Hot For Teacher (19 page)

"Yes," he answered, staring off to the street. There was a long pause as Connor continues to stare away from us, then Amber tapped her foot twice.

"We won't say anything. Tonight stays here. Please, Mr. Tomlinson, can we stay? I want to see what goes on at a real frat party."

"Nothing good goes on at these types of parties,
”
Connor said, casting a possessive look on me.

"Please," Amber tried again.

"No." Connor's simple word came out strong. "Where are you guys parked at?"

Amber pointed toward her car, defeated.

"Let's go.
”
Connor started the walk back to Amber's car and we reluctantly joined him. I fell behind as I tried to grasp what I’d just learned.

Amber walked ahead to the driver side. Connor stopped by the passenger door, quiet until, Amber stepped into the car. I walked toward him, standing as close as I possibly could without pressing my body onto him.

"Vida, we need to talk,
”
he breathed, his warm breath on my cheek sending shivers up and down my body
. 

"We do. Come by tomorrow."

He nodded as he opened the door for me.

"Go straight home.
”
He closed my door and walked away.

Amber went right to bed when we got back to her place. She wasn’t happy with how her plans had turned out. I let her sleep as I lain awake, thinking about what would happen when I saw Connor.

After breakfast, I told Amber I had to go back home. With her sulkiness, she didn’t protest.

“Hey, cheer up,
”
I told her as she walked me to the door. “We’ll try again another night. Maybe just a high school party?
”

“High school boys are shy and not fun,
”
she pouted.

I smiled. “They’re better that way.
”

“For you, maybe. Not for me.
”
She laughed, her mood lifting.

I opened my car door before giving her a hug. “See you Monday.
”

***

As I spotted my house from down the street, the empty feeling returned. Once inside, I tossed my house keys onto the table and walked to my room.

My bag dropped and my heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second. Then it beat again, drumming fast and loud, increasing every second. Loud enough that I was sure he could hear.

Connor is in my bedroom.

Connor is in my bedroom.

Connor is in my bedroom.

He had his back to me, his head angled to the right as he looked at my pictures and artwork. I couldn’t see his expression as he glanced at each one. His head dropped as he noticed the framed picture on my nightstand. I heard the deep, throaty catch in his breath and imagined his bright, beautiful smile lighting up his gorgeous features. I light up too, every time my eyes falls on that picture he took of me.

"Connor, how did you get in?"

He turned, his smile dropping. "Where were you?" he asked, his soft voice worried.

"I was with Amber."

"I asked you to come straight home."

"We did. I spent the night at her place.
”
I took the final steps toward him. "Connor, you broke into my home."

"I used the spare key inside the lantern. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

"You still remember where the key is?"

"Of course I do."

He wrapped his arms around me, and my head fell back to stare up to him. I could feel his pulse running through his body. I waited for him to kiss me. With each second that passed, I became lightheaded with anticipation.

"I drove by to see if you were home safe, but you weren’t here. I was worried.”

His breath is hot
…
sexy against my lips.

Kiss me. 

But Connor didn’t kiss me, I felt his muscles tighten around me before he let me go, backing away. “Vida, I shouldn’t have come inside. I shouldn’t be doing this.
”
With his head low, he stepped around me and walked out of my room.

My head spun. “Connor, wait.
”
I rushed toward him, but I wasn’t quick enough. He opened the door and walked out, shutting it behind him.

“Wait,
”
I cried softly, opening the door. I rushed outside to the nosy glares of my neighbors and stopped. I watched Connor get into his car and drive away. With a heavy heart, I turned and walked back into the house and back to my bedroom.

I threw myself onto my bed. What had just happened? I heard footsteps come into my room and I rolled over slowly, hoping it was Connor.
  
 
“Baby, what are you doing?
”
my dad asked from my doorway.

“Nothing,
”
I answered, burying my face in my pillow.

“Okay.
”
I heard him walk back to the kitchen. “There’s lunch and dinner in the microwave. Come hang with your dad when you’re ready.”

I rolled off the bed, grabbing my phone out of my bag, and walked into the living room. “How was your date? You’re back early.
”
I noticed Dad had changed into sweats and a T-shirt. “When did you get home?”

