Teacher's Pet - The Complete Series: Books 1-4

by Avery Phillips

  “Hmph, I don’t remember any of that.”

  “That’s too bad.” He shook his head. “It was touching.”

  I snatched my panties off my pillow and slipped them on under the duvet. “You’ve taking advantage of me in every way, Dane. I can’t see how you would expect to build any sort of positive relationship with how you go about things.” I tried to figure out how to get my dress on without him seeing more of my body than he had to.

  “I don’t know why you’re so upset with me, Lynn. I wasn’t the one who pulled off your dress. I’m no rapist.”

  “Well, who did?”

  “You did!” His face reddened. “I wouldn’t do that to you or anyone. When you realized you weren’t as sick as you thought, you kept drinking despite me asking you to stop. It got to the point where I had to take the bottle from you and pour the champagne down the sink. That was a bottle of Dom, by the way. It wasn’t cheap!”

  “I don’t give a fuck what it cost!”

  I reached out for my dress, stretched and hooked it around my finger before sliding out of bed. I landed painfully on my knees with a thump. I placed my dress over my head and pulled it down in one motion as I stood up, effectively barring Dane from getting a show.

  “Bravo.” Dane clapped. “I haven’t seen a performance like that since Cirque du Soleil in Vegas. You’d make a great career as a contortionist. You know, sometimes talent trumps education. You should look into that. Your flexibility is amazing.”

  “Does random shit always pour out of your mouth or do you have the misfortune of thinking about them first? What would you know about my flexibility? In fact, what would you know about me period? We just met a couple of days ago.”

  “True, but I know all I need to know for now. And as far as your flexibility is concerned… well…”

  “Well what?” Panic rose. My fingers tightened into a fist. Did things go further than I thought they had? Was that why my clothes were everywhere? I began to feel mortified and angry at myself. I never should have fallen for any of it. Deep down I should’ve known it hadn’t been Simon doing all of it. Dane had made it clear that he was the one who threw money around. Simon had never once shown he had any money or liked anything showy. Of course it hadn’t been Simon. I was such a stupid, silly girl, one that was turning into the slut I had always accused Sonja of being. It was disgusting. I needed a church, or at the very least, a shower. I wanted to clean myself of all the physical and spiritual muck I had let pour all over myself for the past couple of weeks. “What are you trying to say, Dane?”

  “I’m not trying to say anything.” Dane swung his legs out of bed, one thickly muscled thigh at a time. He had a perfectly shaped ass, like something out of a movie—but not the actor himself, more like the body double. I was upset to see that Sonja was right about his dick. It was long, thick and wide, and swung right into his thighs as he got up, making a slapping sound upon impact. It took all my will and strength to turn my head. I was so disgusted by how weak-willed I was. Had my mother not taught me better than that? I was so glad she couldn’t see me now. She wouldn’t even recognize me, and I wasn’t sure I recognized myself either.

  “Do you like what you see?” He winked at me. I rolled my eyes in mock exasperation, but I doubted I was fooling him. “Some of us aren’t as shy as others. If you possess something beautiful, you should display it at all times.”

  The man was beautiful. I had to admit it to myself. Dane was a towering man built like a Greek demigod, with tanned, golden skin that showed his muscular definition. He had a broad, thick chest, hefty muscle-corded arms and finely sculpted abs that were out of this world. As Dane stood by the bed, I let my eyes unabashedly linger, taking in his entire body, risking me stroking his ego, but I didn’t care much at the time.

  “Did we sleep together?” I asked him as plainly as I could. It had crossed my mind, and the insinuation was there.

  Dane shot a smug expression my way but didn’t answer. All it did was infuriate me further. “Dane, I’m really getting upset, so cut the shit. Did we sleep together or not?”

  He continued to stare but didn’t speak.

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter. I need to get home.” I slipped my feet in my heels. “You should stay away from me from this point on. You and I aren’t a good idea. Not as friends, not as lovers, not as anything. In fact, if you come anywhere near me again I’ll tell Simon that you misled me, got me drunk and took advantage of me. I’m sure he would have a few words to say to you once I’m done explaining.”

