by Brynn Paulin
Okay, then. Hopping out of my truck, I marched up to the door, shadows shrouding me since the sun had set two hours ago. She didn’t have on a porch light either. I didn’t like that there were no motion detectors. We’d talk about that eventually. Tonight, it worked for me.
I rapped on the door, looking around me while I waited. And waited. And waited. Her car was in the drive. I knew she was at home.
Unless she’d gone out with someone and left it here. The same knot of anger that had plagued me since yesterday balled up in my gut. No way I’d let that fly. Whitney was mine, and after this afternoon, she knew it, too.
I knocked again, scowling as I waited.
Nothing.
Damn it!
My foot kicked at her doormat, and it scraped sideways. What the… It was the metal on cement sound that caught my attention. Was she fricking kidding me? Crouching, I lifted the edge of the mat.
Well, if she was going to leave me an open invitation like that…
I palmed the key as I rose then slipped it right into her lock as easily as I thought of slipping something a hell of a lot bigger into her. The door swung open soundlessly, and I stepped into the shadowy foyer. As I shut and locked the door, I wasn’t left in complete darkness due to the lights from the living room. The key went into my pocket, and I went toward the light and my heaven that waited.
Standing in the center of the room, I listened. My dick throbbed when I realized she was in the shower. A few moments later, it shut off. I heard her moving around, and damn, if I didn’t want to be in there watching her. Was she lotioning? Looking at herself in the mirror? Were her small hands caressing over her slim frame, her sex?
Fuck! If I got much harder, my jeans would do damage to my erection.
Crossing my arms, feet planted, I waited. I heard a door open then her sweet, spring-fresh scent wafted through the air. She’d come out eventually, and we’d discuss this bullshit of her blowing me off.
Fuck! My dick twitched at the idea of her indeed taking me between those sweet lips of hers and bringing me to nirvana. Nerves roiled inside me, the same as they did before a big game. They grew stronger as her soft footsteps headed my way down the hallway.
Whitney squeaked when she realized someone stood in her living room. Her hand covered her chest, and she stumbled back a few feet. I took all of her in within an instant. Her face was clean of even the light makeup she normally wore. She’d wrapped her long, dark hair in an dark aqua towel and her body in a lemon yellow robe.
“What the hell?” she exclaimed, her hands flying. Her emphatic gestures dislodged her towel and her wet locks fell around her shoulders, the damp strands almost black. God, she was gorgeous, even fresh from the shower and spitting mad. “What the fuck, Kyler? Get out of my house!”
“Nope.” I strode toward her. Her fresh, floral scent grew stronger as I got closer. I grasped her elbows and pulled her toward me. “You didn’t come to my place.”
“Of course, I didn’t. You’re my student. I can’t—”
I covered her lips with mine before she could finish her useless protest. Before I left her, she’d know she was mine and I was hers. I groaned as her mouth immediately opened to mine, and I deepened the kiss. Her pliant body melted into mine as it had earlier today, but this time, she didn’t pull away an instant later. Gathering her closer, I nipped at her bottom lip then swiped my tongue inside to explore. I wanted to know every part of her; I wanted to know her better than I knew even myself.
Whitney moaned, a mix of arousal and frustration and pulled back enough to work her hands between us. Her palms flattened on my chest, and I fought a growl at the exquisite sensation. I longed to press into her, to have her discover me the way I wanted to discover all of her.
“Kyler, no,” she whispered, her voice a plea.
Not what I wanted to hear. I closed my eyes and took a breath through my nose, calming myself in much the same way I did when I got worked up at a game. No one needed to tell me to tread carefully here. This was dangerous ground. One wrong move and I’d be set back months.
Chapter Three
~ Whitney ~
Kyler was in my house.
Kyler, my student, was in my house.
“You need to leave.” It didn’t matter what I felt about him, how attracted I was to him, that he was legal, I had roots and a stable home for the first time in my life and I would not fuck that up because of hormones. At twenty-seven, I had more control than this.