“I wasn’t needed for the whole weekend after all.
”
He told me. “Grab your lunch and come sit here with me.”

I did as he’d asked and grabbed a Chinese takeout box from the microwave and chopsticks from the drawer. I walked back to the living room and sat on the couch, slouching back with my knees bent and my feet planted flat on the couch. I opened the container and lifting chow mein noodles with my chopsticks.

Dad pushed the volume down on the remote in his hand. “Did you go out last night?”

“I slept over at Amber’s,
”
I told him before stuffing my mouth with noodles.

"You spent the night there?"

"Dad, don't look so shocked." I laughed.

"You never spend the night anywhere. You must really like Amber." My dad smiled peacefully. "What happened at Amber's?"

"What do you mean by what happened?" I asked, crinkling my nose.

"Well, the way I found you in your room was pretty dramatic. I’d like to know what's hurting my baby girl."

If he only knew,
I thought. "Nothing, Dad. I was just being a girl. We’re dramatic about everything."

"Is it a boy?"

Yes
…
"Dad, if I told you it was, you’d get all daddy and go and try to hurt him, okay, so no, I won't tell you who he is.
”
When it comes to my dad, there weren't any secrets between us. We held enough secrets from everyone else that holding secrets from each other would jus
t
…
well, we’d die inside
. 
But for now, I’d have to hold this truth just a little longer. “But yes, there’s a boy in my class that I kinda like."

Dad sighed deeply. "You know I’ll hunt him down if he hurts you.”

"I know." I stuffed more noodles into my mouth.

"Does he know you like him?"

"Yes," I answered through a mouthful of food, wondering where he was going with this.

"Has he acted on it?" I could see his anxiety was rising and rocking his patience
. 

I finished eating and placed the empty container and chopsticks on our dark-wood coffee table to buy some time. "No..." My heart raced.

"Vida." My dad warned, seeing through my lie.

“He kissed me once …
”
I whispered.
Twice and almost a third time.

“I’m killing him.
”

“Dad, trust me, okay?
”
I hooked my arm around his shoulder and kissed his temple.

He sighed again. “I trust you, baby.
”

I kissed his temple a second time and unhooked my arm, falling back onto the couch. My cell phone rang and my dad raised his eyebrow, causing me to giggle.

“It’s not him,
”
I said as I pulled out my phone. Amber’s number flashed as I slid my finger across the screen to answer her call. “Sup.”

“Hey, so I called Mr. Tomlinson to double-check on our homework and he picked up, like, right away.”

“Oh …
”
Her words hammered at me.

My dad looked at me curiously, listening closely. I got off the couch and waved goodbye quickly as I walked to my room. This conversation needed some alone time.

“He’s so nice and acted as if we didn’t see him at the frat party,
”
she continued. “I tried asking him what he did after we left, but he ignored my question and continued explaining the homework. But he did tell me not to bring up the party again before our call ended. So whatever.”

I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

“Hello? What are you doing?
”
she questioned. “Are you still there?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m listening to you.
”
And thinking about Connor..

“Well, anyway, did you do your homework yet?”

“I’ll start it after I talk to you.”

“Let’s do homework together?”

“Okay.
”
I smiled.

Doing homework together meant baking a cake as we gossiped about boys and makeup lessons. I wasn't sure if homework would get done tonight.

“Okay, see you in a few.”

We hung up and I rolled over to stare at my picture on the nightstand.  Connor had tickled me before that photo, flooding us with my giggles.

I smiled.

I’ve missed you, Connor.

              I arrived early to school and headed to Connor’s class to see if he had arrived early as well. I tried the doorknob and it turned easily in my hands, so I pulled the door open and walked inside.

Connor was the only one in the classroom. He sat at his desk with his head down reading while eating his breakfast. I closed the door and turn the lock. He glanced up and blinked. I walked to him.

              “I should tell you that I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here in class alone with me.”

“What’s stopping you?”
              He scooted back in his chair and his brow drew together in sorrow. “This is all very dangerous, you and I. I know I won’t be able to stay away from you. The harder I push myself to leave you alone the more I would want you. What do we do?”

Then the moment came suddenly as Connor pulled me into his lap.

