Page 24 of Lodged

Ruin: Yeah, there are a couple of mines near my town that I’ve visited in the past, and it’s a lot of fun.

Gio: The minerals exhibit is pretty nice, and I love that the rocks there (mostly) were found right here in North Carolina—maybe we’ll even see your town's name.

Ruin: That would be super cool.

Gio: Can’t wait.

Ruin: Me either! Good night, Gio.

Gio: Sweet dreams, Ruin.

It’s just after one in the afternoon, and I park my car and jump out to head to the museum. I’m running a few minutes late, and I hate the thought of Ruin wondering if I’m going to show up. Unfortunately, I’m not a multitasker, so it’s either I run to the museum, or I stop and text her that I’m running late—I choose to run.

When I get to the museum’s entrance, the little air I have in my lungs gets knocked out when I see how beautiful Ruin looks. Her back is to me, she’s wearing a pair of loose jeans that hug her waist and an oversized forest green sweater that hangs from one of her shoulders, giving me a peek of her creamy, soft skin. Her hair is shining under the midday sun, a vibrant siren red, warning me of the danger this woman represents.

I slowly make my way to her, enjoying the view and committing it to memory. She turns, and her smile blinds me with the force of a thousand suns.

“Hey, I thought for a moment that maybe we had spoken about different museums,” she says with a chuckle as she fixes her hair behind her ear. It takes me a moment to speak since I literally had to catch my breath.

“No, you had it right. I just didn’t realize there were going to be construction crews downtown over the weekend. It feels like Raleigh is under perpetual expansion,” I say as I ruffle my hair, and she giggles. “Are you ready?” I ask her as I place my hand on the low of her back, she smiles and moves closer to me. I wish Icould wrap my arm around her, but it’d be harder to remove in case we see a student here.

The first floor has lots of cool exhibits, from fossils and embalmed animals, to gemstones and displays showing the evolutionary timeline. We take our time, observing each and every single object. The next exhibit is about the Outer Banks, and as I see Ruin completely entranced in all the facts about the islands, an idea forms for fall break.

The longer we’re in the museum, the more comfortable we feel with each other. The last thing I have on my mind is being careful not to show too much PDA, I’m simply enjoying a Saturday afternoon with my girl.Fuck, not yet.

When we reach the second floor, we visit an area that takes us back in time to a science lab from the early twentieth century. For some reason, it is completely empty—I guess the kids and families would rather spend their time with the dinosaur fossils and bug animatronics than learn how science was done back in the day.

“Oh look, this is so cool,” Ruin says as she grabs my hand and takes me to an entire section of tree trunks, all native to North Carolina. Each piece has a little tag specifying the species and where in the state it was collected. My little nerd heart could sing right now. I love that I get to share this level of nerdiness with a girl—I’ve never experienced this before.

“Did you know the state’s tallest tree is a Pignut Hickory?” she asks, excited by this fact.

“I had no idea, but I wonder where it is in the state. It’d be cool to hike to see it.” She turns around, her soft hands resting on either side of my neck. For a moment, I freeze. I wasn’t expecting her to get so excited over my comment, but I guess it takes a nerd to know a nerd.

“I’d love to go on a hike with you.” She breathes against my chest, and even though the little voice in the back of my headtells me I shouldn’t kiss her in public, my desire to taste her lips is stronger, pulling me to her.

I lean down slowly, asking her with my eyes if she’s okay with this. When her eyes flutter closed, the little self-control I had snaps. I close my own eyes, getting ready to kiss her.

“Professor Bianchi, is that you?” My eyes widen in horror at that voice. Fuck, this isn’t happening. I release a deep breath as Ruin removes her arms from around my neck and turns around, covering her face with her hair. I slowly turn around, widening my stance to block Ruin from view, my back pressed against hers. Forcing a flat smile, I face Alyssa, who’s grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“Oh, hey! What’s up?”Holy crap, could I sound more idiotic? I don’t even talk like this. Is my brain short-circuiting?

“So glad to see you outside the classroom, professor,” Alyssa purrs as she takes one step toward me. I stiffen.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt something?” she says as she tries to look around me to see who’s behind me.

“Actually, yes,” I tell her, my voice stronger now. Her eyebrows rise in surprise but she tries to quickly mask it with a chuckle.

“Oh, okay. I see.” She takes a step back and turns around to leave, but not before giving me a saucy smile as she says, “I’ll see you in class, professor.” She gives me a little wave and goes on to the next exhibit.

When she’s out of sight, I turn to hug Ruin, who’s pale as a ghost. “Do you think she saw my face?” Ruin asks against my chest.

“I don’t think so, but your hairisa dead giveaway.” She groans, and I place a kiss on the top of her head.

“Maybe she didn’t recognize me since I always wear dresses in school?” Hope pours out of Ruin’s tone, and I honestly don’t know what to say, so I just continue to hug her.

“I’m going to have to burn these clothes as soon as I get home.”

I chuckle at her dramatics. “Don’t you dare. You look good enough to eat in them.” She hugs me tighter, and before we can get carried away, we sneak out of the museum using the emergency exit.

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