“Why’s that?” Logged in, I checked my email before looking at him again.
His smile grew. “I don’t know. Because you look a little hung over.”
Fingers froze immediately over the keys, my heart charging and working its way up into my throat. I literally choked on it, unable to breathe. Especially when LJ stood, his seat snapping back into place as he sauntered over in his royal blue kicks
.
I backed up from the podium as he approached, then loomed over me. He stretched out his arm and propped it on the wall, cornering me in and looking directly at me. He tapped my chin. “So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to play a movie for everyone today,” he said, my throat jumping. “And after, you’re going to join me in the back of the room. We’re going to have a nice little talk.”
“A talk about what?”
“I don’t know. Whatever I want.” A reach and a lengthy digit twirled around a lock of my hair. I’d worn it down today. He smirked. “About emails and the damage they can do to TAs.”
And just like that, he threw out his trump card. He’d obviously gotten the email that had been mysteriously recalled from Professor Douglas’s email account. He got it, and now he was going to do something about it.
The door opened behind him, and completely cool, LJ backed off, a warning in his eyes as he returned to his seat in the back of the room. His classmates filtered in but avoided the back row with LJ. Actually, that had been all my doing, the twenty or so students taking seats only in the first couple rows so they couldn’t hide from participation.
It was almost like he knew.
My throat constricted as I got behind the podium, quickly greeting the class before telling them there was a change in today’s lesson plan.
“I’ll be replaying the last thirty minutes of the film we watched this week, class,” I said, queuing it up. “This will give you some extra time to soak up the material again, and we’ll go over it at the back of the hour.”
Classes were only fifty minutes, so that gave us plenty of time for it. It also wouldn’t let LJ take up the whole hour, and after I got the film going, then dimmed the lights, I headed toward the back of the room, completely ignoring the fact that I knew I had a certain set of eyes on me.
LJ’s lingering gaze continued as I took my seat beside him, a couple of spaces between us. I did that on purpose because if I did sit directly next to him, I’d be pressed up on him, his massive size and extended limbs out of the ordinary in these tiny seats. I’d just eased myself in when LJ put a hand out. He gave the cushy chair beside him a small tap, and I rolled my eyes.
Forcing myself to get up, I held my dress, taking that chair. Immediately, I felt his heat pulse into my side, his reach long when he extended it behind my chair.
“What do you want?” I gritted, looking at the film and not him. I played a classic black and white film called Nosferatu, the ancient vampire on the screen while I stared at the back of the heads of LJ’s classmates. The film was intriguing, even for a second viewing, and since most film majors were into it, I knew no one would be looking back here until it was over.
I think LJ did too, that firm body of his hugging mine as he got adjusted in my direction. He had all his attention on me, a stark heat I felt despite not looking directly at him.
I swallowed. “You obviously know about the email.”
“Obviously.” His finger dragged down my naked arm and I forced myself from lashing out and force feeding the digit to him. But one thing I couldn’t stop was that undying warmth, a trail of lava flowing down my arm.
My body buzzing, I hugged my arms. “How did you get it and not Professor Douglas? He told me it was recalled.”
Our muted whispers went unnoticed by the other students and much to my dismay. A part of me wanted someone to see, to find this odd, LJ, a student, with his arm around me. The other part wanted no one to find out at all. I had no idea what looks I was giving or what my body was doing. I just knew what I was feeling, discomfort, yes, but also the slowest of burns. I absolutely hated myself for it. I should be reacting completely in the opposite way with him touching me.
But the thing was, the casual touch wasn’t normal for me. Obviously, my boyfriend touched me. Obviously, we’d been intimate, but it’d always been so routine for Sinclair and almost like a chore. Sex was something timed between football games and bed time and nothing out in the open. There was no touching in public. No intimacy.
There was no finger tracing lazily along my naked shoulder, no tugging of my dress strap. Feeling weird about it, I worked my arm away, and LJ leaned inward.
His lips parted. “Let’s just say I know someone who can take care of things like that.”
“Oh, a guy,” I said, thinking about what Davey had said. I faced him and basically jumped. He was so close to my actual face I could taste him, study every angle on his handsome face and chiseled jawline. He’d shaved that morning, no stubble, and his orange zest aftershave pretty much assaulted my senses he smelled so good.
He wet his lips. “Actually, a good friend.” His hand folded behind my neck, his lazy touch in my hair when he played with it. “He’s into computer stuff. More so in high school. He can hack his way into anything.”
My thighs simmering, I crossed my legs. “And in this case, my email account.”
“Exactly.” His grin as lazy as his fingers, he looked at me. “And I’m glad you think I’m sexy.”
Shooting off the chair, I tugged my hair away from him. “I so didn’t say you were sexy.” At least, I didn’t think I had. My mouth came together. “I didn’t type that because I don’t think you are.”
Much.