Professor Bryant's Second Chance

Chapter Three

Dylan



Our eyes had instantly locked onto one another. There she was, flirting with Justin again. It was hard for me to see her with him. One on hand, I know that it wasn’t really my place to be upset with her. Riley had every right to move on after what I did to her. It didn’t matter, though, because the way that I felt about her was still very much there. Feelings like the ones I had for Riley didn’t just go away like that.

“Dylan,” she breathlessly said. Damn, it felt good to hear my name come from those sweet lips of hers.

I’ve missed Riley in ways that I never imagined I could miss someone. When she asked me to leave that day in the hospital, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Walking away from someone you loved was no easy task, but I did it because she asked me to. Every day since then, I had been keeping tabs on her. I learned that she was released three days after being in the hospital. Since then, Justin and her friend Nora have been considerable motivators in her life. I tried desperately to refrain from knowing what was going on outside of her health. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to know how she was doing and what she was doing every minute of the day, but I wouldn’t have been able to handle hearing that she and Justin were together now.

“What are you doing here?”

Surprisingly enough, I was here by pure fate. I knew that Riley was still living in one of the dorms but had no idea what floor or dorm specifically it was. However, I didn’t come here in hopes of seeing her. I came here to get the rest of my things from my office before they threw it all away. I had put off coming to pick it all up because it symbolized that my teaching career was over when I didn’t want it to be. As I was getting ready to leave, I took a stroll to her old dorm, going for a walk down memory lane, if you will.

I sat my box down, pushing my hand through my hair only to tempt her more than she already was. She used to love it when I did that, and even though we haven’t been together in several months, I’m sure that hasn’t changed. “I’m picking up the last of my things. How have you been?” What a stupid f*****g question!

“Oh,” she responded, turning slightly inward to Justin, which made me mad as hell. I should be the man she was standing next to, but I just had to go and f**k that all up. “Do you think they are done now?” Riley asked, clearly to Justin.

Justin smiled down at her, running his thumb along her lower jaw. No f*****g way was this happening right now. “Yeah. Go on in, and I’ll be right behind you. I just need a minute.”

Riley looked between Justin and me, nodding before she walked inside her new dorm. All I could think about was that I knew where she lived now and didn’t know if that was a good thing. I was trying to keep my distance from her and allow her to be happy. I wanted to make her happy, I really did, but I seemed to rather keep secrets from her than tell her the truth. However, a lot of that had to do with my marriage to Veronica. I could never trust Veronica and had to keep secrets from her all the time. After doing it for so long, it became so natural. Being hurt put up my walls, and I guarded myself when I should have been putting myself out there with Riley instead. Now I’ve lost her.

Once Riley was inside and shut the door behind her, Justin walked up to me. I recognized that look in his eyes because I’m sure I had the same look right about now. “Just because you show up here randomly and get to see her once doesn’t mean you can use this as an opportunity to get back into her life. I should kick your ass for the things that you have put her through over the last several months. Riley is too good for someone as manipulative as you.”

“Whoa. Would you chill out? I didn’t come here to see her, though I’m glad that I did. You have no idea the nights that I’ve stayed up, unable to sleep, feeling absolute regret for all the things that I’ve done. That doesn’t mean that I’m not still in love with her. If she were to give me the chance to explain things to her, I wouldn’t try and stop her because I selfishly want her in my life. Does that mean that I’m going to pursue her again? No. You’re absolutely right. Riley does deserve better than me, but if we are being honest, she deserves better than you as well.”

He cracked a smile, which infuriated me more, but I kept as calm as I possibly could, given the situation. “It’s a good thing then that she will never forgive you. I know that you are the one responsible for keeping her out of trouble today. Don’t use that as some excuse to weasel your way back into her life.”

“Actually, I was planning to keep that one a secret,” I admitted.

“Of course, you were. Everything is a secret with you. Let this be the last time that I see you around this dorm. I hope that I’m making myself clear.” Justin turned around and smirked before walking inside and closing the door on me.

It took every ounce of willpower that I had not to break that f*****g door down. Seeing Riley in person made it a hell of a lot harder to want to stay away from her. Against what my heart was telling me to do, I picked up my box and walked away. One thing that Justin was right on was that Riley needed someone in her life who was capable of putting her first. I wanted to be that man for her, but there was so much going on in my life that I believed us not being together was for the best, as hard as that was for me to admit.

After getting back to the office, I was flooded with emails from Veronica, practically begging me to come to the gala with her tonight. As far as I was concerned, she could f**k off. It was because of her obsessiveness with me that caused all these problems with Riley in the first place. Okay, maybe not all of them. I was undoubtedly a factor in all this, but Veronica didn’t help matters at all.

