Page 7 of Forbidden Lessons

Shit, is that why he’s so upset to see me? Is he embarrassed because we’re at the same level, when we’re nowhere near the same age?

Kai is so busy staring at his phone that he doesn’t see me looking at him. I expect him to come and sit beside me, and my entire body tenses as I’m hit with dread.

Professor Rooke glances over at him, then dismisses him with an unreadable expression in his brown eyes.

But instead of sitting with me and the rest of the students, Kai climbs onto the podium and flops down into the chair behind the desk. Eyes still glued to his phone screen. So I stare at him, confused, until he shoves his phone in the pocket of his joggers and looks up.

Straight at me.

And he smirks.

An electric shock jolts through my body.

Shit. He’s a teacher’s assistant, isn’t he?

I quickly turn back to the professor, who’s still looking for a student to answer his question.

Someone really brave says, “Hurting someone on purpose is cruel.”

Professor Rooke focuses on him with laser precision. “Is it? Tell me, is a surgeon being cruel when he slices into his patient to perform life-saving open-heart surgery?”

The student stammers, “N-no, but?—”

Professor Rooke points at him with one of the fingers holding his coffee cup. “Precisely. Intent plays a crucial role. What other factors should you consider when defining cruelty?”

I stick the end of my pen in my mouth, obliterating the cap as I keep my eyes intentionally fixed on the professor as he ambles up and down the raised platform, one hand on his cup, the other tucked behind his back.

I swear I can feel Kai’s eyes burning a hole in me.

Fuck him. I won’t give him the satisfaction of looking.

Also, I’m kinda too scared to check.

“Power?” a student in a red rock-band t-shirt ventures uneasily.

“Power…as in authority?” Rooke’s thumb caresses the side of his coffee cup, his pinkie finger keeping it balanced in his grip.

“Yeah, like…if you have power over someone else, they don’t always have a choice about stuff, and that’s cruel.”

I’m getting a crick in my neck looking back and forth between them, so I keep my eyes on Rooke and try to keep my mind on college work.

Not Kai.

Not if Professor Rooke is this passionate about other things in life. Eating, drinking.

Sex.

Because, damn, this guy knows how to work a room.

Kai stretches out his legs, bumping the desk, and it makes me glance over at him.

Shit. Heisstaring.

Heat blooms on my cheeks, and I quickly flip open my pink STFU notepad so I don’t have to look at my teacher or Kai anymore.

CRUELTY = INTENT + POWER? +

My pen hovers, because I’ve only known Professor Rooke for a few minutes, but I can tell there’s more. This is all leading up to something big.

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