The Last Thing She Wants (Chestnut Hills #1)

5

theo

“ I understand Theo. Thank you for clearing this up. I’m sure you can understand the concern. I had to be sure all codes of conduct are being dutifully followed.” Harold’s thick gray mustache moved up and down as he talked. As Dean of Chestnut Hills Community College, where I taught Botany to mostly kids who took it as an easy elective, Harold Donovan decorated his office just as one would expect. With an air of seriousness, he looked at me across his desk from his deep plushy mahogany colored armchair surrounded by bookshelves stocked to the brim.

I shifted in my seat uncomfortably and cleared my throat.

“Absolutely, sir.” Smoothing out my slacks as I stood, I tried to wipe away the nervous perspiration that had accumulated on my palms. “This has been a terrible misunderstanding, and I can assure you it won’t happen again.” I reached out, firmly shaking Harold’s hand, before turning to leave his office.

After my mid-morning Botany lab, a student picked up a piece of paper off the ground. That piece of paper just so happened to be an erotic fantasy by one of my other students, Lucy Evans, featuring none other than the one and only. The student then made a dramatic show of reading it aloud before Lucy snatched it angrily and ran off in tears.

It was…graphic, to say the least. The Chemistry lab class across the hall let out at the same time and Professor Rose overheard the exchange. The tenured, goody two-shoes abruptly reported the incident to the Dean.

It was an honest mistake, as well as really embarrassing for both of us. I was aware of my effect on some of the students, girls and guys alike. I did my best to wear long sleeves, hiding my tattooed arms, and loose-fitting slacks after spending my first semester trying to drag attention away from my crotch.

He unbuttoned his shirt, one button at a time. His hairy chest peeked through. “Are you ready for a lesson, Miss Evans?” he asked in his deep, sexy voice. Wet with excitement, I began rubbing— That was about as far as the kid was able to get before being abruptly stopped.

Opposite Harold’s office sat three armchairs lined up beneath a window peeking into the main atrium of the administrative building. Lucy was sitting, dejected, in the leftmost chair, her eyes fixated on the linoleum floor ahead of her.

“Miss Evans?” Harold called from behind me in an authoritative voice. Careful not to make eye contact, she stood, trying and failing to hide her bright red cheeks and puffy eyes. In her triumphant effort of avoiding my gaze, she didn’t see the polite smile I tried to give her, hoping to ease the tension.

What a fucking day.

Needing to let off steam, I bee lined for my lackluster but reliable four-door Corolla. Bringing the engine to life offered instant relief at the promise I’d be home soon. My shoulders relaxed further with every mile as I drove straight home .

Without a thought, I threw my briefcase to the side as soon as I entered my apartment. It landed with a thud atop my neatly lined shoes. Normally, I would take the time to tediously adjust the entry way, annoyed by the clutter, but I had too much anxious energy built up. Leaving my slacks and shirts from the day scattered about, I quickly changed into a workout shirt and shorts before running right back out the door. In my haste, I took no time to digest my surroundings and consequently nearly knocked over a figure on my way to the stairwell.

“Oh shit, sorry,” coming to a quick halt and gathering myself, I recognized the figure to be Ellie.

Dressed in a baggy tee-shirt and tight athletic leggings, she turned to face me. Her hair, pulled into a high ponytail, swished with the motion. Bracing herself, she put her hands up and gasped in surprise. In one hand she was gripping her water bottle while clinging to her phone and headphones in the other.

Taking a deep breath, she brought her hand holding the water bottle to her chest, just over her heart, and dropped the other. My gaze lingered to where her hand met her breasts, and I willed myself to meet her eyes. “Oh my god, you scared me to death.”

“Consider it payback for the other day.” I smiled brightly and offered a quick wink, worrying that I was coming on a bit strong.

“Ha! Okay, fair,” she scanned me from head to toe. “Going on a run?”

“The gym.”

“Oh, me too. We can walk together. Unless that’s weird. Is that weird?” She was cute when she was flustered. The question was pointless as we had already begun walking towards the stairwell.

“No, not weird,” I followed in kind.

She pushed open the door to the stairs, and I felt a slight disappointment when I realized her oversized shirt covered her ass. Quickly diverting my eyes again, I reminded myself that I respected women. Though, respectfully keeping my eyes off Ellie proved to be very challenging.

In quiet, we opened the door on the main level and stepped outside. The main office building housed the gym, which was a short walk from our apartment building across the lawn. We fell into step next to each other and she turned up to look at me.

“How was your day?” She asked with what seemed to be genuine curiosity.

Remembering the earlier conversation with my boss, I sighed heavily. Clearing my throat, I explained a student found an erotic story another student wrote about me and read it aloud. She let out a loud bright laugh, throwing her head back. The laugh was so full it seeped into me, pulling at the corners of my mouth. I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m sorry,” she struggled to speak between chuckles, “that is…hilarious.” She let out another small laugh before composing herself. She looked at me with sympathetic eyes, but a smile still played at her lips. “That must have been really embarrassing for both you.”

“That depends, what do you think of this? ‘He unbuttoned his shirt, one button at a time, his hairy chest peeking through. ‘Are you ready for a lesson Miss Evans?’” I recited the story that would forever be engrained in my brain.

Ellie cut me off with another abrupt laugh, “Oh no, Theo.” She clutched her side from laughter. While she was lost in the comedy, I was struck by how my name sounded rolling off her lips.

Caught up in her presence, I didn’t realize we had made it to the main office. I opened the front door and motioned for her to enter. A warm vanilla and cinnamon scent surrounded me as she walked by. The scent was so feminine and sweet, I immediately pictured burying my face in her hair.

“Unfortunately, it’s all true,” I chuckled. We walked the final few feet to the gym in silence and opened the door. Holding it open, I gave her a genuine smile, pleased with myself that I made her laugh today. “Have a good workout.”

“You too,” she grinned widely back at me just before putting her headphones on. We broke into opposite directions as she moved towards the free weights and I towards the cable machine.

Despite strength training for an hour, I still needed to clear my head. While today was overwhelming and embarrassing, my run in with Ellie made it all the better. Biting the inside of my cheek, I found myself distracted with how to continue the conversation with her.

Ellie was splayed across a mat on the other side of the small apartment gym, stretching her hips. She moved into a deep lunge, placing her right foot on the floor in front of her. I did my best to push any racing thoughts from my mind and decided to set out for a light run on the treadmill. Hopefully, the distraction of cardio would help me ignore my hard-on threatening to grow.

I turned on the latest episode of Bake-Off and got lost in the contestant talking about her cake being dedicated to her mom’s love of tea and biscuits, being that her birthday was the day before. It may have sounded silly, but it kept me focused and my thoughts light, which was something I needed with Ellie bending in all shapes in front of me.

Two miles in, I watched as she wiped down her mat and placed it back on the hanging rack. As she walked towards the exit, she quickly threw a smile my way and I responded by giving her a small wave and nod. I watched her leave, almost as if in slow motion, noticing the sway of her hips, the perspiration at the base of her neck, and her labored breathing.

I pushed to mile three.