Temptation (The Hunted, #1)(29)

"Where did you kiss?" Tyler asked.

"Not answering that."

"How long ago was it?"

"Not answering that."

"Were you trying to get your grade changed or something?"

"No!" Kind of.

"Was it just the one kiss?"

"Tyler!"

"Fine. But for a scandalous story, you left out a lot of the scandalous details."

"I think kissing a professor counts as scandalous enough." I took a bite of the pizza. "Sooo good."

Tyler smiled at me and grabbed a slice for himself. "You are quite intriguing, Penny."

As I ate my pizza, I thought about the luau I was supposed to ask him about. I couldn't say no if he invited me, or Melissa would be suspicious of me. Would Professor Hunter be mad if I went? He couldn't be. He was probably dating other people too. And were we even dating? I was so confused. And I could always say I was sick at the last minute.

"So my roommate, Melissa, is getting along really well with your friend Josh."

"Yeah, Josh really likes her." Tyler was looking at me curiously.

"What?"

"Well. I know you're still getting over your ex. And I completely understand that that takes time. But it physically hurts me to know that someone as beautiful as you is just sitting in your dorm room every weekend. It's a sin."

I blushed. "I like staying in."

"How about you make an exception this Friday?"

"What did you have in mind?" Oh good, he was going to ask me. Asking him just so I could cancel later seemed horrid.

"My frat is having this luau thing. I was hoping you could come."

"As friends?"

"As my date, Penny. God you're infuriating."

That's what Professor Hunter had said to me right before our second kiss. Right before the mind-blowing sex that I was sure could never be topped. Am I really that infuriating?

"I'll come as your friend," I replied.

Tyler smiled and shrugged. "It starts at 10. Did you want to meet me there?"

"Yeah, I can walk over with Melissa."

"Great." He looked pleased with himself despite my denying it was a date.

My stomach churned with guilt. Tyler was so sweet. I always laughed with him and had fun. I felt like I could always be myself around him. And he really was handsome. His crystal blue eyes always made me smile. But he deserved someone who wasn't daydreaming about their professor half the time.

When the check came I rummaged through my backpack for my share. Tyler pulled out a twenty and placed it on the table.

"I'll pay for half," I protested.

"Don't be ridiculous." He stood up and put his hand out for me to grab.

I took it and let him pull me up out of my chair.

"Thanks for lunch," I said.

"Hey, what are friends for?" he said with a smile.





Chapter 24


Friday

My new bikini was hanging in my closet. I already knew I was going to cancel, but pretending to be excited and shopping with Melissa would hopefully only help make my sudden upset stomach more believable. I didn't like deceiving her, but she could be so relentless. If she ever became suspicious of me she'd easily be able to get the truth out of me. And Melissa couldn't find out. I didn't want Professor Hunter to get in trouble. And I certainly didn't want to get in trouble.

I lay down in my bed and tucked the covers under my chin. During class earlier I had watched Professor Hunter's lips move but I couldn't seem to concentrate on the words that he spoke. Instead, I pictured him shoving everything on his desk to the ground and having sex with me right in the classroom. I pictured him pressing my naked back against the chalkboard.

I gulped. He said we could talk about it tomorrow night at dinner. But if he really was just going to end whatever it was that was going on between us, he could have done it already. He wanted to have dinner because he wanted to keep seeing me. Or start seeing me. I was already nervous just thinking about it. If he took me to a fancy restaurant he would order wine or something and wonder why I was just drinking water. I'd have to tell him I was only 19. This was going to be a disaster. I needed to see what he had to say though. Because I couldn't stop thinking about him. If Professor Hunter felt the same, maybe there was some way we could make this work.

Melissa walked in the room with a huge smile on her face. But as soon as she saw me in bed she put her hands on her hips. "Penny, what are you doing?"

"I don't feel well." I tried to make a pained expression.

"You just don't want to wear that bikini. You'll live. Get up."

"Melissa, my stomach is really upset."

"Are you throwing up?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Good. There's two hours until the party starts. Have some Tums." She tossed me a bottle from her bureau.

I unscrewed the cap and popped two in my mouth. Fortunately they were also a calcium supplement or I'd have to spit them out when she wasn't looking.

"You're probably just nervous to see Tyler. It's called butterflies. There's absolutely nothing wrong with you."

She wasn't going to let me get out of this easily. I quickly got out of bed, clutched my stomach, and ran for the door. Melissa looked up at me from her desk.