Page 5 of Royally Taught
“That’s a given,” she smiles as she links her arm through mine as we walk toward our first lecture of the day. “So, are you still going to lie? Tell me what happened. You study constantly, you’ve never looked like shit.”
I blink at her candor. “Okay…”
“I don’t mean it in a bad way, I mean that usually you’re so polished and put together. Today, it looks as though you haven’t slept at all this weekend. So tell me, what’s happened?”
We enter the class and take a seat at the back. I need to let this out, I need to speak to someone, and Erin is the only one that I know will be able to help me without judgment.
I take a deep breath and stare down at my hands that are flat on the table. “You know how I had got a tutor?”
She makes a humming sound. “Yep, how did it go?”
I nod. “Yeah, I learned loads. It seemed to be going well,” I tell her. “He helped me understand things in a way that I’ve never done before.:
She grips my arm and squeals. “Oh, that’s great, Stasi.”
I make a non-committal sound.
I feel her intense gaze on me. “Oh, no,” she hisses as she leans in close. “Spill, girl, what happened?”
“I read the email, saw that my tutor’s name was Jacob, and emailed back, letting him know that I was good with the time, then he replied with his address, I didn’t think much of it. Turned up to his house, excited, and then when he opened the door, I was so damn shocked.”
Her fingers grip my arm tighter. “What, who was it?”
The door behind us closes, and I lift my head and see the man himself walking into the room. My stomach dips as he glances at me. His gaze intense and filled with heat, so much so, that it feels as though he’s searing my skin with just his look.
“Him,” I whisper once he turns his head away from me.
“Noooo,” she gasps. “No freaking way. Spill girl, what the hell happened?”
Jacob begins his lecture, and the sound of his voice sends shivers along my spine. God, this can’t be happening? I went months watching him without having a reaction. Yes, I was attracted, yes, I wanted him, but I know that he’s my professor, he’s off-limits, and I’m not stupid. I would never do that.
Until Saturday.
When we were sitting down on the couch, I could feel the heat between us. It was intense, suffocating. I could barely breathe. When I looked at him, I was lost. There was no going back the moment his lips touched mine. It was crazy how my mind slipped from him being my professor to wanting him so much and unable to pull away.
Looking at him now, the air is thick between us, the way he keeps a steady gaze on me. The oxygen pulls from my lungs.
I’m unable to focus on his words, my eyes locked in on the way his lips move with the words that he’s saying. For the next hour, it’s as though I’m in some sort of trance. Watching him, lusting for him. I want him, and that means I’m so damn screwed. How the hell has this happened?
My entire life, I’ve been the good girl. Never doing anything that will get me into trouble. I’m quiet, a bookworm, I’m the type that doesn’t pay attention to anyone around her. Now, I’ve kissed my professor, a man that holds my academic career in his hands, and I can’t stop thinking about the stupid kiss. Stupid, stupid, kiss.
I don’t understand why the hell I’m so affected by it. Why I can’t push it aside? Right now, my head and heart are so muddled. There’s no way in hell that I can continue like this. If something doesn’t change, everything that I’ve pushed and worked hard for will be for nothing.
I’m finally able to breathe again once the lecture is over. God help me. I feel so conflicted.
“Holy hell, Stasi,” Erin gasps. “That was intense. You have to tell me everything that happened,” she tells me as she glances at her watch. “We have an hour, let’s go back to your place, we’ll grab coffee on the way.” She doesn’t wait for an answer, she links her arm through mine and pulls me toward the exit. “You need someone to talk to, Stasi, and I’m always here going to be here as a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen.”
My heart fills with warmth at her words. I lucked out so much at finding her on the first day of the semester. She knows everything about me, including who my parents are and what I am. She’s kept my secret, and all she wants is my friendship. I love how easy it is to be around her, how quickly we gelled and how amazing our friendship is. I wouldn’t have been able to get through the first half of the year without her.
“Okay,” she says as she sinks onto my couch, coffee in hand. “Tell me what happened when you showed up at his apartment. What went down?”
I take a seat beside her and open up. Letting her know everything that happened. From the kiss to him watching me with those intense gaze of his.
She stares at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. “Oh my god,” she breathes. “Stasi, that is so damn hot. Please tell me he’s an amazing kisser?”
I nod. “So good,” I say with a smirk. “I never knew someone could kiss you until your toes curl, never knew that one kiss could steal your breath and make you feel as though you float on air.”
Her mouth is still agape as she blinks rapidly. “Girl, I’ve never had a kiss like that. God, that man is fine, there’s no doubt. But shit, you’ve got yourself into a pickle.”
