Page 34 of Boiling Point
Her smile widened, ever so slightly, and I had to bite back an answering grin, too aware of the risk. She shifted, a subtle movement closing the space between us. Her shoulder brushed my arm as she reached for a small screwdriver—a touch so brief it might not have happened at all. Yet it did, sharp and distinct, like a spark on a frayed wire.
For an eternal second, our eyes met, and I was seized by an almost physical need to suspend this moment in time. To let it unfold beyond the confines of this room, beyond every rule that bound me. Then sense reasserted itself with cold clarity.
“Looks good,” I said, stepping back to reclaim professional distance. “Try adding another capacitor. See if it behaves.”
She nodded, but her eyes held mine as I retreated.
I returned to the whiteboard with manufactured purpose, feigning interest in equations already etched in my mind. I needed to focus. On circuits. On anything else.
Chapter 14
Gabrielle
Physically, I was sitting in calculus, but my mind was back in my kitchen—pinned between the counter and Cal’s body, my sweater tugged halfway down one shoulder, his mouth tracing the curve of my collarbone like he was trying to memorize it.
Dr. Huber was writing something on the board—definite integrals, maybe?
I couldn’t focus.
The only function I could remember was the sharp spike of sensation when Cal had whispered, “If you keep making sounds like that, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you go.” My pen hovered uselessly over my notebook as heat burned in my ears.
The room was stifling, the radiators hissing like snakes beneath the windows. I pushed my sweater sleeves to my elbows in an attempt to cool down or distract myself, but it did neither. I propped my chin in my hand, feigning interest as Dr. Huber droned on about limits and continuity, but the numbers blurred into a tangled mess of possibilities.
Should I text him?
Would he text me?
What if everything fell apart before it even began?
I shifted my legs restlessly under the desk, crossing one ankle over the other, then uncrossing them again. I glanced at my phone, tucked discreetly between the pages of my notebook. The screen was dark.
Focus, Gabrielle.
The last twenty minutes of class trudged by to a soundtrack of marker squeaking frantically on the whiteboard, but nothing sank in. Thankfully, Dr. Huber lectured to the board—not the class—and spoke with such a thick Cajun twang I would never have understood anyway. Even if I had been listening. Sweat beaded along my hairline as I fidgeted in my seat. Relieved when class was finally over, I gathered my things in a flurry.
Outside, the air was crisp against my flushed skin. It revived me instantly, and I pulled out my phone with renewed hope. Cal should be done teaching now, right? Would he call between classes? I tried not to check for messages too obviously as students streamed past, scattering like particles in random motion.
I’d just reached the sidewalk when the phone buzzed in my hand. My heart leaped, only to plummet when I saw the caller ID: Aunt Suzy.
I let out a long breath and answered as I ducked into the student center and settled onto a sagging leather couch in the foyer. “Hey.”
“You never called me back yesterday!” Aunt Suzy’s shrill voice pierced through the line. “I was worried.”
“Sorry,” I said, trying to sound contrite. “I got caught up in something. Everything’s fine.”
“Oh?” she prompted, suspicion crackling like static. “So, who were you out with yesterday? A guy…?”
I could picture her perfectly—eyebrow arched, painted lips pursed, manicured fingers tapping against her phone.
“Just a friend,” I deflected.
“Aha! A friend!” She seized the word like a hawk on prey. “Anyone I should know?”
“No,” I stalled. “Just someone from my physics class.” The words felt dangerous, teetering too close to forbidden territory.
“Well, I hope that means he’s smart.”
I laughed nervously, eager to steer the conversation far from anything incriminating. “We just went over circuits for lab. Lunch and study.” My cheeks burned with guilt. It wasn’t quite a lie…
