Page 21 of Taught By the Doctor
Evan smiled softly. Zoey was so engrossed in her movie that she had yet to notice that he had entered the house. He stoodthere and leaned against the front door for a moment, just admiring her. She pulled the blanket a bit tighter around her, a sure sign that she felt the nippy late autumn air, but still didn’t look in his direction. After a minute or two, Evan finally shut the front door softly and walked up behind her. Then he bent down and kissed her cheek from behind.
“Evan!” Zoey gasped, twisting and backing away from him in shock. He leaned over the back of the couch so he could snag her by the arm before she could launch herself off the couch. He watched in bemusement as Zoey scrambled to grab the remote with her free arm and shut the TV off.
Evan blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He walked toward the far wall to flip on the lights and turned to face his girlfriend. Zoey was looking down at the couch cushions. Evan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before wandering back over to her. She looked up at him as he approached and looked almost nervous as he stood in front of her.
“Zoey, I’m sorry. Did I frighten you?” Evan asked. He figured this was the only explanation for her odd reaction, but why would she turn off the TV? Did she think he would disapprove of her watching on a school night? No, he decided. They had watched plenty of movies together over the past few weeks. Something else was wrong.
Zoey looked down again, making Evan frown in concern. “No,” she said. “I mean, yes, you surprised me. You’re home early.”
Evan grinned, his previous enthusiasm returning. “Yes, for once, I was able to get everything done early and slip out,” he said, almost proudly. He sat down beside Zoey on the couch and leaned in to kiss her. Her lips were stiff at first and when she finally did kiss him back, her movements were hesitantand unsure. When he pulled away, he said, “You’re home early too.”
He heard her breath hitch. “Yeah, I am.”
“Did your professor cancel class or did you just get out early?” he asked curiously, watching her expression carefully, trying to figure out what on earth could be making her so uneasy.
It took her a long second to answer. “Yeah, I got out a bit early.” Zoey was applauding herself in her mind. It wasn’t technically a lie. She did get out early, but not with permission from her professor.
Evan nodded. “I was hoping to surprise you with a nice meal when you got home from school and was surprised to find you got home before me,” he said, a teasing grin forming on his face. “Here I thought I had everything planned out and my little scholar found a way to get class to end early.” He tickled her sides, his heart melting when a little giggle escaped her.
“Wanna go out?” she asked excitedly. She bounced a bit in his arms. “And then maybe take a nice night walk at the beach?”
Evan raised an eyebrow. “You sure?” he asked, surprised by her request. “You’re usually exhausted after a day at school. You really want to go out?” Both his eyebrows went up when Zoey looked away, her expression almost guilty.
Her eyes shifted to the side. “Well, I’ve been resting since I got back,” she said. “So, I don’t feel too tired.”
A couple of things clicked together in Evan’s mind. She was clearly hiding something. He was beginning to grow suspicious. “How long have you been home?” He thought back to the cold metal of the hood of her car.
Zoey’s eyes were still shifting. She bit her lower lip. “Um, I don’t really remember. Not super long though.”
Evan grabbed her chin, officially concerned with her behavior. “You are hiding something,” he said, his voice hard. He was positive of it now and his suspicions were confirmed when Zoey’s eyes widened, and she looked away again.
“Evan.” Her voice came out as a little whine.
“Zoey,” he said sternly. “What are you hiding? Did you not pass your midterm or something?” Although, he doubted she’d failed it, maybe she’d got a C or something and was afraid he would react badly. He had no intention of punishing her even if she didn’t do well though. She had studied so hard and he saw firsthand that she knew all the material that should have been on the test. If she got anything less than a B, it wasn’t due to inadequate preparations.
“No, I did really well! I got an A!” She looked him in the eye when she delivered this news and even grinned proudly at him.
Evan wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest and standing with her in his arms. He hopped around a bit, bouncing her as if she were a toddler. “I’m so proud of you, Zoey. You deserved an A. You worked so hard leading up to this.”
“I was so nervous, especially when my professor took forever to post the grades,” Zoey said, pressing her cheek against Evan’s chest. “I thought I was going to pass out, I was so stressed.”
Evan picked her up under her arms and lifted her up so he could kiss the tip of her nose. “That was nice of your professor to let you guys out early,” he commented.
Zoey grimaced briefly, but not briefly enough to where Evan did not notice it. His hands tightened under her arms. He narrowed his eyes at her. He asked the question slowly, hoping he was wrong in his suspicion. “Your professor did let you out early, right, Zoey?”
Zoey grappled for a believable lie but came up completely empty, unprepared for Evan to figure it out so quickly. She shook her head before admitting in a shaky voice. “Um, no. Not exactly.”
Evan set her down, partly because his arms were starting to hurt from holding her above the floor for that long, but also because he wanted to tower over her. He didn’t let the satisfaction of seeing her cower show. He crossed his arms over his muscular chest. “So, what happened exactly then?” he asked. He had a feeling he knew for sure now, but he wanted to hear her say it.
Zoey swallowed thickly as she stared up at her loving, but quite intimidating boyfriend. She shifted her feet as she stood in front of him, feeling completely naked even though she was wearing her polka-dot bra and matching panties. “I kind of,” she almost choked on the next words, “skipped class.”
She wanted to sink underneath the floorboards and die when she waited for Evan to react. He didn’t right away. His stern expression hadn’t faltered, but it hadn’t intensified either. It was like he was suddenly made of stone. He didn’t even appear to be breathing as he glared down at her.
She counted to ten in her head, and then again. Still nothing. She swallowed again. “Um, Evan? I’m really, really sorry.” She couldn’t stand the silence, but she did regret saying anything when a frightening smirk spread out across her boyfriend’s face.
“Oh, you will be,” he said.
Zoey’s eyes went wide and she turned to run, but Evan was quick and grabbed the back of her panties before she could. Zoey was already running so it made the fabric slide up harshly between her bottom cheeks. She cried out at the burning between her cheeks and stepped back toward Evan, who snagged her around the waist and marched her to the couch.
