Page 19 of Teach Me
“B minus. You?”
“C.” I frowned. I knew this class wasn’t an easy A, but I thought I’d laid out my essay draft decently. At least A-minus or above decently. Apparently, Lusk disagreed. Then again, I’d also finished typing it up groggy after my second encounter with glory hole guy because I’d been too keyed up to sleep.
“Overachiever.” He nudged me playfully.
Seeming more hurried than usual, Lusk flung open the top flap of his bag, sending a sheaf of papers sitting on the other side of the desk flying.
I barely caught his muttered curse, and then he turned toward the class. “Looks like it’s gonna be one of those days, folks. Entertain yourself for five while I get my act together, eh? I’ll remain a few minutes after class ends in case anyone wants to discuss their drafts.” A disarming grin, one I’d caught here and there outside of class and loved, pierced his usual professionalism.
Chatter erupted, and phones came out as the professor walked around to the other side of the desk to collect the papers. Another girl in the front row rushed up to help him. I couldn’t help that my eyes glued themselves to the professor’s ass as he moved. I shifted in my seat, and this time, Nate was the one to elbow me with a chuckle. “Perv.”
“Psht.” I scoffed, mimicking Nate. “I’m not perving. It’s right there in the open.” I gestured. “Look, half the class is doing the same thing.” Okay, maybe it was a third and a healthy mix of guys and girls. But I wasn’t alone in my visual appreciation. “Do you know if he has a wife? Or a husband? Kids?”
“Does it matter? He’s not gonna be hooking up with you.” Nate eyed me askance. “You still avoiding dating? Eric and I could probably find you someone cool to hang out with, see where it goes.”
I shook my head. “I’m not…avoiding, exactly. I just haven’t come across anything I’m interested in,” I deflected. Was it a lie? I wasn’t sure. I had trouble defining my interest in my glory hole partner, afraid to read too much into it. Shit, maybe that was a lie, too. I frowned. I’d worked hard not to lie anymore, especially to myself. But that was also the bigger challenge. We lied to ourselves constantly. That was how I’d gotten into trouble with pills in the first place.
“Mm,” Nate grunted, which I could tell meant he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t press further because the professor straightened, setting the stack of papers back on the desk.
The soft notes of a chuckle he exchanged with the girl helping him drifted my way, the sounds of it an inviting rumble that made the tips of my ears tingle. God, I really was turning into a horndog when the sound of someone’s laughter could get me going.
I opened my laptop on the table in front of me and pulled up my notes app, searching for a distraction, but Lusk shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants, pulling them impossibly tight across his thighs and hinting at the muscular quads beneath.
He finally started class, but the words filtered in on a delay as I let myself indulge in a tiny little teacher-student fantasy, my gaze running up to the stubble along his well-defined jaw, the big Adam’s apple and generous mouth, the hint of humor in his eyes, before making the trip back down the inseam of his pants. Faint impression of a dick print—but enough to make my mouth water—those muscular quads, a peek of plaid on his socks, and then the wingtip shoes. Even those were perfect, a hint of shine on top, the leather broken in enough to suggest he favored them.
I squinted, gaze pinging between the laces and his socks, something about that intersection of leather and pattern nudging my memory.
“Hey.” Nate elbowed me and ticked his chin toward the floor. “Are the cum stains noticeable?”
“What?” I whisper-hissed, blanching as he swept his foot to one side to display his gleaming white kicks. I sputtered a laugh and tried to turn it into a cough when I realized the professor was watching me. All the roommates played this stupid game on occasion, trying to get the other in trouble in class. I usually knew exactly what Nate was up to when he tried it on me, but I’d been too distracted.
“Everything alright up there, gentlemen?”
Fuck.
“Sorry, choked on my spit.” Wow. I suddenly wished I could crawl inside my laptop and shut it behind me. My ears burned with mortification as Nate put his head down on the desk, shoulders quaking with silent laughter. The only thing that kept me from elbowing him in his side was the way the professor’s gaze lingered on me thoughtfully, before he flashed me a humored smile.
“Duly noted. Some take longer to master that basic bodily function than others.”
“I’m good. I’ve swallowed it,” I blurted and felt heat rush to my cheeks. God, could this get any worse?
“Thank you for sharing that win with us.”
Laughter erupted in the class. Now, the back of my neck was on fire, the only saving grace being that Lusk’s expression remained amused rather than scolding.
I spent the rest of class absently taking notes, an odd sensation tickling the back of my mind. My guy at the club had been wearing wingtips, but so had plenty of other men in the club. Maybe my imagination was getting away from me. I mean, probably it was, but I couldn’t quell the curiosity zapping my nerves like little strikes of lightning.
I forced myself to stop bouncing my knee when Nate shot a pointed look my way.
“I think that’s a good stopping place for now,” Lusk said. “We’ll reconvene next week.” He passed his gaze over the crowd, lighting on me briefly. “No one choke over the weekend.”
Ass. But was I secretly kinda thrilled? Yes, I was.
“’Bout to go make Eric choke on my dick,” Nate muttered right on cue as he stood and began packing up his things.
“You go ahead. I want to stick around and ask about my essay draft.”
Nate gave me a good-natured grin and chucked me on the shoulder. “Alright, overachiever. See you later.”