Carly rang me not even ten minutes after walking into the building. “Veronica is on the line for you again, sir. Should I take another message?”

“Send her through,” I sighed, not feeling like speaking to her right now but seeing how she wouldn’t leave me alone until I did; I had to answer.

“What do you want?!” I barked as soon as picking up the phone.

Veronica scoffed, offended. “You haven’t given me an answer regarding the gala tonight. I’m about to start getting ready and thought of you. Here I am in nothing but my laced white panties while staring into my full body mirror. Are you going to let me attend the gala all by myself? If you come, I will make it worth it.”

The last thing in the world that I wanted was to screw my wife. That would sound messed up to most, but this woman has tormented me more in our marriage than supported me. “You would like that wouldn’t you?”

“I would, in fact,” she moaned. “I’m touching myself right now to the sound of your voice.”

I felt sick, and images of Riley flashed into my mind. “f**k off, Veronica. I’m never going to touch you again or f**k you, for that matter. There is no way in hell that I will be stepping into any establishment with you. Stop f*****g calling me!”

I slammed the phone down onto the receiver. My anger was getting the better of me, but there were so many things running through my head. Now that I saw Riley in person, I couldn’t stop thinking about her and how much I wanted to be with her again. Most of our time spent together was more than great. She made me feel alive in the best way possible, and I could see myself being very happy with her. Our future would have been so f*****g great if I could have just got my head out of my ass and told her everything from the start. Instead, I let things in my marriage with Veronica transpire into my relationship with Riley.

Immediately, I dialed my therapist. It was getting late in the evening. He was off the clock, but I paid him good money to be on call and to answer within all hours.

“Good evening, Mr. Bryant. How can I help you?”

Professional as ever. “Joseph, I need some advice right now.”

“My place or yours?”

“Can we just do it over the phone? We can have an in-person session later this week.”

“Fine. Tell me what is running through your mind.”

That was the question, wasn’t it? What wasn’t going through my mind? Over the last several months, Joseph has been trying to get me to understand Riley’s side of things, and it’s helped for the most part. He was the one to advise that I distance myself from her and allow her to take the next steps, and if that was with me, great, we could work it out. It’s been so f*****g hard, though. I’m a man who is addicted to s*x. Rubbing one out in the shower here and there hasn’t done s**t for the s****l tension that I’ve felt, but at the same time, being with any other woman than Riley didn’t satisfy me at all.

“Everything is f****d in my life. I saw Riley today for the first time in two goddamn months. The instant I saw her, I wanted to throw her against the wall and show her what she was missing. Riley was with Justin! I know I have no right to be pissed, but I am. All I want is her, but she didn’t seem to notice or even care.”

Joseph chuckled, which sort of made my anger flare even more. “Put yourself in her shoes, Mr. Bryant. Riley most likely feels like you humiliated her. Your name isn’t the one being slandered all over the internet. It’s hers. The only repercussion you had to this entire thing was that you lost your ability to teach. Riley has lost the respect of her fellow students, humiliated and slandered by thousands of people, and so much more. As far as the s*x, I’ve told you the same thing over and over. It’s time for you to move on from this. You have urges that simply cannot be replenished by some one-night stand, but it would certainly help. Every time you call me, you are so tense. By nature, we are designed to want. You think more with your d**k than your head sometimes, no offense. I’ve told you before that if you aren’t willing to accept the truth that you aren’t addicted to s*x, you will always feel like you are. It’s all in your head.”

“So, what do you advise I do? Not about the s*x but about Riley.”

“Honestly, if you want my raw truth. If you feel like you need to give it one more shot, do it on her terms. Make her fall for you again.”

“How am I supposed to do that when she doesn’t want anything to do with me? The last time it happened so effortlessly because we shared a classroom together. We spent days seeing each other, making it all fall into place. How can I make that happen without even seeing her?”

There were a few beats of silence before he ended my suffering. “I have an idea, but it is absolutely insane, but that’s what you pay me big money for.”

“Tell me! I’ll do whatever!”

He laughed before continuing. “A retreat. Hear me out before you shut down on me. Plan a retreat. Invite everyone she cares about, her close friends, and yes, even Justin. You will also show up. It will make her feel a lot better having her support system there. Take her out on dates. At least on a retreat, she will have no other choice but to see you every day, just like when you were teaching. It’s a little farfetched, but it’s a perfect scenario. Just think about it.”

That was actually sort of perfect, and I had the best plan to see it all through.