Hot For Teacher (62 page)

“Okay.” Theo grabs my hands again and brings them up to his chest, laying them flat. He presses his own against the curve of my hips, pulling me closer to him, enough that I’m once again wrapped in his intoxicating scent. “The first thing you need to remember is to
feel
.”

I try to ignore the growing audience watching our impromptu production. “You said that already.”

“Then maybe you should learn to listen.” He holds me for a few breathless, heart-stopping moments and I wonder if this is all some kind of trick. “You have to really tap into what the character is feeling. Think about how you would react in their situation, let that overwhelm you and then just do what feels naturally. And don’t forget to look into my eyes when you say it.”

We practice the section that I am supposed to read for the second audition a thousand times by then. I’d read the play, dissected the words in more classes than I could care to remember. The lines I knew by rote, but applying them to life was a completely different story.

Theo stands in front of me, hands hanging loosely by his side. His long-sleeve, loosely knit sweater are pushed up to combat the heat emitting from the theatre lights. As I speak my lines I try to ignore the way he looks at me, to brush it off as a professor helping their student. I try to keep my voice calm and infuse feeling into the words. It wasn’t easy, but I make it through it without looking like a jerk in front of the full coffeehouse. As long as I could do that the next time, I would do okay.

Of course his following performance puts me to absolute shame. On any other man the absolute commitment to the role wouldn’t have worked. I know now why the girls in class were always laughing and flirting with him. The boys our age aren’t anywhere near Theo’s level. They don’t have his confidence, the overwhelming self-assurance that allows him to own his performance. Any boy in our class would have broken character and laughed the moment they got too uncomfortable with the role. But not Theo.

In interviews the critics talk about people that can fully commit, that have a natural ability to act and make you believe the roles they had been cast in. As I look into Theo’s eyes I know he is one of those people.

After he finishes, he bypasses the adoring fans and sits down at the table, bringing us once again face to face. “Do you think you can do it?”

I nod, having lost the ability to form coherent sentences.

“Good.” His words now are soft and I can’t help but be drawn to his lips.

The doorbell chimes with the entrance of another customer. Theo seems to catch himself and jerks backwards. The air immediately whooshes in to cool the heated space between us.

Oh my God, is all I can think. What just happened?

Not that there would be anything of the sort happening between us. The thought is laughable and he, no matter what my pheromones tell me, wasn’t my type.

At all.

I promise.

I think.

I grab a bottled water from my bag to quench my suddenly outrageous thirst. The liquid is cool and refreshing. Exactly what I need to shake off whatever just happened. I check my phone out of habit and curse when I see the time.

“What’s wrong?”

I sigh. “The last bus to my apartment complex just left. My roommate’s at work and won’t be off for a couple of hours.” I hesitate, then decide I would rather spend five minutes in a car with him, then hoof the two miles home. “Do you think you could drop me off? It’s just a few miles down the road.”

“Of course. I didn’t even think of that. It’s my fault anyway.”

After tapping out a text to my roommate, I shoot him a grateful smile. “I appreciate it and for helping me tonight. I don’t know how much actual help it’ll be when I get on the stage again, but thanks all the same. It was fun.”

“You’ll be fine. Just remember to loosen up a little. You think too much sometimes.”

As I shoulder my bag I glance at him. “How can you tell?”

“Acting is all about reading people.” Aha, so I’m right. He’s like some weird telepath. “When you start thinking too much you get tend to get this look around your eyes. Anyway, just remember to focus on the feeling and not the thinking.”

We exit the coffee house and Theo nods toward the staff parking lot.

“See that’s where I have an issue. I’m much more comfortable with thinking than feeling. I can’t wait until this whole process is over.”

“Hey!” He nudges me with his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, but you know what I mean.”

“Don’t sweat it. I was in your position once. The good old days.”

It’s early evening, the last of the sun dying off on the horizon and painting the campus in beautiful colors. Most of the students and staff have left for the day so the parking lot is mostly empty. There are a few cars left, probably for night classes of some sort.

“This is me.” He points to a sleek black motorcycle.

I stop dead in my tracks. “You expect me to ride that?”

“If you want a ride home I do.”

“Is it safe?”

“As long as you don’t let go it is.”

Theo grabs my purse, stuffing it into a satchel on the back end. I tie up my long blonde hair in the hopes that it will somehow tame the riotous curls without turning into a frizzball. He offers a thick black jacket and helps me slip my arms into the sleeves. He ends with his hands tugging the lapels together.

