Page 99 of Love, Academically
“I know. But if you’d like me to, I would like to as well.”
Rhys was so aware of asking her, not demanding or assuming anything.
“Well, in that case, Dr Aubrey, yes, you can pick me up in the morning. But,” she hesitated, a wry smile on her lips, “won’t people think that we’vespent the night together?”
His eyebrow quirked upwards.
“Miss Cartwright, are you teasing me? Because if you are,” Rhys stepped forward with narrowed eyes and bent to whisper in her ear, “I’ll have to punish you.”
His hot breath glided across the shell of her ear before he grazed her ear lobe with his teeth.
Lila could not get over the fact that his mouth was so… so…filthy, and in more ways than one. Every time he said something about how pretty her pussy was, or how hard he was for her, what he’d like to do to her, it was a jolt straight to her core. Thenhe’d grin wickedly, knowing precisely what he was doing to her. Never,ever, had anyone wielded words to make her skin tingle and wetness seep between her legs, and she loved every syllable of it.
“For clarity, Lila,” he stepped back and smirked at her blushes. “I’d happily tell everyone how much I enjoy spending the night between your legs, but I don’t think you’d want me to.”
“Rhys!”
“Can you be ready by 8? 8.15?”
“I’ll try for 8,” she said, because he was usually already at his desk at eight, if not before, and compromise was the key to success here.
Rhys winked at her (actually winked) before getting into his swanky car. After he left, she threw herself on the sofa and dragged the blanket around her. It smelled of his clean, fresh washing powder and the forest-y tang of his bodywash and, like a complete weirdo, she huffed on it like an addict snorts up Tipp-Ex.
Her phone blinked accusingly at her from the squidgy ottoman.
The phone rang in her hand.
“Lila, I’m dreading going back to work tomorrow, just dreading it. My headteacher texted me this afternoon to say that she needs a meeting with me first thing in the morning and it’s not going to be good, is it? Otherwise, she wouldn’t have texted me.”
No ‘hi’, ‘hello’, ‘how are you’, just straight into it, which meant Jasmeet was panicking.
“Firstly Jas, calm down. Okay? Take a breath,” she said gently, smoothing the blanket over her legs. “Secondly, that’s really unprofessional and you should talk to HR about it.”
“HR?” Jasmeet snorted. “You think we have HR?”
“Okay, well someone higher that your Head. It’s not within working hours and it’s ruining what’s left of your weekend.”
And hers, the high from Rhys’s words fading like the promises of a political party the more Jasmeet poured her drama into her ear. Not that she minded, not at all. Jasmeet needed her.
“And thirdly, whatever it is, you can deal with it. You’re a fantastic teacher, you’re an amazing person. You know your stuff, okay? You’re good.”
Lila kept her voice soft, because tough love was something that didn’t work on Jasmeet at all. At. All.
“I am. Aren’t I?”
“Yes,” she said decisively. “One hundred and ten percent.”
“You can’t get higher than one hundred percent,” she said absently.
“You know what I mean,” Lila said, flicking through Netflix. “Seriously, Jas. Don’t let this worry you any more tonight. I know it’s hard but do something to take your mind off it. Do you want to come over?”
Lila immediately regretted the words leaving her mouth. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Jasmeet to come over, but… actually, no. It was exactly that. She was in a perfect little post-Rhys bubble and she didn’t want to be disrupted. Yes, she loved Jasmeet, but if she came over then they would spend all evening dissecting every conversation she’d had over the last week, trying to work out what the meeting could be about and how Jasmeet would deal with it.
It would be draining.
“Would you mind, Lila? I mean, I’m stressing myself out over here.”
“Where’s Dan?”
