Always You(22)

“Not much, dude. Just wanted a familiar face to chat to.”

“Aww, poor Dalton’s not homesick, is he?” Cam tsked as I laughed.

“Fuck off. I’ve had a hard week. This just keeps getting worse.”

“That bad?” He winced, scratching his ear.

“Let’s just say I’m making this much more complicated than it needs to be,” I sighed. Did I tell him about Wrenn, or not? I wanted to, but something was stopping me. The less people knew about this, the better. “Anyway, things will get better. They have to, right?”

“Yeah, sure,” Cam said, raising his eyebrows and not looking convinced. “So when are you back home next? We’ll catch up.”

“Definitely. It probably won’t be until the end of my contract though.”

“Sweet. Well, stay out of trouble, and you watch yourself around those young hussies,” he warned, clicking his tongue.

If only he knew.

***

After an hour of grading homework assignments, I could barely keep my eyes open. Fuck, I was tired. They could wait, because right then all I wanted to do was sleep.

I shoved everything back in my briefcase and stumbled down to the bedroom. I hung my jacket over the bedpost and peeled off my shirt, discarding it on the ground. Unbuttoning my jeans, I took them and my boxers off and climbed into bed.

It took my body a few minutes to adjust to the temperature of the freezing sheets. I lay there, almost asleep, but unable to switch my mind off. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. I felt myself get hard, aroused at the thought of her smile, those lips. God I could only imagine the feel of them on my...

Fuck! I rolled over, disgusted with myself. I was not going to jerk off while thinking about her. She was my f*cking student! There was nothing I wanted more than to see where this...whatever this was, took us. But I had to be realistic.

It was never going to happen.





Chapter Thirteen


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Wrenn

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There were no words strong enough to explain how I was feeling as I approached the theater. He stood against the wall, staring at me, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, his knee bent, foot propped up against the wall.

I’d thought long and hard about what to wear tonight, and seeing his eyes widen and his body tense, I knew the low-cut black dress and cream heels had been a great choice, even if I was freezing my ass off. I wanted to make him squirm inside. We both knew what he was going to say, and I was planning on testing his resolve tonight. That kiss had felt so incredible that I wasn’t ready to give up on him yet.

“Wow, you look stunning,” he murmured, his eyes roaming over me.

I smiled and tilted my head. I had scrubbed up pretty well. “We should go in,” I replied.

He held up two tickets, and I grinned.

“I was hoping you had gotten them.” I’d noticed the same young guy in the ticket booth, and the last thing I wanted was to deal with him again after the embarrassment of last night.

We walked inside. The theater was filling up. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand and led him toward the far corner of the back of the room. He jumped at my touch, but didn’t resist. We sat down, his hand not letting mine go.

“Just in case someone we know is here, I thought the back corner made sense,” I explained, my face flushing.

He nodded, his fingers entwining in mine, his skin so soft. “Makes sense.”

I barely heard him; I was too busy focused on the way his finger was gently stroking mine. God, how was it possible that the tiniest touch was arousing me right now?

As the movie went on, I did my best to watch it, but really, all my attention was on him. It took me fifteen minutes to work up the courage to reposition my hand so mine was on top, our fingers laced. He glanced at me with a small smile.

This made me feel more confused. Was he going to end this? And if he was going to stop us before we had even really begun, why hold my hand?

I wish I had the balls to kiss him right now.

This was the perfect arrangement: a dark theater, sitting alone in the corner, holding hands—but I couldn’t do it. No matter how much I ached to feel those lips against mine, I was too scared of being rejected.

Too quickly, the movie was over. We were the first people up and out of our seats, nervous about being spotted. We walked quickly to his car. He unlocked the passenger door and waited until I was safely inside before closing it.

We sat in his car in silence as I waited for him to talk. He was preparing a big speech in his head, I just knew it. I needed to say something now, or I’d lose my chance.

I couldn’t make a bigger fool of myself, so why not go all out?

“I want to say something.” I blurted it out before he could begin.

He glanced at me in surprise, but nodded.

“I like you. A lot. I understand your reservations about getting into a relationship with me, but I’m eighteen. I’m an adult, and we both have less than six weeks of school left. You’re not that much older than me, and I think you like me, too. I don’t expect—or even want—you to risk your job for me, so I’m willing to wait until school is over for the both of us before we start anything.”

I took a breath, waiting for him to respond. He was staring at me with those gorgeous blue eyes, and I was melting into him.