Page 21 of Praise You

“No, but it’s on my to do list. I don’t know how it’ll work though since I have no balance. I’m a bit clumsy.” He laughs lightly, and my eyes are instantly drawn to the slight pink that tints his cheeks.

“I could teach you if you want.” Oh, fucking hell, Ronan. He’s not going to take you up on that. He’s your professor, not your friend.

“That would be cool.”

“Yeah?” I ask excitedly.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s still like six months away, but it would be cool.”

“Awesome. Have you done anything else during break? I know it’s a short break, but I would hope you wouldn’t stay holed up at home.”

“I’ve done a few things. Mostly exploring what this place has to offer.”

Oliver takes another sip of his drink, my eyes tracking every movement he makes. The sun hits his face and my breath hitches. Fuck. He’s so damn beautiful, I’ll never get over looking at his eyes that sparkle when the sun hits them.

“Ronan?”

“Hmm?” I’m too distracted looking into his eyes when my cup slips from my fingers and falls onto the table. My drink spills all over the surface, a stream landing on Oliver’s lap. “Oh, shit, shit. I’m so sorry.” I snatch the napkin holder from the edge of the table and start ripping out as many napkins as I can. I pass some to Oliver, while using others to wipe down the table. “Fuck.”

Oliver chuckles while wiping his pants. “Don’t worry about it, accidents happen.” He finishes cleaning off his pants, passing me the napkins when he’s done. After I finish wiping the table down, I toss it all into the trash. I can’t fucking believe that just happened. “It was great to see you, but I should probably head home and get changed.”

“Again, I’m so sorry,” I tell him, my cheeks heating from embarrassment.

“Don’t worry. It’s fine. I’ll see you in a couple days?”

“Yeah, see you then.”

Oliver walks past me and toward the door. My eyes glance down, watching his ass in his jeans. Each step he takes causes his jeans to strain tight, which makes my dick twitch. The bell above the door jingles as Oliver leaves, my eyes still tracking him long after he’s gone.

Debating whether to grab another coffee, I end up back in line, knowing I’ll get grumpy if I don’t get my caffeine fix. Once I have a new drink in hand, I leave the café and head home.

Opening the front door, I put my shoes onto the shoe rack then run up the stairs, closing and locking my bedroom door behind me. I don't expect anyone to come home anytime soon so tonight would be a good night to do a live session.

After setting up my camera and tripod, I dress up and grab my mask from my dresser drawer, slipping it onto my face. I pull up my profile, starting a live room. I wait a few minutes to see if anyone is going to join.

The screen name BetweenThePages pops up on the screen. The name sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it. Clicking accept, I allow him into the room watching the twirling circle as the screen loads.

A face pops up on the screen and my heart stops. A lump forms in my throat and I can't help but stare at the man in front of me. The gorgeous red-haired man who I can’t stop thinking about. The man who I've seen weekly, but when I see him, he's dressed in suits with wired, circular glasses perched on his face, not sitting on his couch in what looks like sweats and a T-shirt.

Ripping my mask off, I swallow, getting closer to the screen.

"Professor Carson?"

Chapter Nine

Oliver

"Professor Carson?"

I hear the name before I see his face. My head snaps up, my eyes widening when I see Ronan staring back at me.

Ronan.

My student.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Not thinking, I find the exit button and click on it, getting out of the live session as fast as I can. My heart is beating wildly and there's a layer of sweat covering my entire body. My leg starts twitching, so I stand up and start pacing.

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