Page 5 of Reed

Her eyes bounce between the other students and me. The urge to slaughter everyone so her attention is solely on me hits out of nowhere and my hands start to twitch. “Is that true?”

I sigh and pick up the frog before saying, “Yeah, it is.” Reaching over, I tuck a piece of hair falling out of her ponytail behind her ear. My fingers itch to touch her more and they start to tingle. “It’s been great, Ali. But it looks like our time is up.” Standing up, I put the frog in my pocket and head to the front of the class. I pick up the black marker, uncap it, and start to write on the board.

“Alright. Settle down everyone. Dean, you don’t want to have to repeat this class again next semester, do you?” Silence falls over the room. I don’t need to turn around to know that Dean is giving me a go-to-hell look. He’s pissed that I failed his ass during the summer. I feel their eyes on me, but the only one I pay attention to is coming from the front row. “If you aren’t here for College Writing one, you are in the wrong class,” I say. After writing my name on the board, I turn around. My eyes instantly find Ali’s, and I’m surprised to see that they are filled with anger. I widen my stance to hide exactly what that look does to me.

“Now, I assume you all took the time to review the syllabus before arriving today. So tell me,” my eyes bounce from student to student before finally landing on her. “Ms. Thornton, how many papers will you be required to write this semester?”

“Stupid girl, that’s why no one sits in the front row,” Dean says in what I assume he thought was a whisper. But the dense jock doesn’t know how to fucking whisper or respect women, from what I’ve been hearing. Ali splutters, her mouth opening and closing. Her face is as red as a tomato. If I laid my hand on her cheeks, I’m confident I would find them hot.

White hot fire races up my spine, leaving a trail of chills in its wake. Ali’s blush deepens and her eyes drop to her lap. “Leave,” I say through clenched teeth. Ali looks up, tears swimming in her eyes, and grabs her books. I quickly move around my desk and step up next to her. I place my hand on her book and push it back down on the desk.

“Not you, Ms. Thornton. I was speaking to Mr. Donavan. Dean, get your shit and leave my fucking classroom,” I say. He mumbles something but obeys my command. Once the door is shut behind him, I pull the frog and a pen from my pocket, sitting them on Ali’s desk. “Now. Ali, how many papers?”

“Four,” she whispers.

“Correct. Now let’s turn to chapter one and get started.” I spend the next fifty minutes lecturing all while trying not to stare at her. It’s the hardest thing I’ve done. She never looks up at me, and I don’t call on her again. Not going to lie. Her ignoring me only makes me want to invade her mind, body and soul more.

“Alright, guys, our time is up. I want a one-page paper on my desk by the next class period. I don’t care what it’s on. This is not for a grade but simply an exercise to see what you know about writing. And when I say one page, I mean handwritten front and back of a college ruled paper.” The noise level rises as everyone starts to talk and gather their stuff, heading toward the door. “Ms. Thornton, can I have a minute of your time?” I ask right as she is standing in front of my desk.

Ali freezes but steps out of the line so the others can go on. Once we are alone, I expect her to continue staring at the floor,but she shocks me by spinning on her heels and slamming her palms against my desk. “How fucking dare you pull something like that! What was that, a test? Single a student out and make them look like a fool.” Her chest is rapidly inflating and deflating making it very hard to pull my gaze away from it.

Oh, my little one is angry. God, she is a breath of fresh air.

I smirk at her and pull off the reading glasses I have to use but hate wearing all the time. “Not even close. But if that’s what you want to go with, sure,” I say, loving the fire in her eyes and the red tint on her cheek. Reaching down, I adjust my erection and bite the inside of my lip to stifle the groan.

“God, you were right. You are an asshole,” she says, crossing her arms.

“Now, is that any way to talk to a teacher?” I ask with a grin on my face.

Her anger quickly fades, replaced by worry. “No,” she whispers, “it’s not.” I laugh profoundly and darkly. “Look, I have to get to my next class.”

Another chuckle falls from my lips. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out her map, stand, and tuck it into her jeans pocket. I don’t give into the urge to grab a handful of her perky ass. “I know,” I say, tucking that strand of hair back behind her ear. Leaning forward, I let my lips brush her ear. “I’ll be seeing you.”

Chapter Three

Ali

I couldn’t get the bastard of a professor out of my head all day. All through my other four classes. Where I sat in the back, and the teacher wasn’t a sick person who plays mind games. Through my lunch, when I ate my sandwich, sitting outside watching the football team practice. When I was walking to the financial aid office, Reed Black was at the forefront of my mind. The way he looked in his black shirt, tight jeans, and black motorcycle boots was mouth-watering. There it is, I’m stupidly attracted to him, and for a second, I thought he might be attracted to me. But according to the two girls gossiping outside the classroom, he’s done that before. He pays attention to the female students butthen always shuts them down. I was simply another person to fall victim to his game.

When I step into the administration building after class I’m still beating myself up over how much I let him affect me. Taking the elevator, I press the button for the second floor. I check my phone and find a message from Grandmama saying that Caleb went number two in the potty, all on his own, but Jacob had an accident. Before I can type out a reply, the doors open, and I pocket my phone. Depending on my tips tonight, I might be able to grab a little toy for Caleb to celebrate his achievement.

“Good afternoon. How can I help you?” The student working behind the desk greets me as I enter the office.

“Hi, I’m Ali Thornton. I was wondering if I could find out some information about my financial aid?” I pull out my student ID and slide it over the counter.

“Of course, let me look up your account.” The girl, whose name is Lacey according to her name tag, takes my ID and starts typing in my information. “Okay, what are we looking for?”

Even though no one else is in the room my legs start to tremble and sweat breaks out across my back. As I lean forward, I whisper, “I was wondering if you could tell me if there would be any leftover money?”

“Sure thing,” Lacey says as the door behind me opens. Without looking up, she greets the newcomer, saying she will be with them in a minute. My body starts to heat up and the hair on the back of my neck stands up, but I ignore the reaction. I study her face, trying to read every small detail that might hint at what she is reading. That is how I notice the slight frown that lasts a second before she looks back up at me.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, dread lacing my words.

“It looks like you have an unpaid balance.” The room starts to spin and my stomach lurches.

“An unpaid b…balance?” I stutter.

“Unfortunately. There is a balance of three hundred and sixty-two dollars.” I’ll give her credit. Her face has lost a little color and her once warm smile is gone.

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