Page 4 of The Professor
I watch her go, one singular thought blaring loud in my mind.
I think I just have.
3
EMMA
Itry to focus on my work and put all thoughts of Professor Hotty out of my mind, I really do…but…
God, it’s impossible.
I only have Oliver’s class twice a week, and in the days between I feel like I’m having withdrawals. All the feelings I had for him before have come flooding back but doubly as strong, and I feel like a teenager with her first crush all over again.
I replay the conversations we’ve had over and over again in my head. The way his eyes flashed, looking me up and down, the way his lips formed the word “carnal,” the way his shirt hugged his muscles, it’s all the stuff of fantasies. And God, the fantasies my brain has come up with…
For someone who’s never even had sex before, my brain has come up with a million dirty fantasies. I imagine his voice growling my name, his hands on me, the scent of his cologne in my nose as he…
“Earth to Emma?”
I jolt, nearly dropping my phone. I’d forgotten it was even in my hand, and my face heats as I make eye contact with Isabel on video call again. I’d gotten so lost in my thoughts I can’t even remember what conversation we were having.
“Sorry,” I rush to say, apologizing to my best friend as my cheeks turn bright red.
“What were you just thinking about?” Isabel says, suspicion written all over her face.
“Uh, nothing,” I lie. Her eyebrows raise and she pins me with a look that tells me she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying. “Just someone I used to know…he’s a professor here now.”
Isabel’s face lights up. “Oh my God, tell me everything!!” she squeals.
It feels good to tell her about Oliver and about how crazy I feel being so pulled to him. She’s visibly excited the whole time I’m talking, and I’m about to tell her not to get her hopes up when Oliver walks right in front of me, heading in the direction of the library.
My breath catches, and I’m grateful my phone’s hiding my face and I was finished talking because being caught gushing about him might have been enough for me to quit and change my name and move countries.
“Screw the rules,” Isabel encourages from my screen. “You’ve literally never been this obsessed with a man, and it’s about time. So go get him, Em. Seriously.”
I bite my lip, considering her words.
She’s right.
Fuck it, it’s time that I started going after what I want. That’s why I’m even doing my master’s after all, to invest in myself, to turn my life into what I always dreamed of.
And Oliver?
He’s the only man that fits into those dreams.
“Maybe I will,” I say to Isabel, giving her a wink before we say goodbye. I shove my phone in my bag, hoist the heavy tote up on my shoulder, and stand quickly. Not giving myself another second to think about it, I take off in the same direction Oliver just went in.
It’s not like I’m stalking him. I’m not. I just happen to be heading to the library at the same time he’s heading to the library. That’s all.
Yeah, okay, you just keep telling yourself that.
The library is beautiful but it’s not the impressive architecture I’m looking at. Instead of searching the collection for a textbook, I’m searching around the stacks for my professor.
I find him in the far corner at a small table, laptop open in front of him. I approach as casually as I can muster, and catch a small glimpse at the art on his computer screen before he notices me and shuts the browser quickly.
“Emma,” he says, surprise in his voice and eyes.
I smile, shuffling my feet a little. “Oh, hi,” I say, as though I had no idea he was going to be here. “What are you doing here?”
