Teaching Roman by Gennifer Albin Read Free Book Online

laughed. “Okay, but at least let me get you a drink.”
    “Are you asking me to have a drink with you?”
    I felt his gaze on me, and I wanted to melt in the heat of his eyes.
    “Yes, I am,” I said, mustering as much confidence as I could.
    “We’d better get her into bed first,” he said, hoisting Cassie up a little higher. She’d fallen asleep, her face pressed against his shoulder. I was insanely jealous of her in that moment. I wanted to press my face against that shoulder. “Is this it?”
    His question called me back to reality. We were standing in front of the hotel. I waved for him to follow me past the main entrance and towards the beach. “We’re back here.”
    The row of villas was relatively quiet and the beach was deserted now that it was dark. I unlocked the front door and Roman carried Cassie to her bed while I shoved the stuff we bought into the fridge.
    “Give me a sec with her,” I said, coming into Cassie’s room.
    “I’ll be on the patio.”
    He was being cautious, choosing to wait outside my hotel room to maintain a semblance of propriety.
    When he left, I tucked Cassie’s covers around her and turned her on to her side in case she got sick. I’d need to check on her later to make sure she was okay. It was hardly the first time I’d been on alcohol poisoning duty. Everyone always expects the pre-med student to handle that. She hadn't drank enough to be in real danger, but her stomach was empty. Booze and no food was always a bad combination.
    Tomorrow Cassie was getting a lecture. She couldn’t let Trevor affect her this deeply. I sat next to her for a moment, brushing her hair back from her face while gathering the courage to go outside. Something in my gut told me the second I walked out of this room and back to Roman, nothing would ever be the same.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    A s soon as I was sure Cassie was one hundred percent passed out and in no danger of more drunken shenanigans, I slipped onto the patio. The night air had dropped, making me feel like I was home again. It was cool enough that I wrapped my arms around myself as the breeze blew shivers into my skin. The moon shimmered on the glassy surface of the ocean, just bright enough to reveal Roman lounging against the wall. He took a hesitant step towards me as I came outside. We both stopped short of each other, maintaining a safe, classroom-appropriate distance.
    “Is she okay?” he asked.
    “She will be,” I promised him. “Boy troubles.”
    “We are trouble,” Roman said. He grinned at me, his teeth whiter against his tan face in the dark. For a moment I imagined flicking my tongue across those teeth. The thought sent heat to my cheeks, but thankfully it was too dark for him to see me blush. Thinking like that was going to get me into trouble.
    “The first step is admitting you have a problem,” I told him.
    “If only I could get all 3 billion of us on the same page.” He shrugged a perfect what-can-you-do-about-it shrug.
    “I’ll be happy to find a couple of men who share that attitude,” I said. “It would save my friends and I a lot of heartache.”
    “Sounds like Cassie isn’t the only one dealing with boy trouble.”
    That was the problem with having a conversation with Roman. He was trained in the art of communication. He picked up on the littlest signals or the most innocent word choice. Not that I had boy trouble per se. I was pretty sure flaking out on a nice, dependable guy who wanted to marry you didn’t qualify as a problem by most people’s standards.
    Part of me wanted to open my mouth and spill the truth about me and Brett to someone. I could tell Roman. He was a fantastic listener, and he’d been so patient when I went to him for help with Jillian a few weeks ago, but this felt different and that was the problem. The feelings that prevented me from opening up to Roman about Brett were far from academic or professional.
    “Solidarity,” I said instead. It was both the truth and a lie at the