I gasped in surprised. This was exciting and frightening all at once. I wrapped my arms around him and he rested his head on my shoulder.

“This is wrong. All of this is wrong. But I don’t want to stay away from you anymore.”

              I grabbed his chin and whispered staring at his lips, “I don’t want to stay away from you.”             

He traced a finger along my freckles on my cheek as he stayed quiet, lost in his thoughts. “I’ll keep us safe. And I’ll protect you. I want you. Do you trust me?”

“I do,
”
I whispered.

He removed my hand from his chin and kissed it sweetly. “Before we go any further, you should know what happened after we left…We did move away, but we came back after a year. Vida, please believe me. I didn’t want to leave you, but we were kids. I had to go where my family went.
”
He paused and took a deep breath. “You’re still very much a kid.”

“I’m seventeen,
”
I whispered.

“You still have a lot of living to do, my beautiful ginger.”

“I’m not a kid.”

He chuckled. “Vida, I’m sorry. You’re right, you’re not a kid. You’re a breathtaking, gorgeous woman.
”
Connor grabbed my head with both hands and ran his fingers through my hair, pulling my head back. He kissed the tip of my chin and brought me back until our lips were inches apart. “Now, I’m going to kiss you like a woman should be kissed.”

              His kiss was gentle and teasing, tongue delving in and rolling, rubbing along a sensitive part underneath my lips—a part I didn’t know existed. I moaned, wanting more.

Connor pulled back, staring into my eyes. “Are you ready for this?
”
he whispered.

“Yes. Kiss me, Connor. Kiss me,
”
I breathed.

              He brought his lips back to me and kissed me again. His gentleness returned, but there was a hunger in his kiss, a possession—a silent, begging wish for me to be older.

I was his …

              I kissed him harder and deeper, my hands running in his hair. I lifted my leg and straddled him, pressing myself against him.

Forget your promise and your rules…

Our kiss went on and on and o
n
…
tender and sweet, then rough and demanding. I didn’t want our kiss to end.

Connor pulled back and brought his lips close to my ear. “Vida, we should stop now, or I won’t be able to stop later.
”

I rested my forehead on his for a moment to gather myself, then pulled back and smoothed his tousled blond locks. I smoothed my own hair and Connor shifted in his seat to move me off his lap.

“V, students will be coming in soon. You should get to your class.”

“You’re giving me a new nickname?
”
A smile slowly formed on my lips. “It sounds so sexy and womanly.”

His eyes roved over me and he bit his upper lip. He closed his eyes for a second and scooted his chair back so it faced his desk again. “Go to your class.”

“Okay,
”
I whispered, reaching down to grab my messenger bag off the floor, glancing back at him. He looked back at me with an indefinable emotion.

“Stay after class with me?
”

I blinked in shock, speechless. He’d caught me by surprise. Connor raised both brows and smirked as he waited for my response.

“Yes,
”
I breathed. My mind was complete mush.

“I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Thud …

I turned and walked towards the door, the only thing I could do. My steps were unsteady and I bumped into the desk by the door as I walked out of the classroom.

I steadied my walk as I moved slowly and carefully toward my first period class down the hall. Amber was outside of the classroom, phone in hand and head down. She yawned and looked up.
  
 
“Hey, there you are. Was it rough waking up this morning?”

“Yes, let’s not do that again. One all-night homework session is enough. An entire weekend is crazy.
”
I covered my mouth as I yawned. Amber had arrived at my place Saturday, but hadn’t gone home until almost 2am on Sunday which was technically this morning. It was going to be a long day.

She laughed. “Ready?
”
She tilted her head toward the doorway. “I hope today goes by fast.”

“Yes,
”
I agreed softly as we walked into the classroom.

***

The day did go by fast and before I knew it, we’d reached the last class of the day
…
Connor’s class.

Amber walked in before I did, her attention immediately directed to the front of the class. “Do you think he’s all alpha with his girlfriend
…
if he has one, I mean.”

I stopped walking. “I think he would be sweet.”
And tender.

Amber sat down and started digging through her book bag. I sat down next to her and immediately glanced up at Connor. Our eyes locked.

“I’m sorry,
”
he mouthed.

My head tilted as I mouthed back, “For?”

