by Vivian Wood
“Are you waiting for Cell Biology?”
I look up from where I’m parked in the third floor hallway of the med school. A dark haired pretty brunette looks down at me, her expression curious. She’s holding a stack of books in her arms, dressed in black skinny jeans and a black hoodie. Her hair is tossed up in a casual ponytail.
“Yes,” I say with a nod. “I’m here super early, so no one is even here yet.”
“I’m Violet. Well, Vi,” she says. “I’d shake your hand but my arms are full. Do you maybe want to open the door of the classroom for me?”
“I’m Eve. And sure.” I climb to my feet, picking up both of my bags. Then I pull the door open, standing back to let her pass. She flips on a bank of lights on the wall as she enters, illuminating the whole place.
I stop for a second in the doorway to take in the space. It’s large, with student desks set up in multiple alternating rows, stacked high like an amphitheater. Down at the center of the room is a desk, stacked haphazardly with medical textbooks. Behind that is a chalkboard.
After all the wheedling and begging it took for me to get here, I feel a giddy sort of rush.
I did it.
I’m here, not back in New Jersey, living under my father’s thumb.
I’m free… sort of.
My freedom comes with all kinds of strings, but at least I have the whole country between us now. I can breathe easier.
Vi is making her way down to the front of the room, wrinkling her nose as she puts her books down on a desk in the third row. She glances back at me, which makes me realize I look like an idiot, staring around the classroom like it’s an alien environment.
Clearing my throat, I head down to the same row where Vi has planted her flag. “Do you mind if I sit in this row? I like being in the middle of all the action.”
Vi waves her hand. “Sit anywhere. I’m going to talk to you no matter where you end up.” She fishes a pack of gum out of her pocket as I slide into a desk, popping a piece out. “Gum?”
Shaking my head, I frown. “No thanks.”
I start pulling out my pens and the binder I have prepared for this class, then stack them neatly on top of the three textbooks that are required. I pull out my digital recorder last, fidgeting with it while I look around.
“I don’t remember seeing you last semester,” Vi says.
I turn toward her, smiling slightly. “I’m starting a semester late. When I first applied to the University of Washington, they accepted me… only for my father to mess up my admission at the last minute by being… well… like he is.”
Vi’s dainty eyebrows rise. “How is he?”
I consider my answer for a second. Normally I wouldn’t tell anyone what I think of my dad, but this is a new start. All the whispers that might get back to him back home… well, they have lost a lot of their power here. I blow out a breath.
“He’s controlling to the point of being draconian,” I say, a mocking smile on my lips. “I applied and was accepted to begin last semester. But my dad refused to finish filling out the financial paperwork until the last minute. By the time I got back, my spot had been filled.”
Her brows hunch. “And you still got in to start in January? Isn’t that sort of unheard of?”
I hesitate, shaking my head. “I hate to out myself like this, but I think a very large donation had something to do with it.”
“Ah.” Vi nods, giving me another once over. She bites her lip. “I’m here on a full ride scholarship. So basically… thank people like your dad for the education.”
Her bluntness catches me off guard. “Oh! Well… He has more money than he even knows what to do with. It’s better spent here than whatever other nefarious things he’s cooking up.”
There is a moment of awkwardness, where she is staring at me, trying to decide what to think of me. She tucks a stand of hair behind her ear then smiles.
“I guess so.” She wrinkles her nose. “Do you know who you’ve got for your class advisor yet?”
I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “I don’t even know what that is.”
“Oh! It’s basically the professor that you have to check in with every month. They can see your grades and what your professors have to say about you. Then you meet and they advise you on how to… I don’t know… be better at school, I guess.” She rolls her eyes. “I got Dr. Black, who is about a million years old and looks like he died a while ago.”
“Ahhhh,” I say, nodding. “I have no idea who I have.”
“Well, let’s hope you have a different doctor because Dr. Black and I met yesterday and it took two hours. He lectured me on the basics of studying.” She makes an offended sound. “As if I somehow got into med school on a full scholarship without studying. It’s like… dude, I am so on top of my studying, it would make your head spin.”
She rolls her eyes so theatrically that I can’t help but smile.
“That does sound terrible,” I agree.
People begin to filter in, taking the seats around us. I glance at the three chalkboards, set up side by side.
Just looking at that blank chalkboard makes me a little sick with worry. I’m in the middle of the room. Middle of the pack. No need to draw attention to myself just yet.
It’s only the first day. Fidgeting with my pen, I make sure that my binder is ready. This is my first day of med school, my very first class.
“It’s going to be okay,” Vi says softly.
My anxiety must be showing. I glance at her, pasting a smile on my face. “I know. It’s just nerves.”
The class should be starting any minute now. My index cards already read Dr. Finanster— Cell and Tissue Biology. All around me, students are sitting down, shuffling papers, preparing.
The guy to my right opens his laptop, queuing up a note taking software.
What is that software? Why don't I know about it?
Should I know about it?
Anxiety blossoms in my chest. I’ve done everything I knew how to do, every single thing I could think of… but what if it’s not enough? What if I am so much dumber than the other kids?