  “You could handle it like that or…” Dane bent down and picked up his shirt off the floor. He pushed his arms through the sleeves and rested the shirt over his shoulders. He didn’t bother messing with the buttons. “I could beat you to the punch and tell him myself.” He reached down to put on his pants. He stepped into them one leg at a time, tucked his huge cock away and fastened them at the waist. He reached in the pocket for his cell phone.

  “Do you have his number?” he said. “I do. Maybe I should call him right now and tell him we’ve slept together and that you are here in my penthouse. He’d be mad at me for a minute, but he’d hate you for life. It’s happened before. He’s done it to me. I’ve done it to him. We’ve always been competitive that way. So, how would you like this handled?”

  I walked up to him and stared him in the face. “You wouldn’t.”

  “Oh yes, I would. I’m not sure there are too many things I wouldn’t do in order for you to see what I see and how I see it. Are my ways aggressive? Yes, they certainly are. Sometimes too aggressive. I admit that, but I am convinced you and I are a great match; I’m convinced we’re meant to be. I’m more sure of this than I’ve been with any woman in the past. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to be with you. Absolutely nothing.”

  I looked around to see if there were things I left behind, but there was nothing I could see that I needed. I had all that I came there with: my fancy black dress, my matching expensive shoes and now an absent memory of an act that I couldn’t take back.

  “I’d like you to call me a cab or get the limo driver to come back here. I’ll be waiting downstairs.” I walked into the dining room. It didn’t look as impressive in the daytime. There was a mess of melted wax hanging off the candelabras, the flowers were wilting from the hot sun magnified through the large wall-length windows and there was cold discarded dinner that was never seen by me, nor eaten as far as I could remember. What a waste this all had been.

  “Oh.” I turned around as Dane followed me to the elevator. “I’ve decided you can tell your brother anything you want. I’m done with the both of you. Since I’ve met you Fosters I’ve missed more classes than ever, I’ve lost my job twice, had meaningless sex and my dignity’s been lost and forgotten. As far as I’m concerned, you two are the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s no wonder you play the sick games that you play. You two need a therapist, like, seriously!”

  The ding of the elevator door seemed to signal the round was over. It was a knockout. I won. Dane stood near the elevator, dumbfounded. It was the first time I’d seen him remotely close to speechless. I enjoyed the silence and the little-boy look on his face. There were no snide remarks, no shit-eating grin. No twist of his head to display his handsome profile. None of it existed right then. At that very moment Dane was just a normal man watching a woman walking away, and looking damn good doing it.

  ***

  The limo was waiting for me downstairs—thank goodness. The entire ride home I ran the gamut of emotions, from extreme bouts of pride to a strong sense of shame. Sadness and misery had also played a part, as I’d never get the chance to tell Simon I cared for him. Once Dane decided to call him—and I knew that he would—things between us would be over completely.

  My stomach churned, and while I knew part of it was probably the hunger and alcohol, it was mostly nausea from the whole situation. I had been a normal college girl worried about normal college things before, and then meeting Simon
had turned me into some lovesick puppet, dangling on his strings. Then his brother came into my life, pulling half my strings in another direction. Bobbi had been right all along about my naïveté. I hadn’t known there were guys out there quite like the Fosters, and I had let them take advantage of me because I had been so certain of myself and of Simon’s feelings for me. I didn’t know whom I hated more at that moment: them or myself.

  The whole thing was all so new to me; I had no idea where to turn or who to turn to and what possible advice they could give me. You slept with his brother? What were you thinking? I could see it in my head regardless of whom I told. Everyone would say that what I had done was unacceptable behavior no matter the reasons behind it. It was one of those things where you don’t have to be told, like not putting your hand in the pretty orange fire. You’re supposed to know how terrible the repercussions would be. You’re supposed to have a lot more sense. I guessed I must have lost mine somewhere along the way. Or it was taken from me by two pairs of pretty eyes and an abundance of flattering words.

