Free Best Friends Forever by L.A. Thompson

  flirting   with me?    Oh.    My.    God.     I bit my lip and simply stared at him,
unsure of how to respond.    Grant
frowned first at Detective Morgan and then at… wait.    Why is he frowning at me?    I’m not the one doing the flirting.     Suddenly, the big cop grinned and shook
his head.    Wow!    He is so much better looking when he
smiles.    Not as good looking
as my Grant but not bad…not bad at all.     “I suppose that could work…so long as
you both agree to take full responsibility for Cynthia.”
    “Yes, of
course.”    I nodded
enthusiastically.    “But,”
Cynthia looked worried.    “I
can’t go back to my dorm room.    What
if Brit and Tanya are there?”   I bit my
lip and met Grant’s eyes.   He slowly nodded
as if he understood.   Bending close to
me, he whispered in my ear, his breath tickling.   “She can stay at my apartment and I’ll stay
with you.   You okay with that?”   I shivered in anticipation.   Turning to Cynthia, I found myself offering,
“You can stay with us until we make arrangements with the college for a new
dorm room for you.   How’s that?”   “But...are you sure, Ms. Mac?   Professor Thomas?”   I nodded.   “You can stay at Professor Thomas’ apartment.   He spends most of his time at mine just down
the hall so you’ll have the place to yourself.”   Oh my god.   Grant and I have just taken a serious step in
confirming what everyone on campus believes...that we are a couple, more than
best friends.
    Grant smiled at
Cynthia.   “You’re more than welcome to
use my apartment for a few days, at least until we get this whole mess sorted
out.   And if you need anything in the
meantime, Ms. Mac and I will be just two doors away.”   I chimed in, “I think you’ll like it,
Cynthia.   It’s in a good, secure building
and there’s a stop for the campus shuttle half a block away so you’ll have no
problem getting to classes.”   “Do...do
you think they’ll still let me go to class, Professor Thomas?   I mean...after what I did, they’ll probably
expel me.”   Tears began to fall from her
eyes again.   Heartbroken, I stood and walked
around the table.   Sitting next to the
young girl, I wrapped my arms around her and she buried her face in my
shoulder.   “We’re going to do everything
we can to make sure that you stay in school.”   I looked at Detective Morgan, seated on the other side of her,
questioning.
    The big cop, a gleam
of interest in his eyes, smiled at me.   “Given that it appears that Cynthia was forced to participate, I’m sure
we can get the judge to go easy on her, also.”   He glanced up at the young cop.   “Are the crime scene techs finished here?”   “Yes, sir.   They finished up a short while ago.”   Morgan nodded.   “Well then, it
looks like I can release your library back to you, Ms. MacDonagh.”   He took a small key and unlocked Cynthia’s
handcuffs, as she rubbed lightly at the marks the cuffs left.   Standing, Morgan stuck his hand out to
Grant.   “Professor Thomas, I’m holding
you responsible to ensure Cynthia shows up at the police station before noon on
Monday.   Are we clear?”   Grant stood and shook the detective’s
hand.   “Absolutely.   I have an appointment with the Dean and the Snows
at nine a.m.   We’ll have her there right
after that.”
    Grant, still gripping
Morgan’s hand, leaned close to the man and murmured something that I couldn’t
hear.   I noticed the detective’s eyes go
wide at he glanced over at me.   Releasing
Grant’s hand, he stepped back and cleared his throat.   “Well, now that that’s cleared up, I’ll be
heading home.   Cynthia, I will see you
Monday morning at the station.   Ms.
MacDonagh, it was nice meeting you.”   If he had a hat, he probably would have
tipped it to me.   I nearly giggled at
that thought.   Detective Morgan and the
young uniformed cop quickly left.