God, Dr. Finanster is going to walk right into this room and just know. He’ll take one look at me and realize that I’ll never make it. Breathing in and out through my nose, I flip my binder open and study the quick chart I made. Dr. Finanster peers out at me from the photo I have glued to one corner of the chart.
He’s old. He’s British. Apparently he likes to talk about Camus and his own collection of parakeets.
I did my research. I just hope it pays off.
I close my eyes and breathe. There is no way that he’ll just be able to spot the future dropouts right away. That’s just something I came up with because I already respect Dr. Finanster so much. I am just intimidating myself for no reason.
It would help if he wasn’t late to the beginning of his own class, though.
“I’m here, I’m here,” calls a male voice. Way too young to be Dr. Finanster, and yet… “Don’t worry. I’m going to be taking this course over from Dr. Finanster.”
Opening my eyes, I look down to the center of the room. There is a young man standing at the chalkboard, facing away as he writes. He has his long, dark hair tucked up in a man bun. He’s big and broad, his muscles bunching discreetly unearth his white dress shirt. His ass looks fantastic in his dark slacks, not that I’m looking or anything.
I’m not one of those girls that gets hot for teacher. Not normally, anyway…
The hair starts to stand up on my arms for some reason.
Why does the doctor look… familiar?
“I am Dr. Carter Morgan,” he says, scrawling his name on the board. “And this is Cell Biology.”
My jaw drops as he turns around. And there he is: tall, dark, drop dead hot…
“Shit,” I mumble. Vi sends me a concerned look but my eyes are fixed on the man in question.
This can’t be real.
This has to be a dream, right?
Because if it is real, the only guy I know in Seattle… the guy I kissed lightly on the lips on independence day… the guy whose gorgeous brown eyes I stared into as he held me by the waist…
That guy is my professor. He’s in charge of my education. I’m dead serious about it. I’ve worked so fucking hard just to get where I am now…
God, don’t let him see me, I pray. Though that is silly, because of course he will see me. It’s not as if I can avoid him,
Carter turns around and scans the classroom. I want to hunch down in my seat but I have so many thoughts swirling around in my head that I can’t even begin to move. He looks down at some papers on his desk, clearing his throat.
“As I said, I’m Dr. Morgan. I am relatively new to the U of W. I have my PhD in biology from Yale. This class will be—” He looks up, sees me, and stops mid-sentence. I flush, biting my lower lip. His brows rise a little bit. Then he continues, clearing his throat again. “Ahem. This class will be graded on three things… attendance and participation, three tests, and then the final project. So you’ll be expected to attend class twice per week…”
I slump down in my chair as he continues his lecture.
Another day in Seattle, another curveball from the universe.
6
Carter
Holy fuck.
One minute I’m trying to find my hastily-scribbled notes about how the class will be graded. Then I look up into those unmistakable blue-green eyes.
Eve.
Eve is staring right back at me, her cheeks flushed, her honey blonde hair falling in her face. She looks sort of disbelieving. I lose my train of thought for the barest second, just enough to let her know that I am thrown for a loop.
Then I drag my gaze away from her, clearing my throat. Everyone is staring at me, leaning forward just a hair. Expectant. It’s not like the rest of the world will stand still while I adjust.
I don’t have time for my mind to be a total wreck. I need to project a calm, composed person on top of the real me. Which is of course thinking of how I know too much about Eve.
Her laugh, throaty and raw and real.
Her smell, orange blossom with a hint of vanilla.
How her eyes light up when I challenge her.
Her lips, full and luscious and appealing.
Damn. Definitely too many details taking up too much space in my head.
I continue on with what I’m saying, avoiding making eye contact with her for the rest of the class. The most successful professors are borderline boring in class.
That’s where I want to be. Right at the place where informative and extremely dull meet.
The first class seems to stretch for an entire morning, although it’s just an hour and a half. When I finally let the class out, Eve starts packing frantically, as if she can escape me and run away forever. As much as I wish that she wasn’t in my very first med school class, there’s no point in not having the conversation that we are about to have.
“Ms. Moreland?” I call.
She looks up guiltily. Her eyes are pleading with me not to single her out. I’m not sure what she’s afraid I will say. I don’t exactly want anyone to know that I’ve fantasized a dozen times about fucking her either.
“Come see me before you leave,” I say, trying to keep my tone light.
She makes face like I just asked her to kick a dog, but she nods. I see her exchange a few words with a brunette as the rest of the class files out of the room, their minds already on their next tasks. When at last it is just the two of us, Eve shoulders her bulging tote bag and slinks down the steps toward me.
She sucks in a breath and scans the empty classroom. I stack the couple of textbooks I’m taking with me, narrowing my eyes on her face. She hugs her tote closer and scrunches up her face.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here?” she blurts out.
My eyebrows rise. “I didn’t know until recently that I was even going to be working here. Why didn’t you ever tell me you were going to med school?”
She frowns. “It never came up. But… I mean, I did rent a house that is facing the med school. It seems kind of obvious that I’m going here.”
