Page 19 of Emily: Hello Kitten
“There. Done,” she says, clearly done with me. “If you’re going to keep being this stupid, there’s only so much I can do to help.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I wish I could explain how he gets, how he just…”
“If you still want him when you graduate, go for it.” She shrugs. “But not now, not when you’re his student.”
“You want me to wait that long,” I joke.
“As of right now, I only want to hear about him because of class. That’s it. Nothing about your night together. Nothing aboutanything.”
I sigh and change the topic as I put my phone away, not wanting to see howheresponds. “Don’t worry about thewedding,” I say. “My mom has someone she wants to set me up with, and if you go, she’ll do the same.”
Monday, he doesn’t look at me in class. Nor has he texted me back, so I assume everything is fine.
Ithasto be fine.
He gives me another A on a paper, and I almost argue with him, but I see a sticky note on the back page and it makes my heart stammer in my chest as my cheeks flush.
I stuff my paper in my backpack when I see that Beth got an A+.
A sigh leaves me as I realize he just grades easily. Maybe I’ll start making mistakes just to make sure that he’s not going to be nice to me because of our past.
Beth heads to her own class while I duck into the bathroom, glance around, then pull out my essay. I flip to the back page, noting that he did actually correct some issues and leave comments, then I read the Post-It note.
I’m coming.
If you want to discuss further, you know when my office hours are.
Ripping off the note, I flush it down the toilet, frustrated and bothered. I take a few deep breaths, then focus on the comments on my paper.
The red ink is damning.
I know you can do better. Don’t dumb yourself down to prove a point.
“Fucking ass,” I mutter.
Beth is right. If I end up alone with Adrian, we’re going to end up having sex. I’m sure of it. I know I shouldn’t even play around with the thought that we can avoid it. Not when he’s still calling meKitten. Not when I can’t stop thinking about him.
I storm out of the bathroom, still deep in my own thoughts as I stumble against someone. Strong hands grip my shoulders as I grunt. “Ms. Turner.”
I follow the voice and meet his piercing green gaze. “Dr. Hayes,” I whisper.
“Anything wrong? You look pale.”
“No, no. I’m fine,” I insist and peel away from him.
“Are you?” His stare won’t leave me as my cheeks heat.
“Yup. Nothing interesting to report, but I do have a question for you,” I sass as I cross my arms.
“Of course. I’m happy to help with anything, especially after seeing some of the errors in your essay,” he says, motioning to his office.
“We don’t need to go there,” I mumble as I shift on my feet.
There’s barely any restraint in there. I’m sure if I touched him, moved closer, did anything, he’d lose control right here and haul me to his office for a whole lot more than talking.
Shit, no.No, stay focused, Emily.
“I’m worried I’m repeating words too often. So, can you tell me some synonyms for ‘no’?” I ask, cocking my head at him.
