Page 34 of Classroom Confessions

She fucking melted into me, her arms creeping around my waist. “But you don’t like me.”

“Wrong again.” A chuckle tightened my gut. I brushed her hair back from her face, my thumbs grazing the soft spot beneath her ear. “I want you so much it frightens me. Seeing Lucas touch you…” My grip tried to tighten, but I maintained control. “You deserve so much better. Better than me.”

We were not safe here. Anyone could walk past and spot us, but I’d be damned for all eternity if I was going to let her go when she clung to me and shuddered.

Rebecca pushed onto her tiptoes, her lips skimming my collar, then my jaw, before coming to rest against my mouth. I held back and let her set the pace, winding my hands around her shoulders and deep into her hair.

God, I loved her hair. The silky strands were perfect for knotting into my fists. A slight tug, and she arched against me, the light nip of her teeth on my lower lip asking for more.

Not here. Not like this. I pulled away from the kiss. Disappointment flashed in her eyes before she lowered her gaze.

“No.” I tipped her chin up. “This is not a rejection.” My cock strained against my zipper, and I let her feel the thickness pressing into her.

“Professor Halstead?” A high, feminine voice pierced the space.

“Fuck.” I released Rebecca and turned to face the quad. Rebecca remained at my back, her quiet presence summoning a deep need within me. A thin woman with straight black hair glared back at me from the sunlight. “What is it, Katrina?”

“I saw you bring a student in here.” She crossed her arms. A victorious smile flashed. “I thought you were not interested in dating students.”

“Miss Roberts experienced a traumatic event. She wanted a quiet place to recover. I decided to keep an eye on her in case of any further unfortunate events.” I stood to my full height. “Not that it is any business of yours. As a former student of mine, I appreciate your concern, but it is misplaced.” I did my best to keep my expression calm without displaying the dislike pumping through me.

“Oh, I’m well aware how your concern works.” She scoffed on the words, her face twisting. “I was more curious why you’re choosing her.” A quick flick of her fingers dismissed Rebecca.

“You offered sex in exchange for better grades in my class.”

Rebecca made a soft sound behind me that might’ve been dismay but was hard to ascertain without seeing her face.

Katrina shrugged her pointed shoulders. “And you turned me down with some self-righteous bullshit. But here you are, comforting a distraught student in a dark alley.”

Not quite what I’d call an alley, but I wasn’t going to quibble logistics with a woman like Katrina.

“I could expose you, you know.” Her lips curled upward in a cruel smile. “You went to the dean first and outed me. But this.” She made another flicking motion with her fingers. “This is way beyond me offering you sex. This looks like coercion.”

“Everything okay here?” David strolled in front of Katrina without giving her a passing glance.

Katrina eyed his back with a desperate sort of hunger. Apparently, she’d gone to all her professors, offering each of them the same thing. We’d all turned her down. The only reason she was still on campus was because she’d sworn it would never happen again and the few classes she took in person now had female professors. She fluffed her lanky hair. “Oh, it’s fine. I was just making sure Professor Halstead hadn’t gone back on his convictions that students were off limits.”

My blood boiled. I could try to defend myself, but why should I bother? A woman like Katrina didn’t deserve my time or attention, and anything I said in defense would be taken as a confession.

David somehow managed to look at Katrina without scowling. “Thank you for your concern.”

She recognized the dismissal and her eyes narrowed. Did she understand what was happening? “Rebecca, would you come with me?” The innocent way she looked at Rebecca sent my temper skyrocketing, but there was nothing I could say or do without giving us away.

“I’m on my way to Professor Tipton’s lecture.” Rebecca slid past me and walked toward Katrina without even glancing my way. She passed David without breaking stride, and if I didn’t know her after all these weeks in class, I would think she didn’t even like him with the way she focused on the quad.

But I did know her, and I recognized the split second of hesitation when she reached the edge of the building and crossed back into the sunlight. It caught her hair and heightened the color in her cheeks, the sunshine almost playful as it glimmered around her.

Katrina clapped, transforming into the giddy schoolgirl who had almost fooled me those first few days in class. “Great. Me too. I’ll walk with you.” She shot a parting glare for me and David over her shoulder. “Make sure no more creeps get ahold of you.” Her head dipped toward Rebecca, but her voice carried to me. “You know, I’d be happy to report Professor Halstead if you’re not feeling up to it.”

“There’s nothing to report.” Rebecca waved away Katrina’s concern. “He was giving me a minute to recover after my shitty ex embarrassed me.”

“Oh, I know all about shitty exes.” Katrina hooked her arm around Rebecca’s and led her across the quad.

The urge to go after them, to tear Rebecca away from Katrina before she found a way to ruin Rebecca as she’d almost ruined us, roared up with enough fury that heat burned the back of my throat.

“Let them go.” David cut me off, pushing my shoulders before I left the shadows. “Rebecca can handle her.”

Yeah, she could. She shouldn’t have to. Rebecca should not be dealing with our problems. A problem I’d thought was over. “What are you doing here?”

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