Emily: Hello Kitten (The ‘Hello’ series)

9. Chapter 9

nine

T he week passes by in a mix of avoiding conversations and having conversations I don’t want to have. I gave in with Adrian and can’t take it back this time. I’ve been trying to avoid Beth to escape her yelling at me, but that’s kind of hard when I live with her.

Instead, I’ve been asking my mom and sister about every little detail I wouldn’t normally care about. By the time the weekend rolls around, I know where my hotel room will be. I have a full itinerary of events, even if I’m not invited to half of them because well… because I’m me, I suppose. I can be loud, and I don’t follow the plan my parents had set out for me.

My sister is getting everything she wanted in a wedding. She’s going to be a princess. My mom is still offering to change the seating arrangements so I can sit with some ‘eligible guys’.

Not to mention I have four texts from my dad saying I should lie to anyone who asks what I study and say my major is business instead of English. He even said I could say ‘law’.

When the door to my dorm room opens, I grab my bag, eager to not be here, but Beth points at me. “You!”

“I’m just about to—”

“Oh, no, it’s Friday. You don’t have class. You can wait to study. Dinner’s not for another hour. You’re going to answer me!” she insists, slamming the door.

“Sure. So, I know everything about the wedding now. It’s great that Danielle suggested the pink dress since I’ll have to wear that,” I start.

She lets me list things off while her lips get tighter and she starts tapping her toe. When I run out of things to say and still haven’t thought of any excuses to get me out of this situation, she attacks.

“What the hell happened in Dr. Hayes’ office! You came out looking all flushed and squirmy! Did he try to seduce you? Did you seduce him? Did you get him to agree not to come? I need to know! I don’t have a dress and—”

“He’s coming,” I whisper, cutting her off.

Her eyes focus on me with a deadly calm that makes me squeak. “Repeat that,” Beth orders.

“You heard me!” I exclaim.

She lunges towards me, but I duck and make it out the door. I get to the common room on our floor before she catches me and shoves me outside. We stare at each other as she fumes.

Beth likes to choose her words carefully, but that just makes me twice as terrified. “You’re supposed to have some spine.”

“I know! I gave him every logical reason we talked about!” I insist.

“Then how is he still going with you?”

“He’s very hard to say no to,” I defend.

She pinches the bridge of her nose. “He’s our professor, Emily.”

“I know. I told him that plenty. I laid out the problems,” I say.

She still doesn’t look at me. “He’s our professor.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And if he gets fired because of you and people will assume you’re willing to sleep your way to As, is that worth sleeping with him again?” she asks slowly.

Dizziness makes my vision blur as I lean back against the building. “He asked if I wanted him to come after working me up, and I said yes.”

“Did he kiss you?”

“No.”

“Did he touch you?”

“Not inappropriately.”

“A teacher touching a student is inappropriate!” she says, taking a step closer to me. “He’s an older man. You’re his student. Text him no. Now.”

I pull out my phone and let her watch me. I type my text.

You can’t come to the wedding.

As my thumb hovers over the send button, I show it to Beth and she nudges my thumb, hitting send.

“There. Done,” she says, clearly done with me. “If you’re going to keep being this stupid, there’s only so much I can do to help.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I wish I could explain how he gets, how he just…”

“If you still want him when you graduate, go for it.” She shrugs. “But not now, not when you’re his student.”

“You want me to wait that long,” I joke.

“As of right now, I only want to hear about him because of class. That’s it. Nothing about your night together. Nothing about anything. ”

I sigh and change the topic as I put my phone away, not wanting to see how he responds. “Don’t worry about the wedding,” I say. “My mom has someone she wants to set me up with, and if you go, she’ll do the same.”

Monday, he doesn’t look at me in class. Nor has he texted me back, so I assume everything is fine.

It has to be fine.

He gives me another A on a paper, and I almost argue with him, but I see a sticky note on the back page and it makes my heart stammer in my chest as my cheeks flush.

I stuff my paper in my backpack when I see that Beth got an A+.

A sigh leaves me as I realize he just grades easily. Maybe I’ll start making mistakes just to make sure that he’s not going to be nice to me because of our past.

Beth heads to her own class while I duck into the bathroom, glance around, then pull out my essay. I flip to the back page, noting that he did actually correct some issues and leave comments, then I read the Post-It note.

I’m coming.

If you want to discuss further, you know when my office hours are.

Ripping off the note, I flush it down the toilet, frustrated and bothered. I take a few deep breaths, then focus on the comments on my paper.

The red ink is damning.

I know you can do better. Don’t dumb yourself down to prove a point.

“Fucking ass,” I mutter.

Beth is right. If I end up alone with Adrian, we’re going to end up having sex. I’m sure of it. I know I shouldn’t even play around with the thought that we can avoid it. Not when he’s still calling me Kitten . Not when I can’t stop thinking about him.

I storm out of the bathroom, still deep in my own thoughts as I stumble against someone. Strong hands grip my shoulders as I grunt. “Ms. Turner.”

I follow the voice and meet his piercing green gaze. “Dr. Hayes,” I whisper.

“Anything wrong? You look pale.”

“No, no. I’m fine,” I insist and peel away from him.

“Are you?” His stare won’t leave me as my cheeks heat.

“Yup. Nothing interesting to report, but I do have a question for you,” I sass as I cross my arms.

“Of course. I’m happy to help with anything, especially after seeing some of the errors in your essay,” he says, motioning to his office.

“We don’t need to go there,” I mumble as I shift on my feet.

There’s barely any restraint in there. I’m sure if I touched him, moved closer, did anything, he’d lose control right here and haul me to his office for a whole lot more than talking.

Shit, no. No, stay focused, Emily .

“I’m worried I’m repeating words too often. So, can you tell me some synonyms for ‘no’?” I ask, cocking my head at him.

He arches one eyebrow and rubs his jaw, flashing some of the tattoos curling over his dark skin. He scoffs out a laugh. “Is that what you need synonyms for?”

“Just in case someone didn’t understand the word ‘no’ or ‘not invited’,” I hint.

“That depends,” he murmurs. “What’s the context?”

“Me saying ‘you’re not invited’, for example,” I say seriously. “I thought it was pretty clear, but logic didn’t get through, so I have to make sure to try every option.”

“Bribery?”

How does he make one word so naughty like that? His green eyes are darker, more focused, and his glasses just make his gaze more intense.

“Logic doesn’t work,” I huff.

“Think less about logic and more about desire and how things will actually play out. Feel free to write me an essay about that and slip it under my door,” he says, then walks away.

Well, Beth, I tried. I tried thoroughly. I was determined, but obviously, fate has other plans in mind. And who can argue with fate? I’m definitely tired of trying to resist what I want, no matter how wrong it is to want my professor the way I do.