Gods damn, she’s gorgeous.
Clearing his throat, Harkert shook his head and took a step backward, nearly out of the cover of the trees and overhang from the dormitory.He glanced between both of us, and there was something about his soaked, dark locks.They hung in his face slightly, and he had to shake them out of the way.
“Uh, I’ll be going.”Harkert shivered, clearing his throatagain, and then dropped his chin as he eyed my stepsister and me.“I expect to see you both bright and early for class tomorrow.No passes for late nights.”
“So demanding,” I teased.“You justlovebeing the boss, don’t you?”
My entire body heated under Harkert’s stare.He fucking fumed, devouring me with his eyes even if he would never admit it.Temps yanked on my arm again, pulling open the door and then getting me inside behind her.
“Thank you for walking us back, Professor.I’ll make sure we’re both in class tomorrow.Promise.”
He might have wanted to stop it, but Harkert smiled, breathing hard through his nose as thunder rolled through the sky overhead.We all stood there in a moment of silence, and then Harkert dropped his head in a combination of a nod and a bow, his stare flicking from Temps to me and then back.
“Thank you, Ms.Montgomery.You’re a very go—” But he stopped himself, rolling his lips between his teeth as he blinked slowly.“I’ll see you both in class.”
With that, Harkert spun on his heel and sped off down the walkway.I wasn’t sure how far his apartment was, but something told me that it was a much longer trip than the good professor would ever admit.
“Ugh, you’re insufferable.Let’s go.”
Temps pulled me toward the stairs, and we headed up to our dorm.The thing was, I wasn’t tired in the least.Not with a soaking wet Temps to still feast my eyes on.
Bythetimewegot up to our dorm and inside, I was thoroughly freezing from being stuck in wet clothes.The adrenaline of running here was wearing off with each second, and I headed directly to my closet while Temps locked the door behind us.
Pulling off my top was like peeling the shell off an avocado, and I tossed the thing into my hamper with a resounding plop sound.My skirt and socks were next, and with each item of clothing I lost, I just got colder.The air hit my bare skin, sending goosebumps skittering across me from head to toe.Shivering, I fished around in my drawers for a pair of sleep shorts and a shirt.
All I could find was the thin long-sleeved sweater I’d had since middle school.It was wildly oversized then and now fits me about right, but it’d also been worn and washed enough times to make the thing feel like silk.
It even had Batman on it.
The shorts were a no-go, though, hiding somewhere just to be a dick.I gave up the search, grabbing a pair of thick, tall socks to provide that necessary warmth.
“Dammit.Ugh, Lizzie, would you help me with this?”
I spun around to see Temps struggling with the shirt I’d made her wear and chuckled.Padding over now that my socks were on, I helped her get the fabric up and over her head as it fought to remain stuck to her.Without thinking, I dropped my hands to the zipper of her skirt—well, my skirt—and wiggled the pull tab so that it didn’t catch and actually came down.It was a finicky thing about wearing that thing that only I knew about.
“What are you…”
The question drifted off as I wrangled the zipper, and Temps was able to let the skirt hit the floor and step out of it.
“Zipper sticks.”
She nodded over her shoulder at me, looking painfully aware of how exposed she was even with her back to me, and then whipped her head around toward the closet.
“Oh, thank you.”
I didn’t know what got into me, but as the glow of the moonlight peeked out from behind a storm cloud, I reached out, wanting to drag my fingers down Temps’ back.Just before my fingers made contact, thought, a boom of thunder shook the room, and she jumped, wildly flailing as she fell forward into her clothes.
“Fuck, the storm is going to keep me up all night.”She pushed out of her hanging clothing and yanked down a large sweater, pulling it on over her head.“If someone did mess with the weather, I kind of hate them right now.”
“Hmm.”It was all I could manage, my heart pounding as I hurried over to my bed and got in under the covers.
After a moment, Temps finished dressing, not wearing any shorts either, I might add, and rushed to her bed, practically diving inside.She peered over at me from her side of the room, the covers pulled up under her chin.In the dark, I could still see her enough to know that she was feeling off, something I didn’t need my abilities to tell me.
“The carnival was weird, right?”
With a sigh, I shoved the blankets off and walked over to Temps’ bed.“Scoot.”
She moved closer to the wall so I could get in beside her, and I lay down with my head on the pillow, meeting her stare.
