Page 59 of Holiday Home 4

For a little longer, before Liam finally needed to get a move on to his next class and Victoria needed to call the end of her students’ exam, they chatted about how much he knew about chess. Based on her questions, Victoria was probably telling the truth about being an experienced player. Based on his answers,or lack thereof, he’d obviously been truthful about his lack of experience.

Once he’d downloaded the app, she also tasked him with some beginner puzzles and lessons in his free time. When those proved pretty easy, she recommended he keep climbing through them. And he did.

But before that, while in his next class, he decided to text the other professor at Bellmore he knew. Because he realized, finally, that he’d very rarely flirted with Tess during the afternoon. He’d never asked for a picture of her while she was on campus, either. And deep down, it felt wrong for him to have obtained one from Victoria before Tess. Unfortunately, he couldn’t rectify that, but he could finally fix his screwup.

Hey, are you in class?

I’m teaching a class, yes,soon came the beautiful professor’s mirthful reply. Because of this, he needed to wait a little longer in between each reply.Are you?

No, they won’t let me teach. I asked, but they said I can’t.

And what class has stymied your wishes?

A psych class. Self-Theories.

A shame. Perhaps the professor will change their mind the next time you request control of their classroom. I’ve had a few days where I’d happily let a student take over so I could go do something else.

Chuckling, Liam gave said professor a little bit of his attention, jotting down some notes before sending Tess his follow-up.

Just a little bit ago, I had something of an epiphany, he said.

Oh? About?

About the fact that I’ve never asked for a picture of you while you were at Bellmore. My phone doesn’t have any official photos of Professor Williams.

I suppose you haven’t, and I suppose you don’t. And for someone who clearly has a professor fixation, that’s rather shocking.

Harsh!he replied. Now that he was surrounded by peers in a classroom setting, he tried a little harder to keep his facial expressions under control.

But unfortunately accurate,Tess teased.Once my class lets out, I can let you see what your Professor Williams looks like when at work.

HisProfessor Williams. There was no preventing the impending jubilant smile, so he hastily ducked down and hid it in the crook of his elbow.

Also, I’ve nabbed myself a chess teacher. Your fellow professor, someone I bet you’ve played against a ton.

I have played against Victoria a lot, Tess said. I’ve won against her a lot too. Far, far more than she’s won against me.

But shehaswon against you,Liam pointed out.And she probably knows your style of play really well.

True, but I think we both know that sheer competency isn’t the only reason you’ve gone and asked “Professor Williams” to teach you. How have her recent pictures been?

Blushing slightly, Liam admitted that they’d been very nice, as always.

As I said, a fixation. Though, maybe it’s just a Bellmore fixation, given your relationships with Avril and Anna.

His blush increased.Don’t worry, with my disdain toward a few people on that campus, it probably averages out in the end. Well, maybe not. I really, really like you.

And I really, really like you too, Liam. Good luck with your new lessons; I hope they’ll eventually pay off so you can earn your “anything.”

There was just about nothing in this world that Liam wanted more.

Chapter Twenty-One

Five Points

The picture that Tess sent him an hour later kept the rest of his day bright. So did their flirting, which persisted well into that evening—and included a suggestive picture that couldn’t have been taken while she was in her classroom. The same could be said for his texting of Avril and Anna, and to a lesser extent Victoria. He might have been regularly hitting the gym since he got back on campus, but his thumbs were really receiving a workout today.

The day after, Victoria blessed him with another picture from her treasure vault, suggesting that she intended to go above and beyond the point value she needed to obtain. Yesterday hadn’t been a mistake. The potential possibilities behind her choosing to chase more points thrilled him.

---