"What do you say, Jersey girl?"

He asked me that over a deep dish, a man I met at a wedding when I'd been trying to forget the epic disaster that was my life. He was too young, but I was hurting, sad, and recently divorced. Basically, the trifecta for bad decision-making.

Did I mention I'm divorced?

Because I am, and he made me laugh. God, did he make me laugh and I didn't do that. Not anymore. My ex-husband stole something from me I could never get back, and my pizza companion was there to offer an alternative. A night with him to forget old wounds from the past.

And I'm totally not a terrible person because he was running from something too. We both were. Two strangers drowning in the sea of our own pain. He had a past and a woman he was trying to get out of his mind, and I had a trauma that needed the same prescription.

One night to forget all the crap and the people who came before. One night of rash decisions. One night with a beautiful man who made me smile. Made me laugh.

He's in his twenties.

I'm in my thirties.

Ramses Mallick may prove to completely unravel me.

It's only made worse that he's my student.

Author's Note: Lover is a NA age-gap, student/professor romance. Unlike the previous books in the Court University series, it is a non-bully romance and is recommended for readers 17+ due to sexual content. It's a standalone novel with no cliffhanger. It's also book four in the Court University series, which is a spin-off series about characters featured in Eden O'Neill's Court High books. Reading the Court High books first is not necessary for the enjoyment of Court University. The characters origin stories merely begin in Court High and can be referred to at any time if the reader so chooses. Enjoy!