a grad student. I’m just a lowly senior.” He smirks at me playfully.
My brows knit together in confusion. “Huh? Then how are you a TA?”
“I’ve just always had a knack for techie stuff, I guess.” He shrugs his rugged shoulders. “I started at the computer lab when I was a freshman, and my boss – I mean, our boss,” he smiles down at me brightly. And, oh yeah, he still hasn’t let go of his death grip around my waist. “Well, when Professor O’Neil saw how much I knew, he promoted me to shift manager. Then, in my sophomore year, he asked me to help out a little more. At the end of my junior year, he asked me if I wanted to be his TA this fall. It’s a pretty sweet gig if you ask me.” He winks at me and I’m pretty sure he’s adding our recent encounters to the sweetness of his job history.
We stop outside of our classroom and he opens the door for me. Such a gentleman. I’m pretty sure that no one has ever held a door for me, ever. I slide past him, conscious of the heat radiating from his body, but cautious not to actually touch him. My ass gets in the way all the damn time and that’s the last thing I need him to realize.
Bryan not only walks me to class, but he actually escorts me to a seat in the aisle. Before he walks away from me, he leans down and whispers in my ear. “Now, don’t leave without me.” His warm breath sends shivers down my spine and causes goose bumps to spread like wild fire across my neck. I can’t form words, so I just smile and nod dumbly as he turns to walk toward the front of the room.
After the rest of the class settles in, the lecture begins. It doesn’t take me long to figure why he put me in an aisle seat. Every time he walks past me, which seems to be fairly frequently, he brushes up against my arm with his. When he hands me a stack of papers to pass down to the rest of the row, his long fingers graze over mine and he winks at me while leaving his hand on mine for longer than he really needs to. He was openly flirting with me before and I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. But now, it’s clear. He’s into me.
Well, color me surprised. In all my life, no one has ever been interested in me. I have always been the curvy wallflower of the group and I have hated every minute of it. His flirting makes me feel beautiful and important. And it’s not just because he’s gorgeous – though that doesn’t hurt. It’s more about the way that he talks to me, with passion and energy; it’s in the way he touched my nose earlier, with kind tenderness; it’s in the way he looks at me, as if he’s actually seeing the real me.
As Professor O’Neil, drones on and on about binary code and HTMLs, I get lost thinking about what the hell Bryan sees in me. The only answer I can come up with is that he must have trouble with his vision. I mean, doesn’t he see that I’m not perfect like the stick-thin Barbie girl sitting behind me? Back in the lab, he touched my hair so he had to notice that it was an unruly mess of red waves – not the perfectly, pin-straight blonde locks that all men seem to love and all women long to possess. Walking to class, he had his hand on my waist. He felt the soft give of my flesh – no skin and bones here. Yet, he is still actively making eye contact with me and smiling at me across the room.
Part of me can’t help but wonder if this is some kind of cruel joke on the chubby chick. God knows that I’ve been there before. I wonder what his motives are. What’s he getting at? Because no matter how much I feel that spark between us, I refuse to believe that he doesn’t have an ulterior motive.
When class is over, Bryan eyes me amid the shuffle of the other students filtering into the aisles. Holding up one finger, he mouths “Give me one minute.” And that smile, it’s impossible not to smile back at him. So, of course, I do.
As I’m zipping up my backpack, I hear Barbie girl from behind me talking with her friend. “He’s still so freaking hot,” Blondie says. The tone of her voice has this quality to it that suggests she knows just how hot he really is – especially naked.
“Oh my God. You still want him, don’t you, Courtney?” Blondie, who I now know is Courtney, gasps but then giggles at her friend’s apparently accurate accusation. I twist in my seat just a bit to catch a glimpse of the two of them, but I don’t want to look too obvious so I make it look like I’m bending down to adjust the strap on my sandal.
