Page 53 of The Love Syllabus

I feel her heartbeat against mine, the warmth of her cheek through my shirt, and the soft rise and fall of her breath. My muscles tighten at first, but I relax and let her in completely.

The cameras click. The people chatter. And the rumors begin. Maybe it’s for the blogs. Maybe it’s for the gossip. Maybe it’s for entertainment.

Or maybe… it’s for us.

Chapter 14

Soaked & Seduced – Kerry

“Rise and shine, Grimes Family! Emergency Meeting! In the Living room! Right now! Move it, people!”

I storm through the house, knocking on every door like a drill sergeant and flipping on lights like I’m afraid of the dark.

A very sleepy Ari stumbles out first with her disheveled but cute ponytail, still rubbing her eyes. Syd follows, dragging her crocheted bunny, barely able to stand upright.

“Ms. Kind,” Ari groans, flopping onto the couch. “Why are we awake? The sun’s not even up yet.”

“Yeah,” Syd chimes in, her little voice barely above a mumble. “What’d we ever do to deserve this punishment? I wanna go back to sleep.”

I shake my head and laugh. “What in the world are you girls gonna do when you start public school? You’re gonna be late every day!”

One by one, everyone trudges into the living room like hostages, which makes me feel very pleased with my efforts.

Until Vic walks in.

My smile goes from wide to straight because sweet baby Jesus in a manger, this man is shirtless. He’s completely bare-chested, broad with strong pecs and tattoos I’d love to trail my fingers down. And, umm, umm, umm, his abs are cut-to-perfection. Good Lord, why? Why does he look so good at such an ungodly hour?

And then there’s that damn vein running down his stomach, disappearing into his low-hanging pajama pants, andoh. Oh no.This is the absolute worst time for my x-ray vision to kick in because I see it…the dick print!

Shit, and now, I feel it. The tingle. The low ache, that throbbing pulse between my legs that reminds me I’m a woman, and he’s a man, and he is too damn fine to be in my presence this early in the morning.

“Umm, I wanna put my mouth on it.”I swear on my mama’s Bible, I thought I said it in my head, but no.

I freeze. The girls don’t hear, but Vic and the staff do. Vic is standing there, one eyebrow raised, completely amused.

“Excuse me?” He asks. His voice is way too deep, way too smug, and way too satisfied for my liking.

I snap back to reality, mortified and scrambling for a recovery. “Uh, um— I mean! I mean, breakfast!” I blurt. “I want to put my mouth on your French Toast! It looks so good. I mean, it tasted so good last time.”

Syd and Ari burst into full-blown laughter. Ms. Tina is laughing so hard she’s bent over while Gary just shakes his head.

“Ms. Kind, you’re so weird!” Syd says, thankfully amused by my silliness rather than embarrassing raunchiness.

Vic just smirks, devastatingly smirks. He casually leans against the doorway, tattoos flexing, vein popping, abs still ab-ing, and then, with all the cocky, morning-voiced arrogance in the world, he murmurs, “You’re welcome to have a taste anytime, Ms. Kind.”

I choke. Ms. Tina wheezes. Gary walks out of the room.

And Syd, oblivious and adorable, claps her hands together. “Yay! French toast for breakfast!”

I clear my throat and immediately change the subject. “What I actually meant to say was what the heck are you wearing or not wearing rather?”

Good job, Kerry! Way to turn it around on him. However, I realize he’s looking at me like I should be the one in the hot seat. Then, I make the grave mistake of looking myself over from top to bottom.

Vic threw off my entire morning presentation. I completely forgot I’mnotin my pajamas. Instead, I’m standing in a full-body black spandex wetsuit, complete with a giant pink donut floatie around my waist and freaking flipper shoes.

“...Well, this is awkward,” I mumble.

The room erupts. Everyone’s laughing in confusion.

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