Finn, Amber - Her Prized Student (Siren Publishing Classic) by Amber Finn

what you are talking about before you try to blackmail someone.”
    Avery stood up and walked to the door. She opened it and motioned for her to leave. Leslie walked out of the office. Avery closed the door and started to shake.
    Avery went to her desk and sat down as she considered her next move. For a brief moment, she had hoped that Leslie was lying, but when she left without argument and didn’t try to pursue her blackmail, she knew then Leslie wasn’t lying. Leslie would not have dropped it so easily if she had made it up. So now Avery had to face the fact that Blake cheated on her. But what did he cheat on? They had never declared themselves exclusive with one another. Avery still had not told Blake she loved him, and of course he had not said it to her. So why did she feel like her world just ended? Because you are in love with him, and you haven’t felt this way about anyone—ever. Avery slowly gathered her things and left her office in a daze, much like Leslie did not long before.

    * * * *

    Just as Avery pulled up to her home, her cell phone rang, and the caller ID showed Blake’s number. Too numb to deal with him at the moment, she let it roll into voice mail. Avery was not sure when she would be able to deal with him. She barely had the strength to climb the stairs to her bedroom and crawl into bed. She let the bliss of sleep take over and closed her eyes. The sound of her cell phone ringing once again woke her from her pain-free existence. It was, again, Blake. She wasn’t ready to deal with him, so she let voice mail take the call. Avery looked at her phone and saw that Blake had left four voice mails since she arrived home. Four? How long have I been sleeping? Avery was surprised to see that it was six hours later. She sighed as she still felt exhausted. She rolled over and closed her eyes.
    The next morning there were five more messages from Blake. At this point, it was clear to Avery she was not going to be ready to speak to Blake anytime soon and deleted the messages. She put on her robe and headed downstairs to make coffee. Avery was grateful for the weekend. If she’d had a class, she would have had to face Blake. How was she going to get through next week? Thankfully, it was the last week of classes. The students would be working on their portfolios, so Avery did not have anything to prepare. On the other hand, the downfall to that was preparing a lecture would have kept her occupied. During portfolio preparation, she would wander the room and offer assistance when needed. Unfortunately, it would leave free time for her during class. This was what she was afraid of. She did not want Blake to have any chance to get to her. After class, she could leave straight from class in the midst of the students. The only thing that eased her fears somewhat was the thought that, during class, Blake would not try to discuss anything personal or fear of anyone else finding out about them. That thought did quite a bit to waylay her fears, so she now set about trying to figure out how she would avoid him until graduation.

Chapter Five

    It was the last week of classes, and Avery had only two class meetings left. Avery woke the morning of class feeling as nauseous as she did the first day of class. Wonderful. I’ve gone back to feeling like a green professor who has yet to get her feet wet. She arrived on campus and went straight to her office. She had over an hour before class and wanted to be sure she was available for any students in a last-minute panic over their portfolios. When she got there, there was a note in her mailbox from the department chair asking to see her. She instead went straight to Dr. Amelia Wentworth’s office. She knocked on her door, praying Amelia was in. Amelia called for her to come in. Avery said a prayer of thanks.
    “Avery! How’s your first semester treating you? I haven’t seen you much. I hope you haven’t felt ignored?”
    Avery felt at ease by Amelia’s pleasant tone. She