To Professor, With Love (Forbidden Men 2)

I laughed. “Between kissing me, staring at Lowe, and setting me up with one of her friends, no, your name didn’t come up once.”

“A setup, huh? Who’s her friend? Dr. Kavanagh?”

Narrowing my eyes, I pointed at him threateningly. “I swear to God, if you don’t shut up about that, I’ll kick your nuts up into your throat.”

“Whatever, man. You know you want your teacher.” Then he put in his order to Mason and started flirting with a pair of ladies sitting at the bar.

The sad thing was, Ten was only teasing me about her because he was sure I didn’t want her, while, Jesus, even the mention of her stirred something inside me.

I should’ve gotten Marci’s number from Tianna. I needed something—anything—to flush thoughts of a certain dowdy teacher from my head. Because if this kept up, I’d no doubt find myself in a shit bowl full of trouble.

***

When closing time came, I put Lowe on cleaning duty. While he was wiping down the back counter, his cell phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and, I swear, as soon as he saw the I.D. on his screen, his face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Hey, sweet pea,” he answered, his voice going all husky and private, letting me know he must be talking to his girl. Tucking the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could continue his work, he chuckled in response to something she said. “It’s been...interesting. I’ll tell you all about it when I get home. Oh yeah?” His eyebrows shot up, and I could only imagine what else his girl was suggesting they do when he got home, because all kinds of horny lit up across his face.

I couldn’t seem to look away as I watched him talk to her, though. It was just so...strange. The guys on the football team who had steady girlfriends never looked happy when their old ladies called to check in. They were rarely faithful to their girls, always hooking up with one-night-stands whenever we had out-of-town games. It made me wonder why they even bothered to stick with one girl.

Now that I thought of it, I hadn’t grown up around any monogamous couples in my life. My mom had rarely brought home the same guy more than twice, and all the marriages in our neighborhood ended in divorce or widowhood. So, okay, it really was rare for me to see a guy talking to his girl as if he wanted to talk to no one else in the world. And he looked so damn happy about it, too. It was kind of...sweet.

When he hung up with her, still grinning, Lowe pocketed his phone and went back to work, looking as if he’d just won the national championships or something.

“Who the hell was that?” Ten wanted to know as he neared the bar with a handful of glasses that needed to be cleaned. “You just win the lottery, newbie?”

“Hmm?” Lowe turned and glanced at him. “Oh. My girlfriend. She just wanted to know how my first night went.”

Again with the sweetness. It was a little endearing to watch such a pure, open emotion light his face when he talked about her. I was suddenly very curious about girlfriends and monogamy. Maybe they weren’t as awful as some of the guys on the team made them seem. Maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the world to settle down with one person.

I mean, no one had ever called me just to see how my day had gone. No one had cared. I knew my brothers and sister loved me, but they’d never che

cked in just to reassure me whenever I was nervous as hell before a big game, or huge test, or even asked me how something had gone. Not that I bothered them with that kind of shit; they had their own problems to worry about.

But maybe, I don’t know, maybe it’d be nice if—

“God, newbie, you are so whipped.” Ten snorted and was off again, wiping down tables as Pick swept the floor.

I turned away and finished counting the cash register, slightly mortified by my own thoughts. I had no problem getting female companionship in this town. Most of my teammates complained about how lucky I was. Why the hell was I daydreaming about something else?

Another quick glance at Lowe, who was cheerfully humming—yes, humming—under his breath, told me exactly why though. He had something good and dependable, something that made him happy and brightened his entire day. He didn’t have to meet a new girl each night and try to learn her in a couple minutes so he’d know how to charm her into a bed. He already had someone he probably knew inside and out, and who no doubt understood him in return. He didn’t have to pretend to like her stories just to get her shirt off or act like some badass quarterback to keep up an image. He could just be himself with her, and enjoy life.

For the first time in my life, I was jealous of someone in a committed relationship. It felt really uncomfortable, but I just couldn’t seem to help myself. Lowe looked so damn content. And I wanted something like that for myself.

CHAPTER FIVE

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being, not just with my hands but with my heart.” - Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me

~ASPEN~

I loved the smell of popcorn. It was the forbidden scent of a youth I’d never been allowed to taste. Carbonated sodas had also been taboo in my home growing up.

As soon as I paid for my Pepsi and popcorn combo at the concession stand, I had to take a quick suck from my straw and scoop up a handful of buttery deliciousness straight off the top of the tub. A couple kernels tumbled off the overfilled sides and fell to the concrete floor to mix with fallen popcorn from all the purchases past. I loved it. It was so messy and carefree, something that would’ve given my parents a coronary.

“Thanks,” I muffled out my appreciation to the girl who’d just handed me my snack. My parents would’ve scolded me for talking with my mouth full, but here, no one cared. Delighting in my shameful deviousness, I turned and nearly plowed into two girls waiting in line behind me.

“I have an algebra class with him, and oh my God, he is so fine,” one of them was saying, not even realizing I needed to get by.

“True that.” The second girl fanned herself. “I’d have Noel Gamble’s babies in a heartbeat.”