“Why?”
“Why?” I echoed, incredulous.
“Yeah, why. I want you. You want me. There’s definitely chemistry.”
“Kyler, you’re my student—”
“So you don’t deny you want me.”
I growled, wanting to smack the grin off his smug face. But I wasn’t a hitter. Never was; never would be. Before I’d been in foster care, my father had been abusive. Those few years and some less-than-stellar foster parents had made their impression. I’d vowed to never ever be like that.
“That’s not my point,” I hedged. “I’m an adult, and for all your assertions and the date on your license, you are not.”
His cheeks took on a ruddy hue, his face thunderous, and I took a step back. Kyler followed, and I kept retreating until my back hit the wall. My hands pressed to his wide, hard chest to hold him away, and I tried to hide my fear. Bullies thrived on that, and Kyler could be a bully; I’d seen him in action.
“First of all,” he gritted, his arms caging me with his hands pressed to the wall on either side of my shoulders, “I am an adult. I’m fully in charge of my actions, I know what I want for my life and I’ve been working for it for years. A birthdate doesn’t dictate maturity.”
“Neither does the assertion you’re a grownup. I’ve seen you in action. I’ve seen you pushing around kids in the hall.”
“Maybe, you should ask me why rather than assuming things,” he replied cryptically. “Second, I would never hurt you. I don’t want you to ever cringe from me. I’d rather leap in front of a speeding car than hurt you. I would never raise a hand to you. God…” He drove a hand through his hair. “I can’t even… If I ever…both my parents would end me, too. And with good reason.”
“Okay,” I acknowledged softly.
“And third, no one needs to know.”
“Famous last words.”
“This isn’t some challenge for me. I’m not out for bragging rights. The only ones who need to know about us are us.”
“I wish I could believe you, but I don’t trust you.”
He looked hurt at my words, but gave a single nod. “Okay. Acknowledged.” He sighed and took a step back. If I thought he was retreating, giving up, I was wrong. “I’ll prove it to you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, ultra aware I was naked beneath my robe. His hot gaze on me had me worked up, but I wasn’t letting him find out how wet I was, nor how hard my nipples were behind the thick terrycloth barrier hiding them. “Not that I’m agreeing, but how do you propose that?”
“I want you, you want me, you’re mine, but I won’t breathe a word about it. I won’t give a hint to it. Not anywhere that people might see. But in private…”
I shook my head, way too tempted. This was wrong. I couldn’t…
He’s about to be nineteen. He’s grown, not a child…
I pushed aside the devil in my head, though the echo wouldn’t go away. “Look, I’m not going to jail for you. Maybe, if you weren’t a student—”
“You wouldn’t.”
“What?”
“You wouldn’t. I checked.”
“You checked?” What the hell had he said? To whom? “How did you check?”
He shrugged. “My dad’s a lawyer. I threw him a hypothetical. Since I plan to be a lawyer, too, he loves to discuss prickly situations with me. We’ve been doing it for years. So when I threw that out last spring, it wasn’t a big deal.”
“You told your father?” I asked horrified.
“No, it really was hypothetical—well, as far as he knew. In all honesty, the school could be a problem if they found out—which they won’t because we’ll be careful—but beyond that…” He shrugged again.
And that was easy for him to say. It wasn’t his career on the line. Granted, it was a career I was less and less enchanted with, but still. This was my job, my future.
A lonely future… that devil in my head whispered again. Damn, inner voice.
“We can’t, Kyler.”
He stepped closer, and I struggled to breathe normally as his enticing, dark scent wafted to me, a mix of expensive cologne and Kyler himself. “We can. Look, I hear your words, but you know what you’re not saying? You’re not telling me that you don’t want me as much as I want you. Are you going to lie to me? Are you going to deny it?”
