The next day, Chase found a letter on the front door that shoved him back into the dark and moody recesses of his mind. He spent the rest of the day in the gym with the door closed and has been a revolving door of mood swings, getting worse by the day.
Today has been another example of peak moodiness bordering on the male version of PMS. He flips from clingy and horny to sulking and cold so fast, neither Pongo nor I can keep up.
I can’t help but think this has something to do with his ex. Did he drive her away with his behavior? Has this side of Chase been a red flag I missed before? The more distant he becomes, the more tempted I am to look into his history. But I don’t, because I want to trust him to tell me on his own. I haven’t even googled his brother, who has welcomed me into the house with open arms. Devin’s part of why I’m sticking it out and not going home. He’s a sweet kid, and he reminds me that Chase is like that, too, when he’s acting like himself.
The sound of drilling and hammering comes from the loft as Chase installs shelves even after I said I didn’t need them, so I’m sitting at the dining room table getting some grading done. I flip open another folder and I can already tell this one will take a while. The student transferred to my class a few weeks ago, and I’m glad he did. His intuition with programming far surpasses that of most of my other students. I have to take my time reading his papers to understand them. I’ve been trying to schedule meetings with his parents about after-school programs and robotics clubs, but it’s been hard getting times pinned down with their schedule and my now hectic life. I make a note on a piece of sticky paper to email them and see if we can’t set up a video call instead of being in person. This wouldn’t be a problem if I went home. Maybe we jumped into this too fast and we need to pump the brakes on this relationship. Or we should never have listened to our feelings and stopped at friends.
I zone out to the world around me, getting lost in the language of programming. Right as I’m getting to the meat of his report, Chase pulls my chair back from the table in a quick jerk.
“Chase! Fucking seriously?” I yell, upset with him. But when I glance up at him, I catch the glimmer in his eye that’s been missing for days. I don’t want him to lose it again.
He kneels in front of me, his palms on my knees and eyes getting darker the longer I stare into them. “I’ve been hard to be around lately, and I don’t mean to be—I hope you understand that. You are the warmth and sunshine against the darkness of my mind. I don’t want this, and I need to take responsibility for how I’ve been acting.”
“Don’t be hard on yourself, Chase. If you’re doing your best, that’s all I can ask.”
“I should be doing better than my best for you. I want to make you happy. I wanna make you laugh again. You look so damn amazing in this bikini. I wanna make you feel good, my queen.”
“Yeah, I look goodinit, so let’s keep it ON and in only two pieces.” He cocks his head to the side and raises an eyebrow when I pull the crochet lace cover up closed. It doesn’t hide a damn thing, but it sends a message. “You big goof.”
His face drops to a pout.
“How am I supposed to say no to that cute, pouty face of yours?”
“You’re not. Or at least that’s what I’m hoping for.” His lips travel up my legs, but his eyes stay on mine. “My sexy as fuck teacher, busy grading papers. Interrupted by her naughty student. You should teach me a lesson.” His fingers play with the knot in my bikini bottoms.
“I’m going to teach you one hell of a lesson later if you don’t stop and let me get through these last few papers.”
“I can’t wait till later. Please,” he begs while his hands slowly push my knees apart. I’ve stopped fighting, and he’s aware he’s about to get his way, licking his lips like a hungry dog. This is my Chase, the one I’ve been falling for over the months. Playful, fun, a bottle rocket full of anxiety, always ready to explode.
I put the folder down, and he pulls me to the edge of the chair. He taps on a folder and wiggles his eyebrows, so I pick it up and start reading to him about the theory of robotics. His head moves to my side as I read, and he bites down on the string, pulling until it comes undone before moving to the other side at a leisurely pace. I like when he takes his time, exploring me like I’m some new adventure he’s never had before.
“Are you listening to me, Mr. Cooper?”
“Yes, ma’am. Algorithms. Programs.” He moves the fabric that’s between him and his treasure, licking his lips before he slides his finger through me. “Beep beep. Boop boop.”
“You’re going to have to work hard for that passing grade.” I lean forward, grabbing his hair and holding his head back. “Really, really hard, Puppy.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I want his mouth on my damn pussy, but he’s got other plans, focusing on other areas. He’s squeezing and biting anywhere he can get a hold of. There’s plenty of those on me. I gasp when his fingers do their slow, deliberate dance between my legs. Fireworks shoot through my spine every time the tip of his finger slides through me, ghosting my clit. My head rocks back in anticipation.
“Goddess?”
“Yes, Puppy?”
“Can we play tonight?” We haven’t even fucked in two days, but that’s not all he wants. He wants his release from the world. He wants me to tie him up and tear him apart. It breaks my heart that he’s asking, but heals my heart to know it helps him.
“What would you like to do, Chase?”
“I’m not sure. I think I’m ready to try something new. I like when you teach me new things.” His eyes light up as he remembers to add, “I mean, the ropes have been on the bed for a week now and, well, we haven’t used those yet. How do I earn that?”
“Oh, Puppy. We’ve barely even scratched the surface, but I have a few things in mind we could try. For now, keep doing what you’re doing and that will earn you some extra credit in class.”
Hunger has come into his eyes and spreads down his body. He hoists my legs up onto the arms of the chair. He pulls me closer, licking one long strip up my center. Something’s on his mind. I can tell because he’s only giving me half his focus—still a million times better than some men give when eating pussy. Nevertheless, if anyone needed a poster boy for the belief that a man can’t think while he’s fucking, or fuck while he’s thinking, it’s Chase. It’s also adorable.
“What will you do to me when I’m tied up?” he asks, before licking deeper.
“Oh, I’d start by riding your face so you’d shut up and give me what I want.”
