I rested my forehead on his for a moment to gather myself, then pulled back and smoothed his tousled blond locks. I smoothed my own hair and Connor shifted in his seat to move me off his lap.
“V, students will be coming in soon. You should get to your class.”
“You’re giving me a new nickname?” A smile slowly formed on my lips. “It sounds so sexy and womanly.”
His eyes roved over me and he bit his upper lip. He closed his eyes for a second and scooted his chair back so it faced his desk again. “Go to your class.”
“Okay,” I whispered, reaching down to grab my messenger bag off the floor, glancing back at him. He looked back at me with an indefinable emotion.
“Stay after class with me?”
I blinked in shock, speechless. He’d caught me by surprise. Connor raised both brows and smirked as he waited for my response.
“Yes,” I breathed. My mind was complete mush.
“I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Thud …
I turned and walked towards the door, the only thing I could do. My steps were unsteady and I bumped into the desk by the door as I walked out of the classroom.
I steadied my walk as I moved slowly and carefully toward my first period class down the hall. Amber was outside of the classroom, phone in hand and head down. She yawned and looked up.
“Hey, there you are. Was it rough waking up this morning?”
“Yes, let’s not do that again. One all-night homework session is enough. An entire weekend is crazy.” I covered my mouth as I yawned. Amber had arrived at my place Saturday, but hadn’t gone home until almost 2am on Sunday which was technically this morning. It was going to be a long day.
She laughed. “Ready?” She tilted her head toward the doorway. “I hope today goes by fast.”
“Yes,” I agreed softly as we walked into the classroom.
***
The day did go by fast and before I knew it, we’d reached the last class of the day … Connor’s class.
Amber walked in before I did, her attention immediately directed to the front of the class. “Do you think he’s all alpha with his girlfriend … if he has one, I mean.”
I stopped walking. “I think he would be sweet.” And tender.
Amber sat down and started digging through her book bag. I sat down next to her and immediately glanced up at Connor. Our eyes locked.
“I’m sorry,” he mouthed.
My head tilted as I mouthed back, “For?”
His mouth moved to speak again, but stopped, his eyes darting toward the door. I followed his gaze. Emma walked in, her eyes cast on me, then Connor, then back to me. She smirked as she sat in her seat.
“Hi, Mr. Tomlinson. I hope you had a great weekend.” Her word oozed with fakeness.
“I did. Thank you, Emma.” Connor walked to the board and picked up a marker, writing in big, bold letters POP QUIZ. He turned back around, his hard eyes falling on Emma.
“I hope you studied what I assigned to read, Emma.” Connor walked back to his desk and sat down.
Emma unzipped her backpack and pulled out her books, flipping them open. Her head bent low as she frantically started to read.
“It’s a lot to cram into your head in ten minutes,” Connor said, working his jaw.
I sat back and watched their exchange. It took me a moment to understand and remember the reasons for Connor’s irritation with her. Emma’s family had ruined his family too.
“Oh, Connor,” I whispered, tears building in my eyes.
“Shit, pop quiz.” Amber sounded worried. “We’ve got this, right?”
I rubbed my chin on my shoulder, blinking away my tears, then turned toward her and laughed at her pained expression. “Yes, we’ve got this. Stop worrying.”
“Okay, but I’m crossing my fingers anyway.”
Students filed into the classroom, and once the clock ticked three, Connor grabbed a stack of paper from his desk and handed it to the student sitting in the front.
“Good luck, everyone,” he said before he sat back down. I watched as he picked up his cell phone and began to text.
Amber dropped her head and whispered, “Do you think he’s texting his girlfriend? Or wife? Please not a wife.”
My phone vibrated in my messenger bag. Amber glanced at it first and narrowed her eyes.
Oh no…
“Who’s texting you?”
I grabbed my phone and turned off the vibrator, seeing an unknown number.
“It’s my dad.”
“Oh,” she said, raising a doubtful eyebrow as she handed me a quiz sheet.
There were five question, all of which we’d studied hard. I gave Amber a thumbs up and wrote down my answers. We finished at the same time and walked up together to hand in our quiz.