“I…”
His eyebrow lifted, and damn me, I slowly shook my head. A lazy grin crept onto his face as he claimed victory. I was well and truly caught, and I had no idea how to escape the snare. I did want him, way too much. But…
“Let me prove myself,” he offered. “We’ll, um, go slow.”
I could tell he didn’t like that thought. Kyler was a high-energy, full throttle guy. Going slow wasn’t in his DNA. Unless it was getting his Shakespeare homework in on time. Not an ideal situation if he planned to be a lawyer, but that was something to be broached at another time.
“And what are you suggesting?”
“Hanging out, getting to know each other. I won’t say a word or let on to anything, and you’ll see.”
“Don’t think I’m falling for Netflix and chill.”
“I was thinking more like Netflix and pizza. Did you eat? You stood me up for dinner.”
“I didn’t think you were serious. Plus the we can’t date thing.”
“We can. You’ll see. Go change into something you’re more comfortable in. If it’s sexy, don’t mind me. I can roll with it. And I’ll order us a pizza. That should be safe right? None of your students live or work this far out?”
“Not that I know of, but maybe, I should order the pizza.”
“You’re not getting our food. Go change. I’ll take care of it.”
* * * *
When I returned, bemused and still not really onboard with this whole thing, I found Kyler on the couch with the remote in his hand as he perused my streaming services.
His hand dropped to his thigh as he gave me the twice over. “Nice. I like it,” he said, as if I’d donned a sexy nightie rather than a sweatshirt and fuzzy sleep pants. He patted the seat beside him. “C’mon. I won’t bite. Today.”
“Kyler…”
“Come on,” he said more firmly.
I sighed and plopped down, still questioning what the fuck I was doing and leaving a foot or so between us. Kyler immediately pulled me into his side. With his arm wrapped around my shoulder, he lifted the remote again. “You’ve got some good stuff in your Vudu movie library,” he commented as if there was nothing weird here. “Is there a particular film you’d like?”
“Anything. Not that!” I exclaimed when he scrolled to one of the Fifty Shades movies. He chuckled, indicating he was messing with me. Moving past that selection, he landed on Olympus Has Fallen. A fairly violent action flick did seem like a good selection. I hadn’t seen it but had picked it up because of Gerard Butler.
“This okay?”
“Sure. I haven’t actually seen it”
“Good. Me, either. The pizza will be here in about fifteen. You want to wait?”
“No. We can pause it.” Why did this have to seem so normal? Yet here I was cuddled into his side like we were a couple, albeit a little stiffly on my part. But his warmth and the way his large body felt protective, almost sheltering with his muscular arm around me, wore me down as surely as the tide overwhelming a sandcastle. Butterflies buffeted my middle, and I knew my resistance would disappear like beach under persistent waves.
He chuckled when I jumped as a car slammed into a guardrail on screen. I knew that was the least of the action to come. I startled again when the doorbell rang. Kyler paused the movie. “You’re wound a little tight,” he commented. He unwound our bodies and got up. I hadn’t even realized how entwined we were. Feeling cold in the absence of his warmth, I got up and headed for the kitchen to get plates.
“Whit,” he called a moment later.
“In here.” I peeked around the corner into the living room. The rental wasn’t an open concept like was popular in many homes nowadays. Walls clearly blocked off the kitchen from the living and dining rooms. Glass partitioned the large front area where Kyler stood and the dining, though.
I was setting plates on the island when he came in. He placed the box beside them. “Want something to drink?” I asked. “I’ve got water and a couple kinds of pop. Oh, and some juice.”
“Water’s good. I was anxious to see you and didn’t really hydrate well after practice.”
I handed him two and pulled one out for myself.
“Hope you like supreme,” he said, opening the lid. The spicy scent of the pizza wafted into the air, making my mouth water. On cue, my stomach rumbled. I’d planned to have some microwave popcorn for dinner after my shower. Obviously that hadn’t happened since I’d found this man had broken into my house.
