Page 10 of Forbidden Lessons

Even though I’m the closest, he walks right past me and starts handing them out at the far end of the row, working his way up and telling the students to pass the notebooks along until everyone has one.

Except me.

I guess because he waited until last to come and give me mine…in person.

Oh, God, is he going to spit in my face again? I doubt he’d get away with it in front of Professor Rooke.

But there’s still a nervous flutter behind my belly button as he heads in my direction a couple of notebooks dangling from his fingers, the other hand shoved in his pocket.

Kai locks eyes with me as he swaggers over, and it’s like time slows down so I can properly appreciate how much he’s changed.

God, he’s even more handsome than when I last saw him.

His freckles are still there, though. His golden brown tan.

And here I am, still exactly the fucking same. I spend little time outdoors these days, so my skin’s lighter and my hair darker than it used to be.

I’ve gained weight, physically and emotionally.

The corner of Kai’s mouth twitches, and I’m flung back in time to us playing in the woods behind our trailer park. He’d get this same look on his face when he was about to suggest a new game for the afternoon.

Does he still have such an active imagination? We would come up with the most awesome roleplay scenarios together.

His favorite was Columbus and Jane. A brave explorer and his wife traversing jungles teeming with savage animals. We’d be swatting mosquitoes and complaining about how thirsty we were the whole afternoon as he hacked at whatever foliage gotin our way with a blunt kitchen knife he’d found in a dumpster outside the trailer park.

Sometimes I’d object to being the wife. But anything was better than staying at home with Dad. I was terrified he’d take a nap and never wake up. That I’d have to call the ambulance. They’d get there and tell me he was already dead. To know that I’d been sitting next to a corpse.

Kai walks up to my chair…and just keeps going.

Past me, onto the podium.

Flopping down onto his seat and tossing the last few notebooks back onto the desk. Running his hands through his hair like he just used up the last of his energy. He hooks his hands behind his head and stares at Professor Rooke, completely ignoring my flabbergasted face.

“Everyone got one?” Rooke asks.

I turn to him, shaking my head, but he’s looking at the top row of students.

“Good. In the coming weeks, you’ll be keeping a diary. For those of you with experience, this is going to be a little different.”

I look back at Kai. He’s still watching Rooke.

What the actual fuck? I’m glaring so hard at Kai, Professor Rooke’s voice zones out.

“…three criteria for each entry, making sure…”

Three years is a long time to hold a grudge, Kai.

“…help you determine…”

Yeah, I’m one to talk. I was never good at letting go either.

“…are there any questions?”

Shit. What just happened?

My attention snaps back to Professor Rooke. He’s smiling at the class again, and it might be petty as hell, but I feel totally left out.

I lean over to the red-head beside me. “What does he want us to do?” I whisper.

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