  ***

  By the time the limousine dropped me back off at school, I was mentally drained and emotionally exhausted. I slipped off my heels because they felt like stilts, and I was having balance issues in my post-drunken stupor. I slid out of the car like a spineless amoeba and got to my feet with a wobble. I steadied myself, ignored the sharp pains in my head and chose to walk the long path through the impeccably manicured lawn. The dewed blades of crisp green grass underneath my feet felt cool and refreshing as they seeped between my toes. It did wonders for my many frazzled nerves and centered me to the earth. I wanted to sit right where I stood and let the sun shine on my face.

  I needed to reach my room, however, shower, get dressed and somehow get to class before the guilt of what I did started eating me alive. What was I going to tell Simon when I saw him? How could I possibly deliver terrible news that I, in the least, had oral sex with his brother? Yes, I came when he did it, but that certainly was not the point. At least not a point Simon would understand.

  I opened the doors to the hall with my heels in my hand dangling between my fingers like foul-smelling trash. I would have liked to separate myself from what went on the previous night, and the more I thought about it the more I wanted my dress removed. As I turned the last corner down the hall near my room, I saw Simon against the wall in blue jeans and a jacket, leaning by my door nodding off. Had he been there all night? I stopped and turned around as the thought crossed my mind. I could run before he sees me. I could hide.

  “Lynn!” Simon shouted.

  Shit!

  It was too late.

  As soon as I got within arm’s length of him, Simon grabbed me around the waist and crushed his lips to mine. With a lustful, hurried fever, he cupped me by the ass and squeezed me as hard as ever. I yelped in his mouth, which made him kiss me even harder. I wanted to give in to him. I did. Like normal. I wanted to let him devour me and wash away the pain. Put a layer of good on top of the bad and bury it in my subconscious.

  “I wanted you so bad I couldn’t sleep.” Simon brushed his lips along the length of my neck and worked his way down to my breasts. My nipples twisted into round, hardened pebbles as he nibbled on them slightly with his teeth. “I want you to let me in your room so I can fuck you until you can’t breathe. I don’t care if your roommate’s there. She can get out or watch the show.”

  I wanted to forget.

  “I’m going to eat you so good.”

  I wanted it to be a dream.

  “Damn, you look amazing.”

  I wanted to… I needed him to know.

  “Simon.” I pushed at his chest, but he pulled me in close. I could hardly take a breath or speak any words. I wanted to savor every second I had left with him before he knew, but that’s not who I was. I wanted to shout out loud that I cared for him only, that I wanted him, but what good would it do when Dane had sealed my fate? I had to do something, and I had to do it before things went any further. “Simon!” He caressed up my thigh and teased the opening of my folds with his fingers. “SIMON!” I shouted.

  “What, Lynn, what?”

  “Your brother.”

  “What?”

  “Your brother, Simon. I slept with your brother last night.” I panted as I said it. It was difficult to speak those words. “We had sex, and I’m sorry. I feel horrible.”

  I bowed my head in shame as tears spilled from my eyes over to my cheeks and dropped on the floor one by one. Some splashed on his boots, some splattered on my feet. I was feeling far worse than I expected.

  Simon didn’t speak. I didn’t dare look up, but my knees got weak until they buckled to the floor and I stayed there.

  “Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” I grabbed the bottom of his jeans and I shook them. “Call me names. Tell me to fuck off, but don’t just stand there staring at me.” I had imagined that he would tear me apart, embarrass me again, tell me how horrible I was. In fact, I found myself hoping for it. I deserved his wrath, his rage, his disgust. I had done a disgusting thing to him, and I was yet again the reason for his pain.

  But I was waiting for anger that didn’t come. It was worse than anger. The stunned silence was too painful to bear. I was sure that would be the end of me right there. Nothing could possibly hurt more than that.