“It’s fine. I’m not very picky about food. Not a fan of seafood of any kind, but other than that…” I shrugged.
“Good to know.” He slid two slices onto a plate for me then served his own. Dish in one hand, water in the other, he inclined his head toward the other room. “Shall we?”
Nodding, I followed him, still wondering what the hell I was doing.
Chapter Four
~ Whitney ~
Three days later and I was still bemused by the whole situation. True to his word, Kyler hadn’t pushed for anything fast. We were indeed doing slow. Other than the smoldering kisses he’d given me every night when he’d arrived at my place then when he’d left, we could just be friends enjoying time together. Okay, friends who touched a lot and held hands. But even that hadn’t wandered into the danger zone.
Also, true to his word, he hadn’t done or said anything that would let on that we were more than teacher and student. Not one word. Not one inappropriate look. Not one hint. Though he had given me a wink when he’d passed my desk this afternoon and dropped his Romeo and Juliet paper into the in-tray, on time. When he’d had time to write it, I wasn’t sure.
I frowned, thinking I should be more cognizant of that. He needed to get his homework done and not stay up until all hours. That was priority one, not his romancing the English teacher.
Mentally backpedaling and thinking I needed to get some space, I looked over my classroom of less-than-expectant faces. It was the last class of the day on a Friday and everyone, including me, just wanted to leave. Instead, we were doing a recap of where we were on Romeo and Juliet before the test on Monday then starting McBeth. Thankfully, this was my second Shakespeare class of the day so it didn’t take a lot of brain power to get through it. Freshman and Sophomore English took up the rest of my day so I actually looked forward to this hour—usually.
Today, my thoughts just weren’t in it.
“Okay, before we dig in, any R and J questions or thoughts you want to share? Any insights you got from writing your papers?”
I didn’t expect an answer, but I liked to give the opportunity.
“I think they were stupid and just excited by the forbidden,” Maggie Phelps answered from the front seat a few feet from my desk. Kyler slouched negligently into his desk at the back of that same row. I studiously ignored him.
“Yeah,” a couple people echoed, agreeing with Maggie.
“The story or the couple?” I asked.
“Mostly Romeo, Juliet and some of their friends.” She shrugged. “The story’s okay, I guess. People must think so for it to be as popular as it is after all this time.”
I nodded, acknowledging her answer. The rest of t
he hour we discussed the play, with a back and forth dialogue that surprised me. That didn’t stop them all from racing for the door as soon as the bell rang. All but Kyler, who gathered his things more slowly. He walked toward me, his backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Are you coming to the game?” he asked from a few feet away from me. To the casual observer who might peek into my room, it just looked like a student chatting with his teacher.
I shook my head.
“Fine, I’ll come over after.”
“I won’t be home,” I answered, making a split second decision.
“Why not?”
“I’m going away for the weekend.” I needed to regroup and figure myself out. Having Kyler with me every day wasn’t helping that. And I liked it. I like the camaraderie we shared and how he made me feel. It was comfortable with him, and I could easily fall into something different. Something more. It terrified me.
I knew it wasn’t fair to him. He’d done everything he promised. He’d kept things discreet, not said a word or acted in a way that would give us away.
“You didn’t say anything about that,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he studied me as if I were lying. I fought the urge to squirm. Though I was older and the one in authority here, we’d quickly moved to the place where we were equals on even footing.
“Kyler, truth. And I want you to really think about this. Now and over the weekend. Why do you want this? Why would you even think of it? It could cost me my job—it would if anyone found out. It could get you in trouble too, even kicked off the team. You have big opportunities ahead of you. You have big dreams to become a lawyer. You don’t want to screw that up.”
And I couldn’t take that from him, no matter how much I wanted him. It would be selfish and reckless.
He glanced toward the doorway to make sure no one was nearby. “Because I want you,” he said quietly. “Because I know you’re mine.”
“But for how long?”
“Forever.”