I cross me arms. “I rent in the same neighborhood so I feel like the same could be said of me.”
Silence lapses between us, more awkward the longer it grows. She looks away, fidgeting. Her cheeks redden. “We can’t have sex, obviously. Student professor relationships are forbidden, I am sure.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “You don’t have to tell me, Eve. The professor I’m replacing was fired for having inappropriate relations with a student. Or students, as the case may be.”
Her tongue darts out to wet her lower lip. “Oh.”
I continue as if she hadn’t even spoken. “So whatever you had planned—“
Her shock is obvious. “Excuse me?”
“What?” I ask, frowning. “I mean, you had something planned. You as much as told me so.”
“Stop!” she says, shaking her head. “Whatever. Let’s just… like… forget that we… uh… even met.”
My lips turn up at the corners. “Are you suggesting that we pretend that we don’t know each other?”
Her eyes find me again. “Do you have a problem with that, professor?”
Her rebellious side is showing. I wish it wasn’t quite so attractive to me. I frown. “No, Ms. Moreland. As long as it is understood that you aren’t going to receive any special favors from me.”
She folds her arms across her chest. “I wasn’t asking for any or expecting any.”
My eyes narrow. “Fine.”
She leans closer. “Fine.”
I pick up my books, feeling surly. “Dismissed.”
Eve gives me a pointed look that would send a lesser man to his knees and shakes her head. Tossing her hair, she turns and sprints up the steps, disappearing out of the classroom.
I blow out a breath. Eve could be a problem this semester, but that’s only if I let her. I won’t.
Dr. Mooney flashes in my head, warning me about the students who throw themselves at the professor. Is that idea very appealing when it comes to Eve?
Yes.
Will I let Eve get in my way, though?
No fucking way.
Heading out of my classroom, I make a pit stop at my office to scoop up a few more books. I have to get serious about teaching what is listed on the syllabus and that means a fuck ton of research.
After that it’s back to my dingy little apartment. As I’m walking back, I get a text from Aiden, my recently discovered half-brother. He’s also Eve’s half-brother.
Yeah, our family is a little complicated.
I check my phone. I’m going to be in town for the next few days to get Eve settled in. Feel like going for a beer?
I feel like I need something a little stiffer, but a drink does sound good. My relationship with Aiden is new and fragile, so him reaching out to me for something like this is actually pretty meaningful.
Sure, I reply. I just need to drop some stuff off at my house. Come meet me and we’ll walk somewhere.
I text him my address and just get a thumbs up emoji. So I hurry back to my house and put my books down. I barely have enough time to do that before Aiden is knocking on my front door.
Swinging the door wide open, I grin at him. He’s like looking in a mirror, one that shows me if I were a little bit different. He’s whiter than I am, lacking the deep amber skin that my mom gave me. And he’s more clean cut, his hair trimmed short and his face shaved. But his jeans, dark t-shirt, and blue fleece are way more relaxed than my usual button up and dark slacks.
Other than that though, we look the same. Our dad gave us the same barrel chested Viking bearing, and we even walk with the same swagger. The same brown-black eyes. The same smile.
“Hey man,” he greets me. He looks back behind him at the neighborhood. “Eve just rented a place a few blocks from here.”
I have a spli
t second to decide whether I’m going to tell Aiden the truth or not. He’s not weird about Eve and I being attracted to each other, or not as much as he should be anyway. He looks back at me and I smile.
“I actually ran into her this morning,” I admit. “She locked herself out of the house without a coat.”
He cocks a brow. “Yeah?”
“Yep. I figured you would be nonplussed if she melted into a lake of Eve soup so I helped her out.” It’s a little white lie, told mainly to make things less awkward between us.
A slow smile spreads across his face. “Yeah. Thanks for not letting her die, I guess.”
I hesitate, then figure I’d better tell him everything.
“That’s not all. I walked into the classroom today and there she was, looking at me like she wished a hole would open up in the earth and swallow her whole. It was really something.”
He makes a puzzled face. “Wait, you’re working at the University of Washington’s med school?”
“Yep. The position was sort of sprung upon me yesterday,” I say with a shrug. Grabbing a heavier coat, I point toward the door. “Come on. I want to make it over to the pizza place a few blocks away while they’re still serving lunch. I’m starving.”
He trails behind me as I head through the yard. “So… this basically means that you can’t touch Eve.”
I glance back to see him grinning and scowl. “You know, I would think that you of all people would not give me shit about something that isn’t even happening. After what you went through with dating Olivia secretly because you were afraid of her big brother…”
“I wouldn’t say afraid,” he grumbles. “It was way more complicated than that.”
“It always is.” I shrug lightly. “I don’t even have any prospects for dating yet because I have so much to do at work. It’s going to be a while before I feel like I am not being squeezed to death by my new job.”
“I probably have some phone numbers of hot girls that live in the area. It’s not as if I’m using them anymore.”
I wrinkle my face, even though I can tell Aiden is kidding. “Dude. That is so gross.”
He grins. “I just feel like it should be more widely known that I used to pull a lot of women.”
