Page 21 of Voyeur
“Sure, laugh it up,” he joked.
“No, no. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at the idea of anyone calling you a baby. I mean, were they giants? Or did you hit a late growth spurt?”
“I guess size didn’t matter to them.”
“I’m sure that was their excuse to all the girls.”
As soon as the words left my mouth my eyes widened. I just made a sexual joke to my professor. I opened my mouth to take it back, swallow my words, something, when his head fell back, and a laugh exploded from his mouth. His throat exposed, looking more attractive than I thought any throat would look, and his chest shook with each sound. I wanted to go to him and bury my mouth against his skin, wondered how it tasted. I shook the thought away, feeling juvenile for even letting the thought cross my mind.
“I’m sure it was,” he agreed, still laughing. Once he was under control he sat up and mirrored my position, his elbows on his desk. “So, are you from Cincinnati?”
“Nope.” My voice cracked, and I had to clear my throat. “From Florida. I wanted to move away from all that heat, and I’m hoping to attend graduate school here.”
“Your family must miss you.”
Just bringing up my family was a punch to the gut. I’d been avoiding their calls and responding with short messages, the hurt still too fresh. Especially when I was exhausted from all the work I had to do to make up for their mistake. “They’re just happy I made it. I’m the first of my family to go to college.” Which was why they didn’t understand how serious I was.
“Did you get a scholarship to help with out of state costs?”
I snorted. My scholarship was sitting in my parents’ driveway. “I did. Not enough, but some to help.”
“So, you work?”3
For some reason he seemed as uncomfortable to ask about my possible job as I felt to answer. His eyes dropped to his hands clasped in front of him and swallowed.
I licked my lips and swallowed to buy some time to think of an answer that would hopefully divert his attention. Instead, my genius brain only came up with, “Yeah.”
“Oh, um…where?”4
“Um…” I lifted my head and froze. His blue eyes were locked on me, like he was holding me in place, demanding my truth. He looked like he already knew what I’d done. But there was no way, because he was Dr. Pierce and no teacher, not even a professor, made the kind of money to afford Voyeur; or would risk their position as a teacher to hang out at a sex club.5“Um,” I said again. “I work—”
The first few students walked in, saving me from coming up with a lie. I spent too much time with him to try and remember some random lie. Not only that, but I was theworstliar.
We each blinked and sat back in our seats. Dr. Pierce straightened his pens and papers that were already straight and moved to stand at the front of his desk as always, greeting the students as they came in.
Olivia arrived and distracted me enough for my heart calm down and get myself under control. Once everyone was seated, Dr. Pierce began class.
“Hello, my name is Callum Pierce, and I have astrophilia.”
Students shuffled and murmured their confusion as to why our professor was starting the class like an AA meeting, and wondering what the hell astrophilia was.
“A rare love and obsession with planets, stars, and outer space.” His explanation brought a few laughs and some groans. “It’s why I love teaching. And maybe, by the end of this semester, I can impart some of that love to you.”
“Doubtful,” a guy in the back said.
Dr. Pierce merely gave him a squinted look and continued. “Now that it’s week two, I want to go ahead and assign you your end of the semester project.” A chorus of groans broke out. “I know, I know. Just horrible,” he said with an exaggerated sigh and pretended to collapse against the desk. That earned him a few giggles from the girls. “You will be picking one of the big stars to do a presentation about. In that presentation, I’d like you to use pictures you took yourself. Therefore, you will need to meet with me one night this semester, so I can help you work the telescope. I’ll put the sign-up schedule on our dashboard online.”
Once he’d finished explaining the criteria, he moved on to lecturing. But my mind was still stuck on meeting with him one night. Would the meetings be individual? I knew I saw him almost every day, but the idea of a dark sky filled with stars screamed intimacy. My chest fluttered at the thought.
And I squashed it, not letting myself continue down that path. I had shit to accomplish and didn’t have time to lust after Dr. Pierce.
I refused to end up being another girl who giggled in his class.
Especially since I was barely a blip on his radar.
chapternine
Callum