  Simon placed his hands on my shoulders. I looked up from the floor to meet him, eye to eye. I opened my mouth to speak, but all the words were already spent. I hugged at his legs to brace myself for what came next. He was finally going to be angry with me. I was going to get a brutal beating from his words and be absolved of my sins. I anticipated what he’d say next, but I never could have imagined what really did come out of his mouth.

  “Lynn,” Simon said in an inexpressive tone, “I don’t know who you slept with last night or what he told you, but I don’t have a brother. I never did.”

  Part III

  Lesson # 1

  Life is the greatest teacher of all

  “That's what we’re here for, right? To learn?” -Sonja Petrovic

  Lynn

  For a moment my heart stopped beating. It dropped to the floor, shattering into a million pieces, scattered around my feet. One single breath seeped out of my mouth in a hiss like air from an old punctured tire. “What?” I managed to say. But I held up my hand before Simon could answer. I didn’t want him to repeat it. I didn’t want him to say it again, because I knew he had meant it by the confusion on his face. I knew what he was saying was true.

  Simon doesn’t have a brother.

  How?

  What?

  Dane lied to me!

  That asshole! I'll never want to talk to him again.

  “You slept with someone else?” Simon's face was twisted with confusion. “Last night? Right after we…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. There was hurt there—on his face—unmistakably. He was confused. I could read Simon’s emotions from a mile away, but I could feel the pain he felt from even further. His eyes took me in as he began to put it together. Every wayward piece of the puzzle was slowly becoming a whole. The sexy dress I wore, the expensive pair of shoes I held in my hand, my hair looking slept on and disheveled. The compliment he paid me once he saw me from down the hall that I was sure now if he could take back he would.

  “I…” I wanted to speak. “Um…” I tried to explain, but I was stuck with my words. I wondered if it would help my case if Simon was aware I’d been drinking last night. That I was partially out of my head and not responsible for my actions—as if he hadn’t lost enough respect for me already—no, I guess that wouldn’t work. I was sure he could taste the alcohol on my tongue when he kissed me the way he did a few minutes ago. That would tell him all he needed to know, and probably more. I was with another man and he kissed me after. I really feel like shit for what I did.

  “So, let me get this straight.” Simon’s jaw was tensed and hard set, like he was trying to chew rocks or break his teeth down the center. “
Considering all the grief you’ve given me for hanging around Meghan, having to explain myself to you until you were convinced that nothing was going on. And once you were convinced of that, I had the mistaken impression that everything was fine, or at least as fine as it could be between us.” Simon moved closer to me, and I nervously backed away. “You waited for me by my office for God knows how long. You come in, we have sex. You make your demands and you leave. All of that happened just so you could turn around and fuck some stranger a few hours later? Have I missed anything?”

  I shied away, wanting to crawl out of my skin and go hide under a rock both naked and disgusted. “No, you haven’t but you have to understand—”

  “I don’t have to understand a goddamned thing, Lynn!” Simon’s voice was amplified in the hall. I felt that all-too-familiar tightening in my stomach, accompanied by hangover nausea.

  “This was all a huge mistake.” Simon raked his fingers through his hair. “You and I were a colossal mistake. And to think I actually cared about you. What the hell was I thinking? You’re twenty-two years old. How could I expect you to have an ounce of a maturity?”

  Okay, that hurt.

  “Now wait a minute.” I didn’t mean to balk at him because I didn’t have a leg to stand on, but fear has a way of making you lash out when you’re cornered. “I know I messed up, believe me I do. I haven’t had time to stew in my ignorance yet, but you have no right to talk to me that way. If it wasn’t for me meeting you, none of this would’ve happened. I was fine before I met you and now my life is a mess. And don’t try to lay guilt trips on me about your fucking feelings, because I have feelings too. Did you forget about that? Did you forget that I have feelings?” My eyes started tearing in the corners. “Did you ever have feelings for me, Simon? I mean real feelings. Not the ‘while you’re on top of me’ type, but honest to goodness affection? I don’t think you did. This little ‘tryst’ of ours was never the real thing for you. I was just someone to pass the time. Your little plaything to use and toss aside.”