His mouth moved to speak again, but stopped, his eyes darting toward the door. I followed his gaze. Emma walked in, her eyes cast on me, then Connor, then back to me. She smirked as she sat in her seat.

“Hi, Mr. Tomlinson. I hope you had a great weekend.
”
Her word oozed with fakeness.

“I did. Thank you, Emma.
”
Connor walked to the board and picked up a marker, writing in big, bold letters POP QUIZ. He turned back around, his hard eyes falling on Emma.

“I hope you studied what I assigned to read, Emma.
”
Connor walked back to his desk and sat down.

Emma unzipped her backpack and pulled out her books, flipping them open. Her head bent low as she frantically started to read.

“It’s a lot to cram into your head in ten minutes,
”
Connor said, working his jaw.

I sat back and watched their exchange. It took me a moment to understand and remember the reasons for Connor’s irritation with her. Emma’s family had ruined his family too.

“Oh, Connor,
”
I whispered, tears building in my eyes.

“Shit, pop quiz.
”
Amber sounded worried. “We’ve got this, right?
”

I rubbed my chin on my shoulder, blinking away my tears, then turned toward her and laughed at her pained expression. “Yes, we’ve got this. Stop worrying.”

“Okay, but I’m crossing my fingers anyway.
”

Students filed into the classroom, and once the clock ticked three, Connor grabbed a stack of paper from his desk and handed it to the student sitting in the front.

“Good luck, everyone,
”
he said before he sat back down. I watched as he picked up his cell phone and began to text.

Amber dropped her head and whispered, “Do you think he’s texting his girlfriend? Or wife? Please not a wife.
”
 

My phone vibrated in my messenger bag. Amber glanced at it first and narrowed her eyes.  

Oh no…

“Who’s texting you?”

I grabbed my phone and turned off the vibrator, seeing an unknown number.

“It’s my dad.”

“Oh,
”
she said, raising a doubtful eyebrow as she handed me a quiz sheet.

There were five question, all of which we’d studied hard. I gave Amber a thumbs up and wrote down my answers. We finished at the same time and walked up together to hand in our quiz.

“Art appreciation is so boring. That test almost made my eyes bleed,
”
Amber whispered.

I nodded in agreement.

              As I put the quiz at the corner edge of the desk, Connor looked up from his phone. He dipped his head once, then returned his gaze to his phone. A pinch of hurt captured me as I turned and walked back to my seat.

              “I’m so glad we studied that section in the book more than once,
”
Amber said when we were back at our desk.

“Mm hmm.
”
I grabbed my phone again to check my missed text.

Student is asking for help after class. I’ll text you later tonight.

The pinch increased.

              I stared at my phone, unblinkingly and blocking Amber from the view of my screen as she puckered her lips with annoyance.

The students finished their quizzes and Connor walked to his podium.

              “I’m going to start teaching you what you’ll need to know for your final. I know we still have three months left of the semester, but there’s a lot to learn, and planting knowledge into your brains early will be a great thing for your busy minds. Grab your books and go to page two hundred and twelve. Vida, would you please read the first paragraph to the class.”

              My head jerks up and we locked eyes. He stared expectantly at me, but there was a hidden tease in those baby blue orbs of his.

              I started reading to the class, then Connor took over immediately after and explained why that particular passage had been included in the constitution. I admired his passion for teaching, and I smiled at the sexy way his hands moved as he talked, and how he lit up when the students understood what he was talking about.

              The hour went by quickly as the students hung on his every word. “We’ll stop here,
”
Connor said when he noticed the time. “Go home and read chapters four through six and read over your notes. I will see you all tomorrow.”

He walked back to his desk as the students started to walk out. Amber stood with her bag, waiting for me to get up. Elizabeth, a shy classmate, walked toward Connor and grabbed a chair to sit next to him. She smoothed her blonde hair behind her ear before talking to him. He didn’t glance my way as he started talking to her. My gaze dropped, trying to hide my hurt as I followed Amber out.

              “See you later, girlie. I’m going home and crashing. You should do the same.
”
She gives me a hug before walking toward her car.

              I kissed the top of my Honda then stepped in. I drove home and arrived to an empty house. There were a note and dinner on the table, but I ignored both and headed to my room, falling fast asleep.