Courtney is more gorgeous than I originally thought. She’s got legs that go on forever. They’re long, lean and tanned, and most importantly, cellulite free. In other words, they are nothing like mine. Her super-cute denim shorts – you know, the kind that have more pocket than denim – are extremely short and don’t leave much to the imagination. I laugh inwardly thinking that I have underwear that cover more skin than her shorts do.
She adjusts her already low-cut black halter top to expose even more of her perky breasts and I almost laugh out loud at her very obvious attempt to catch the attention of whomever it is that she clearly wants back. In all honesty, she looks like she’s dressed to go to some night club instead of a technology class – well, any class for that matter, unless the college offers pole dancing classes.
Courtney shrugs her shoulders. “Are you kidding me, Tori? Um, hell yeah I do. Look at him. Wouldn’t you want that back in your bed?” I follow the path that Courtney and Tori’s eyes are traveling and feel absolutely sick when I realize that they are talking about Bryan, my Bryan.
I suddenly feel sick and foolish for letting myself believe that he would honestly be interested in me. Shaking away thoughts of our earlier flirting, I stand from my seat only to be met with the disgusted faces of Courtney and Tori. Clearly, I’m obstructing the view of their eye-candy.
Courtney’s glossy, full lips curl into a sexy smile and when I glance over my shoulder, I see that she is smiling at Bryan who is walking toward her.
I roll my eyes and sigh sarcastically at her overtly sexual posture. She’s pushing her boobs out and pouting her lips. Do guys actually fall for this kind of stuff? I guess there was part of me that foolishly thought Bryan was different.
I push past the girls and, as I’m walking to the exit, I hear Bryan call out, “Melanie, where are you going?” That magnetic pull I felt toward him earlier draws me back into the room. Instantly, I wish I hadn’t turned around. The shocked and almost sickening looks on Courtney and Tori’s faces make me feel less than insignificant.
Bryan is taking the steps two at a time, hurrying to catch me before I leave. He nearly stumbles when Courtney reaches out for him with her grubby little hand. I’m watching the whole scene as if it’s playing out in slow motion.
“Hey, Bry baby.” Courtney’s words are laced heavily with seduction. When she reaches up to cup his cheek, jealousy and disgust swirl through my veins.
Keeping an eye on me, as I remain glued to my spot by the exit, Bryan wraps his hand around Courtney’s and pulls it away from his face before she even makes contact. My heart sings when I hear him say, “I’m done with you, Courtney. Now, get out of my way.”
Bryan is standing in front of me before I can even register what’s going on, but one thing is clear – he just chose me over her.
Lacing his fingers with mine, he says “I don’t know what she said to you, but don’t believe any of it. She’s a lying, shallow, heartless bitch.” His words sound as pained and angry as his face looks and I just want to curl myself around him and comfort him. Yet at the same time, the need to protect myself from being humiliated and hurt takes over. I pull my hand from his, and adjust my bag over my shoulder.
I shake my head as I say, “She didn’t say anything. But if looks could kill, well, I’d be dead by now.”
He laughs, but it’s a gruff and uneasy sound. “Yeah, well, that sounds like Courtney.” He pulls my bag from my shoulder and once again effortlessly carries mine along with his as we leave the classroom and the shocked faces of Courtney and Tori behind us.
As we’re walking back down the hallway, I remember that I left my student ID in the lab. I pulled it out to log onto the computer and forgot to put it away. “Shit. I have to run back to the lab. I’ll see you around.” I have to admit, this is a rather convenient mistake. Now I can get away from him and try to sort through my little pity party.
“It’s okay. I’ll go with you. I need to work on some stuff for this class anyway.” So much for a little bit of distance.
When we get back to the lab, I find my card right where I left it. “Oh, here it is. That totally would have sucked.” He smiles warmly at me as he hands over my bag. “Here you go, Melanie. I’m sorry about before.”
Apologizing for something that is totally out of control just upped the adorable factor that he already had going for him. “It’s okay, Bryan. It’s no big deal.” I adjust my bag on my shoulder, though it’s more out of
