One Night

Chapter 39

Edwin & Audrey

Edwin’s POV

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Just as I suspected, sleep was eluding me that night; I kept tossing and turning, unable to find any semblance of rest. I knew I shouldn’t have had that last glass of whiskey, but I had gotten ahead of myself, trying to dull my frayed nerves in the wake of a string and texts and phone calls from the last person I wanted to hear from.

And now I was restless, my brain fuzzy and my tongue heavy.

Finally, with a frustrated groan, I grabbed my phone off of the nightstand in the hopes. that maybe some mindless scrolling would lull me to sleep-or at the very least, that it would keep me occupied enough so that my brain didn’t wander into territory that I didn’t want it to.

Staring at my phone like a mindless zombie was an unusual habit for me, but I supposed that it got the best of all of us sometimes. So, opening my social media app- 1 used a burner account with no name or pictures associated with it for fear of being recognized-I began to scroll.

But it didn’t take long for me to regret it.

Hardly five minutes into my scrolling, I froze when I saw it: a picture from that huge party all the kids were going to tonight. It was grainy and dark, rendering one barely able to make out the figures in the frame…

But I could make them out. Behind the main subjects, who were smiling and making funny faces into the camera, I could see two figures in the background.

I could see who was there in that dimly lit hallway, pressed up against the wall. Whose hand was tipping whose chin up. I recognized that long, dark hair, those slender legs, that delicate nose.

Audrey. And that f**g kid from the restaurant.

Instantly, I felt my stomach twist at the sight of them there in that hallway. “What a great party,” the caption read-showcasing several other pictures of a bonfire, wine glasses, playing cards, dancing bodies. “Can’t wait for the next one!”

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A low, involuntary growl rumbled i

my throat at the thought. It was supposed to be an innocuous photo dump of the night, but somehow, whoever had posted those pictures. had managed to snap one of Audrey and that boy practically on top of each other in the background.

My grip tightened on my phone until my knuckles turned white. I could feel my wolf stirring inside of me, growling with jealousy.

“No,” I said out loud, abruptly shutting off my phone and tossing it onto the nightstand. “We’re not supposed to be jealous. Get ahold of yourself.”

My wolf bristled in response. I rolled my eyes and flipped over. “She’s a human,” I chided him before he could speak. “Don’t forget that. And she’s my student, and she’s more than ten years younger than me. It’s not happening.”

“Don’t lie to yourself. You want her, too.”

I grit my teeth and forced my eyes shut. “No. I don’t want her.”

“Liar. Just admit that you want the girl.”

Pursing my lips, I flipped onto my back and felt a low growl of unbidden jealousy rumble in the back of my throat. I should have been glad for her; she was dating someone her own age, someone who wasn’t…

Da**it, why couldn’t I have been born ten years earlier?

Audrey’s POV

The shrill sound of my alarm jolted me awake with a start. Groaning, I pried one eye open to glare blearily at the time on my phone-it was just past eight on Monday morning.

I had slept like a rock, still recovering from my insane Saturday night. I wasn’t sure if I had ever had that much alcohol at once in my entire life, and I was also pretty sure I had gotten a buzz from secondhand smoke.

Swiping across my phone screen, I squinted at the bright light as a new email notification popped up.

“Miss Thatcher-My office, nine A.M. sharp. We need to discuss your grading from

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Chapter 39

Friday night. There were some issues. E. Brooks”

My brow furrowed in confusion as I re-read the curt message. Miss Thatcher? E. Brooks? Grading issues? What had crawled up his a** and died there?

Still, I supposed there was no use in dwelling on it. If he wanted me there, despite the fact that he had promised I could have a long weekend, I would be there.

Forcing myself out of bed with another groan, I quickly showered and dressed for the day, throwing on a skirt, tights; and a sweater, leaving my hair loose and straight down my back. All the while, my mind couldn’t help but wander back to the weekend- Gavin’s husky eyes on me, Max’s confrontation, Betty…

And then there was Friday night with Edwin. That whole night still hadn’t left my mind.

I shivered and tugged my sweater over my head. Maybe my grading had been s**py after all, thanks to his close proximity-our heads practically touching over the desk.

Goddess, I should have just gone home that night.

At exactly nine o’clock, I raised my hand to knock on Edwin’s office door-but it swung open before I could make contact with the wood.

Edwin was sitting behind his desk, his gaze stern and his dark hair neatly swept back. He was wearing a turtleneck and a tweed blazer, and the sight of him instantly made my heart pound. It was all I could do to stare nervously down at my feet.

“Miss Thatcher,” he greeted with a curt nod, gesturing for me to enter.

I frowned at the formal tone he was suddenly using, but said nothing. Closing the door behind me, I took a seat across his desk and wrung my hands in my lap.

For a few moments, neither of us spoke. I wasn’t quite sure if he was waiting for me to speak first or if he was just trying to make me nervous.

Finally, he seemed to settle on the latter.

“These were the assignments you graded Friday night,” he said gruffly, sliding a stack of papers toward me with his index finger. “I need you to look them over and tell me if you notice anything… off.”

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Chapter 39

With my brow furrowing, I leaned forward and began sifting through the papers one by onc-flipping through essays and exams that I specifically remembered grading. At first, nothing seemed amiss; there were corrections and comments littered in the margins just as I would expect.

But then, I reached the last few papers in the stack, and my stomach twisted.

There were glaring mistakes that I knew for a fact I had not made. Entire lines of text eft unmarked despite containing obvious grammatical errors. Comments that directly contradicted previous notations I had scribbled. In some cases, it seemed I had graded ntire sections incorrectly altogether.

…”I swallowed hard, fighting a red flush rising to my cheeks. “Are you sure these were he papers that I graded?”-

Edwin c**d an eyebrow at me. “Are you implying that I’m the one who graded those? that not your handwriting in the margins?”

wallowed again and quickly shook my head. “No, I’m not… It’s just… I remember ading this specific essay. I recall annotating it from beginning to end. Not like… This.”

win remained silent, just staring at me with a disapproving gleam in his gray eyes. I ened my mouth to protest again, but then thought better of it and simply rmured, “I’m sorry. I don’t know how it happened, but-”

now how it happened.” He suddenly rose, stuffing his hands into his pockets, and red at me down the length of his nose.

were too busy thinking about boys. That’s how it happened.”

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