Page 56 of Forbidden Lessons

Outside the university,inhere, he’s Bastian….and it shows.

The hard, geometric lines outside the building are drawn inside too. Angular furniture. A massive central fireplace that joins with the flat, featureless ceiling. But so many textures soften those harsh edges.

A mottled fur throw slung haphazardly over the couch.

Overstuffed, velvet scatter cushions.

The cream-colored fibers on a thick rug.

And that’s just the living area. There’s a large kitchen to one side, a black stone island declaring its border.

On the other side, the fireplace creates a second border. I don’t see any other door, so I assume that’s for the sleeping area?

It’s giving eccentric billionaire bachelor vibes, and I’m so here for it.

Bastian was already inside by the time I reached the door. He’s in the kitchen, and I stand in the doorway watching him stride over to the gas range to flick on the burner. Moving effortlessly to one of the frosted-glass cabinets to retrieve a pair of mugs.

He pauses, as if feeling my eyes on him. Turns, one hand still on the cabinet’s handle.

“Kai knows where I stay, Haven. I promise, if you go missing, he’ll be the first to know.”

I cough like I swallowed a fly.

Yeah, Bastian. If I went missing, Kai would be dancing on my empty grave.

I shake off the thought and step inside Professor Rooke’s house. But I don’t get far.

“Shoes.”

I’m compelled to argue, because goddamn, make a girl a cocoa before you start undressing her, amiright?

But the white carpet is just soclean.

“Do me a favor and turn on that fireplace? It’s always so damn cold in this place.”

Did he see me shiver?

I turn to the imposing wall of textured stone, throwing Bastian a panicked look.

“With the power of my mind?”

“There’s a control panel right beside it. Just press the power button.”

I pad over to the fireplace, my entire body coming alive at the feel of the thick, fluffy carpet under my toes.

Even college professors are better off in this hellhole than Riversiders.

As much as I want to lean into that spiteful thought, I’m enjoying myself too much. Even trying to figure out the control panel Bastian directed me to is fun.

I stab experimentally at a button. There’s a whoosh beside me, and I hear Bastian chuckle from the kitchen as I fall on my ass, trying to get away from the sudden burst of flames.

Dramatic, sure, but I almost lost my fucking eyebrows.

I sit on the carpet, holding my hands out to the flames as they flicker along the large gray pebbles placed just-so on the hearth. What the hell is burning in there? Gas?

Bastian is so quiet that I peek at him over my shoulder. He has his head down, staring into the pot on the stove.

I can’t help it. I’m curious as hell about this guy, and he’s basically set me loose in his little fiefdom. Who wouldn’t look around?

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