Something in the moment changes, I can tell because his fingers tighten on the jacket, wrinkling the fabric beneath his fingers. The action brings me infinitesimally closer, but it’s enough to see the change in his eyes. Enough to see them lock on my lips.

I raise my hands to hold his wrists. To stop him or pull him closer, I’m sure.

His hold loosens on the jacket, presses it down and then caresses up the length of my neck. I watch him watch the movement of his hands like he doesn’t quite understand what’s going on. Then his eyes snap to mine. I see the confusion in the wrinkle on his brow, the firm line of his lips. Theo’s hands once again cup my jaw this time to pull me closer. He hesitates the barest moment before his lips touch mine. “I have to kiss you.”

“You do?” Oh God, the breathy voice.

He nods, his nose brushing against the length of mine in the process. “I’ve been thinking about it since the first time I saw you.”

What the fork?

Instinctively my body archs toward him. “You have?”

“You haven’t?”

No, I tell myself. This is bad, very bad. But then his lips touch the curve of my jaw and I forget my nerves. I forget my fears. I forget everything that tells me
this is wrong
. And instead listen to the feeling that says
nothing has ever been this right
.

I focus on the glide of his lips along my jawline and up to the shell of my ear. His breath sends delicious sparks shooting throughout my body causing me to clutch the material of his sweater. I need him closer. As close as he can get.

His hands trail down my sides and into the jacket he’d put on me. He finds the barest scrap of skin between the top of my jeans and the bottom of my shirt. The feeling of his fingers on my bare skin warms me from the inside out.

I break apart for a second to breathe the only rational thought that comes to mind. “Theo, we can’t.”

“Just once.”

Then he’s kissing me.

And for the first time my rational thoughts evaporate. I’ve never been kissed like this before. Delicate and demanding. Both taking and giving. I thrust my fingers into his hair and tug him closer; to taste more of him. He growls his appreciation into my mouth and he seems to momentarily lose control. He guides me against the light pole that must have magically appeared until we are pressed against each other from top to bottom and all the right places in between.

In that moment there are no rules, there is no awkwardness. He’s taking what he wants and I’m all too happy to give it to him.

My own hands were feasting on the smooth skin of his stomach and feeling the ridges of his startlingly defined abs when a noise nearby catches my attention.

I break apart from Theo with an audible smack and look up. I look around for the source of the sound, but don’t see anything. The mood broken, I take a hesitant step back.

The ride home is charged with tension. All kinds of delicious, scary, mind-numbing tension. The fact that I was pressed up against Theo in ways that make my head spin doesn’t help to clear my thought processes. I’m somewhere between what-the-fuck-did-we-just-do and when-can-we-do-it-again.

When I tried to keep my distance after the near-scare in the parking lot, Theo had none of it. He gently pried my hands from the handlebar and placed them firmly around his waist.  I hope he knew what he was doing because we crossed all kinds of lines a few minutes ago. And if the look in his eyes had been any indication, there will be more to come.

We arrive at my apartment, a small two bedroom studio that’s as modest as it is cheap. He parks the bike in my meager driveway and takes my hand. Still shaken by the drastic change of events, I lead him to my unit and unlock the door in a daze. Thank God Jessica has been making it a habit to stay with Stefan or I would have a lot of ‘splaining to do.

I flick the lights on, making my way down the hall to feed my cat out of habit. When I make it back to my living room he’s standing in front of my desk looking at the frames on the shelf. He has one of my parents in his hands.

I enter the room, causing him to look up at me. “So we should probably talk.”

Here it comes. “I would say so.”

I turn away from him, feeling weirdly dejected and upset that I’m feeling dejected. I don’t like how confused and vulnerable I feel all of the sudden. This is exactly why girls like me stick to dating the fabulous men in books. Artificial drama and a new man each time the old one became too much trouble.

The only piece of furniture I have in the living room is the secondhand futon that has seen better days. I settle on it, turning to face him and await my doom.

But he isn’t coming to sit with me. Instead he’s taken notice of my TV and DVD collection. He pilfers through the selection as if he’s making a life-or-death decision. Finally, he chooses one and slips it in.

I shoot him a puzzled glance. “I thought we were going to talk?”

“We are.”

I look at him. At the credits rolling on the TV and then back at him. “Then why did you put in a movie.”

“Because after we talk you’re going to want to spoon on the couch and watch it with me.”

“I thought guys didn’t like to spoon.”

“I do.”

Well, okay then. Color me intrigued.

