteps.

One look at my face and she was moving.

"What happened?"

"He was with Jessica."

"That motherfucker." Abby's voice went ice-cold. "Get in the car."

I didn't argue. I just followed her to the parking lot and slid into the passenger seat.

She pulled out onto the main road without another word, her jaw clenched tight.

"You're staying with me," she said after a few minutes of silence. "I have a spare room. It's yours."

"Abby…."

"No arguments. We'll get your stuff from the dorm later." She glanced at me. "Right now, you need to get away from him."

I stared out the window, watching campus blur past. Students laughing on the quad. Couples holding hands. Normal people living normal lives.

"I have four science courses left," I heard myself say. "Matt was supposed to help me through them. Without him, I'm going to fail."

"You're not going to fail."

"He called me a deadweight, Abs. And he's right. I can't do this without…."

"Stop." Abby's voice was sharp. She squeezed my hand. "We'll figure it out. But right now, you need to stop thinking about him."

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

An hour later, I was clean, showered, and sitting on Abby's couch wrapped in a blanket that smelled like lavender fabric softener, nothing like the sheets I'd seen Matt tangled in with Jessica.

Abby brought me tea and sat beside me.

"Talk to me," she said gently.

So I did. I told her everything. Finding them together. Matt's speech about how I'd neglected him. The word deadweight that wouldn't stop echoing in my head.

"He only stayed with me because I needed his help," I finished, my voice barely above a whisper. "The second I wasn't useful anymore, he replaced me."

"That's not true…"

"Isn't it?" I looked at her. "I was his project. His charity case. And when I stopped being grateful enough, he moved on."

Abby was quiet for a moment. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." I pulled the blanket tighter.

"I have to pass those classes to graduate. My parents sacrificed everything to get me here. I can't let them down."

"Then we'll find another way. Tutoring centers, study groups, office hours…."

"I've tried all of that." My throat tightened. "It doesn't work for me. I don't learn the way other people learn. Matt was the only one who could actually explain things in a way that made sense."

"Then we'll figure out a new way." Abby squeezed my shoulder. "But tonight? Tonight we just breathe."

I nodded, even though breathing felt impossible.

We sat in silence for a while, the TV playing something neither of us watched. But my mind wouldn't stop spinning.

I couldn't just sit here. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.

"Actually," I said, standing abruptly. "I need to get out of here. Clear my head."

Abby frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know. Somewhere loud. Somewhere I can forget this day." I grabbed my bag before she could argue. "I just need a few hours to not be me."

She studied me for a long moment, worry creasing her forehead. "Karen….”

"I need to stop spinning, Abs. Just one carefree night, and then I can worry about Matt or my grades tomorrow," I said.

She frowned. "You hate clubs."

"I need to get out. Clear my head."

Abby studied me for a moment, then sighed. "Okay. But you're not going like that. Come on, let's make you look amazing."

I haven't been to a club in a very long time. So pressure..