I want to ask if I’m the only student failing, but I have a feeling I’m not. I couldn’t be. He has multiple classes a day. I can’t be the only one struggling with math, so him offering to tutor me can’t be just for me.
We find ourselves locked in a gaze. The wind picks up, blowing cold air through my hair, the curly strands flying in front of my face, and our papers travel through the air before hitting the ground.
“Oh no!”
We both get up to collect the few that have flown off. I gather a couple while he rushes off to get the others. The wind continues to gust as the clouds draw in, covering the sun and darkening the sky.
“Looks like it’s about to rain,” I say, handing him the papers.
His thumb rests over mine, and he lightly strokes it, his eyes dipping to my lips. “You keep them,” he says. “To study.” Then he hands me the ones he picked up.
Rain drops start to fall—heavy and fast. The clouds didn’t give us enough time to get to our cars before opening up and unleashing a heavy torrent of water on our heads.
“Shit. Follow me,” he says, running toward a row of parked cars.
The parking lot seems like it’s miles away. Wind and rain whip me in the face, and a few small leaves fly past me, one sticking to my lips.
“Ugh. I almost ate a leaf,” I yell.
He laughs, and I decide then that I love his laugh, or maybe I love that I made him laugh.
“Almost there.”
A black Audi beeps, the lights flashing as he unlocks it with his key fob. I instantly jump into the passenger seat and slam the door closed.
He starts up the car and we both sit there and take in some air. When I glance over at him, he grins.
“You have a…” he trails off, his hand reaching toward me. “Leaf.”
He shows me the small leaf that got caught in my hair, then rolls his window down slightly to toss it out.
“Oh. Thanks.”
His eyes trail down. “There’s another one on your…chest,” he says, gesturing to his own.
I look down and spot the smallest little leaf plastered against my rain-slicked skin, right at the top of my cleavage. After I get it off, I tug my loose V-neck shirt up. “Thanks.”
“I’ll drive you to your car,” he says, getting himself situated behind the wheel.
The car fills with tension, hovering around us, trying to push us together. The way he looks at me lets me know he wants me just as much as I want him. His eyes linger on my lips, and his gaze always finds a second to inspect my breasts or my hips.
I let my eyes trace the lines of his veins in his thick forearms as he handles the steering wheel, moving up to his wide shoulders. The light scruff on his jaw and chin only stand to highlight the sharpness of the angles in his face rather than hide them. His piercing eyes stay focused on the road while his brows pinch together slightly.
He angles his head in my direction, those striking eyes catching me checking him out. I’m thankful he doesn’t say anything. Soon, he’s driving into the parking lot.
“Which one’s yours?”
I point to the white Honda. “That one.”
He pulls up to the side of it and unlocks the doors. “See you tomorrow.”
I force my lips into a smile when all I want my lips to do is attach to his. “Yes, sir.”
Professor Kingston gives me a look, but instead of responding, I take advantage of the rain slowing down a little and rush out of the car and into mine.
15
It’s been a week since our tutoring session, and there’s been many lingering gazes between Nova and I. She’s caught me watching her while she’s working at her desk, and I’ve noticed the way her eyes roam up and down my body when I’m in front of the class.
One day, as I was walking between the aisles as they were testing, she stretched her arms out to the side as I was approaching her desk, and the backside of her hand touched the front of my pants.
She hurriedly and quietly apologized, snatching her arms back into her sides as a flush ran up her cheeks.
It was a very non-sexual touch, but her hand on my crotch still sparked many, many thoughts in my head for the rest of the day.
And now here we are, about to start another tutoring session. Since the weather is bad, the park is out of the question. I’m definitely not inviting her to my house, and while some professors hold office hours in different locations, I’ve had my office hours set for years. Everybody knows the days and times I have them, and it’s never been on a Sunday.
Since there are days I go up to the campus and spend time in my office preparing lectures, conducting research, or responding to student emails, I figure I could hold the tutoring session there. Other professors don’t come to my office since they’re too busy completing their own work.
Today, the tutoring session is starting a little later since Nova had to go to work in the morning. At three o’clock, a light knock takes my attention away from my work.
“Come in.”
Nova steps in and closes the door behind her, her eyes dancing around the room briefly. She sits in the chair across from my desk and smiles.
“Do you normally come in on the weekends?”
“Sometimes. There’s a lot more that goes into this job than teaching class.”
“Do you ever relax?”
I smirk. “I went to a concert, didn’t I?”
She rolls her eyes. “Was that the first time you did anything like that?”
“I guess it had been a while.”
“You should really get out more. I get you have work to do, but you know what they say…all work and no play…”
“I play plenty,” I say before I even think about