He sits next to me, knees touching mine and does the looking in my eye thing again. He really needs to stop that. “So,” he says, “I need you to know that I did not intend for what happened earlier to happen at all. It was unprofessional and I sincerely apologize.”

I look at my fingers in my lap. “I understand. I didn’t think you did it on purpose or anything. I assumed it was some kind of letting off steam acting thing.”

He surprises me with a burst of laughter. “No, not even close.”

My brows furrow. “Then what is it? A mistake.”

“No. It wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t timely. You’re my student, Evie. I have a responsibility to protect your interest, offer you impartial judgment and be fair to your classmates. Though having any kind of personal association with you isn’t illegal, but it’s also not condoned by the university and could cost us both a lot of time and trouble.”

“No, I know that.” I shift in the seat and swallow the rock in my throat hoping it gets stuck and I can choke before I die of embarrassment. “I completely understand.”

“I think it’s best if we just leave it at that for now.”

“For now?”

“Well, the semester isn’t going to last forever. You won’t always be my student.”

“So you’re saying…”

“I’m saying that tonight wasn’t supposed to happen, but I’m happy that it did. You remind me of what I was like before I got burned out. The reason why I loved being on stage in the first place.”

I try not to blush and fail. “I don’t know, Theo.”

“How about this? We will have tonight to think about it. We will watch this movie. I’ll kiss you goodnight and then we can reevaluate when the semester is over. No pressure.”

I don’t want to get Theo in trouble. I don’t want to jeopardize my grade. But for the first time in a long time I connected with someone and that is a temptation I don’t know if I can resist, rules or no.

I wake a while later with my head pressed against his heart. Its solid thump is reassuring and exhilarating at the same time. I do a mini stretch, arching my back and wiggling my toes. I let out a muffled laugh when Theo’s arm winds around my waist and he nuzzles in my neck, lips tracing what I’ve learned is his favorite spot. Then I’m arching for a completely different reason as his teeth clamp down on my ear and his arm tightens around my middle.

“Theo.” I say it or I sigh it, I’m not quite sure.

My brain is somewhere in between being awake and asleep where everything is fuzzy and warm. The heat emanating from his body only makes me want to snuggle all the more closely, so I do. I tuck my arms under his until we’re both laying on our sides, bodies pressed from top to thigh. The TV has long since shut off, bathing the living room where we’d fallen asleep in darkness.

“You should get going.” As if he can with the death grip that I’ve got going on with his sweatshirt.

“Mmmhmm.” The vibrations tickle my ear and send shivers dancing along my spine and down to my toes.

“Really.”

He ignores me, instead choosing to slide his hands back up the material of my shirt, bunching it as he goes. His fingers press and knead my back causing gooseflesh to rise on the rest of my skin.

“You said you had to go.” Reason, I think vaguely. Reason with him before this goes too far.

“Do you want me to go?”

He nibbles my earlobe and all reason melts away. “I don’t want you to go.”

Soft lips trail kisses along my jaw and then meet mine for a deep, mind-blowing moment. He hooks my leg around his hip, gripping the curve to keep me pressed against him. Heat pools low in my belly as everything turns incandescent.

We break for air, leaving only enough room to gasp for breath.

As the oxygen slowly returns to my brain I laugh. “You really should go home, Theo. It’s not good for you to stay here.”

“No one will see me. My illustrious acting career has taught me the art of blending in.”

“I hate to break it to you, but as a dedicated wallflower I can say with complete confidence that there is nothing about you that blends in.”

He rewards me with another kiss. “You may think you’re a wallflower, but I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you, Evie. You just weren’t paying attention.”

I refuse to melt into a puddle at his feet. “Be that as it may, right now we shouldn’t be seen together right now. If you’re serious about what you said before then we’ll see.”

I untangle my legs from his and roll off of the couch. As my brain begins to clear of hormones the reality of what has happened began to sink in.

I don’t think this what he had in mind when he joked about extra credit.

I’m in the middle of my French Literature class the next morning when a mystery text message appears on my phone. It’s from an unknown number so the first person that comes to mind is Theo. A smile pulls at my lips, but I force it back. I slip the phone under the table and out of plain view from the professor. They aren’t sticklers about having cell phones out, but if it is him I don’t want to advertise it. Plus sneaking around makes me feel both badass and nervous.

The slow rise to excitement becomes a sick descent into horror when the subject of the photo registers in my brain.

It’s a photo of Theo and me making out in the parking lot. A roll of nausea churns in my stomach and I break out in a cold sweat.