“It is. You know the joy of discovery here.” He tapped a single finger over my heart. Could he feel the way my heart leaped at the touch? “It is part of the human condition. The prompt was to explain how the setting worked in relation to the story as the character walked that path, not how you would feel in her situation. You were supposed to become the character.”
Oh. “That makes sense. But I don’t understand how I’m supposed to become someone I’ve never been, or feel her feelings in a setting I’ve never seen.”
“Imagination.” Alessio gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Italy is a magnificent place, but so is this.” His chin twitched toward the quad on the other side of the glass windows.
Groups of people stood beneath the broad trees. Three guys tossed a frisbee back and forth while girls watched from acrossthe path that wound toward the biology building in the distance. “Pretty sure they’re nothing alike.”
“I didn’t say they were alike. I implied there was beauty to be found everywhere.” His voice dropped on the last word, drawing my attention around to his sculpted lips and the smile brewing in his eyes. “I see beauty every day.”
“I’ve never been more than a hundred miles away from home. I wouldn’t even know where to start in a place like Italy.” I sighed hard enough to curl my toes. “I wanted to do a summer abroad, but that’s not the kind of thing my family can afford.”
Shit. I hadn’t meant to say that. It made me sound weak and pathetic, like those needy damsels in distress I always dissed in the fairytales.
Alessio reached behind him and plucked up a slim blue volume from the desk. “Read this and tell me what you think. Next week, after class. I’ve marked one poem I think you’ll appreciate.”
I started to open the book, but he put his hands on mine and pressed them together, pinning the book shut. “Not here. Sometime when you’re alone.” He towered over me, but his face loomed close enough that the gold in his irises sparkled.
A dull roar started in my ears, my body trembling from his touch. My heart lurched into my throat when he dipped his head closer. Only a breath of air separated us. All I had to do was lean forward. I licked my lips, curious what his would taste like.
The door banged open, followed by a clamor of voices laughing and shouting. Students jostled for seats, the front row filling with other young women eager to gain Alessio’s attention. He pressed his palms tighter against mine. “Better head to your next class.”
I walked through the rest of the day in a daze. I’d almost kissed him. One more second and the entire class would’vecaught us in a lip-lock sure to get him fired and me thrown out of college.
“Are you coming to the party?” One of the girls in my business class twirled a strand of red hair around her finger.
I shook myself out of my daze. Party? She must have read the blank look on my face, because she had mercy on me and explained instead of scorning my lack of knowledge. “Student/faculty party. It’s the one party of the year where the professors are invited. Kind of like a mixer. You should have gotten your invitation in your email.”
“Oh, that party.” I waved a hand with what I hoped was a nonchalant gesture. “I’ll be there.” No way I’d miss out on a party where Alessio and I might actually have a chance of hooking up. I brought my attention back to the cramped lecture hall and tapped out notes on my laptop. Of all the classes I’d signed up for this semester, the business class mattered most for my future.
Darkness clungto the sky and painted the quad in shades of midnight blue and dusky purple. Tiny squares of light from the building’s lit windows guided me as I strode up the concrete sidewalk, my little black dress riding high on my thighs with every step. I’d paired it with gold hoops and the heart necklace my parents bought me for my last birthday, along with black heels that boosted my petite height. Light makeup covered my freckles and blended my honey-toned skin. I’d chosen to leave my long, wavy auburn hair loose down, enjoying the way it swayed over the dress’s open back and tickled my skin.
When I arrived at the event center, a man roughly my age opened the door and ushered me through, pressing a red Solocup into my hand as I passed. I nodded my thanks and set the cup down on the nearest table. I knew better than to accept an open drink at a place like this. Didn’t mean I couldn’t find one myself, though.
Music surged from the open room at my left. I peeked around the door for a better look and found at least a hundred students dancing together in a writhing mass. A few younger professors joined them, but most of the faculty remained around the perimeter of the room or sitting at the makeshift bar where a white-haired man poured drinks and passed them across one after the other. When the email said student/faculty party, I expected wine and maybe a cheese tray. This resembled a full-on frat party.
“Want to dance?” A handsome blond man held out a hand and motioned at the dance floor.
I scanned the room once more for Alessio and finally spotted him sitting at the end of the bar with a small glass of amber liquid in front of him, wearing a brand suit far out of a professor’s budget. He raised his head as though he felt my gaze and turned.
I sucked in a breath, anticipation raising goosebumps on my arms, and shifted so he wouldn’t catch me staring.
“No thanks.” I waved the blond off and weaved my way through the crowd until I reached the bar.
“What’s good?” I asked the bartender.
He eyed me with a lightning quick grin. “I have just the thing.” He turned and snatched a series of bottles off the shelves, dumping liquid in a stainless-steel shaker too fast for me to read the labels. Within seconds, a crimson drink sat in front of me. He nudged it closer with one finger. “Tell me what you think.”
Everything in me urged me to turn and look at Alessio. I resisted and sipped the cocktail. Fruity but sharp, with justenough kick to feel it without dropping me to the floor after just one drink. “Perfect.”
The bartender’s smile returned. “It’s called a Red Velvet. One of my personal creations.”
Someone tapped my shoulder, and a shadow cut across my vision until a man sat on the open stool beside me.
The alcohol swirled hot in my belly and mingled with the eagerness of spending time with Alessio. I faced the man, a smile already forming, but it wasn’t Alessio on the stool.
Another student smiled at me, a dimple forming in his cheek. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you.” Compliments were nice no matter who they came from.
