Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers #1)(11)
With the type of shit she knew about me, I would have expected her to gleefully choose someone else. But she didn’t hold it against me. She chose me despite my history, because I was well-qualified. Or maybe because despite my history, I’d gotten qualified.
All of which could have easily not mattered if my little “conversation” with Jason Wright had gone anywhere beyond an email to the professor.
Yeah, it had been exciting to spar with him, but my mother was right – I worked at the college. That was no place for me to make business matters personal, or pick at him for my own entertainment. So, from now on, any interactions that related at to my work as a grad assistant, especially on campus, would be strictly professional.
Even with “J. Wright.”
Starting with that stupid ass apology.
four.
“Mr. Wright, may I have a moment of your time?”
Here we go…
I stopped in my tracks, turning to face the woman I now knew to be Reese. She had those big brown eyes of hers pulled wide, in an innocent expression that caught me off guard. I’d honestly been shocked last night when Professor Bryant emailed me back. Even more surprised to find out that: she was making Reese apologize, and that the princess had wanted to give me a higher score on the paper. That last little tidbit made me think that my strategy of emailing the professor hadn’t been the right approach.
Or maybe it had, because I was about ninety percent sure we were about to go at it again. There was no way she was taking this “apology” shit lying down.
She tipped her head, urging me to quiet corner of the lecture hall as most of the students began to file out. I followed her, curious about what was happening next, and because, well… ass. Plenty of it, clad in jeans that fit her like a second skin. When she turned to face me, I followed the tiny straps of her shirt down to where her neckline dipped in the middle, showing just a hint of what had to be, wrapped in luscious skin like hers, beautiful breasts. They hadn’t looked this good in that tee shirt yesterday.
“Hey…,” she said, and I brought my eyes up to her face. “About yesterday, in Professor Bryant’s office? Uh… she talked to me, about the email you sent. I know I can be a little abrasive sometimes, and some people are just much more sensitive to that than others. So, I shouldn’t be speaking that way to anyone, not while I’m in official capacity here. I was completely out of line, and I want to apologize for hurting your feelings like that.”
I tipped my head to the side. “Wait, hurting my feelings?”
“And I’m sorry,” she continued, like I hadn’t said anything, with the same placid expression on her face. “For any damage I may have done to your self-esteem. Students of all levels of intellect and ability are welcome here at BSU, and we can certainly make any accommodations your therapist or physicians may feel like you need. I’m sorry I gave you the impression otherwise.”
“Wait, what? Let’s back up. You didn’t hurt my feelings, first of all.”
Our little exchange in the office hadn’t been serious enough for me to try to get her in trouble or for my damned feelings to be hurt about it. What had happened was a realization that to her, we were playing a game, starting from when we bumped into each other. Her next move was the flexing she’d done in Professor Bryant’s office. Mine was emailing the professor.
In my mind, the professor would look at it, tell Reese to stop being an asshole, and then the next move would be on her. I’d thought about it long and hard, and it was, to me, the obvious path. I wasn’t about to purposely bump into her again, and there was honestly nothing to insult. Our only connection was this classroom, and I was trying to see what the princess was made of.
“Oh, Mr. Wright,” she sighed, with a sympathetic tilt of her head. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I was so mean to you, and that’s not okay. I’m ashamed of myself for bullying you like that.”
After those words dropped from her lips, her mouth spread into another syrupy smile, and I knew right then exactly what was happening. “I just want you to know,” she continued, in the same sweet voice, “That I will never, ever engage you in that way on this campus again.” She pushed a handful of her braids over her shoulder, then put her hand lightly on my bare arm. “You have a great weekend, Mr. Wright.”
The classroom was empty now, and Reese didn’t even look back as she grabbed her bag from her desk and sashayed out. Have a great weekend was what actually came out of her mouth, but the words may as well have been: Your move, motherfucker.
As far as I was concerned?
Game on.
- & -
Kicking it with my brothers and father wasn’t exactly my idea of an exciting Friday night. But, with most of the people I considered friends either still in the military or scattered in other parts of the country, and no girlfriend, it wasn’t like I just had a list of other things to do popping off.
So, it was just us guys.
The dealership was closed for the night, Joseph Jr. had the night off from the hospital, and even Mr. Bestseller, aka my middle brother, Justin had made time from writing to come and kick it. We were spread around the living room, with a coffee table full of pizza and wings, and preseason NFL football on my father’s big flat screen, in the house we’d grown up in.