Page 6 of Royally Taught

I roll my eyes. “That’s an understatement. I have no idea what to do, Erin. I’m scared. One minute we’re sitting down and the next, we’re kissing. But now my mind is muddled. I want him, but I know that I can’t have him. He’s my professor. I’ve worked my ass off to get myself here, and I can’t lose everything that I’ve worked for.”

She takes a sip of her coffee, her eyes are soft and filled with understanding. “You’re in between a rock and a hard place. I wish I had some advice for you, Stasi. I really do. But all I can do is advise you to do is be cautious. You know what you have to lose. You’re smart, no matter what you decide, I know that it’ll be the best for you.”

Ah, that’s no help whatsoever. “I’m going to pretend that the kiss never happened. How many people have you kissed that you have forgotten about?”

She smirks. “Too many to count.”

“Exactly,” I reply. “So why the hell do I feel so conflicted? Why does he affect me so much?”

She places her coffee cup on the table and gets to her feet, within seconds, she has her arms around me, holding me tightly. “I’m not sure, Stasi, I’m really not. I’ve never felt the way you do. I know that If I did, it would be special. But at the same time, the implications of being with him are too high.”

I nod as tears spring to my eyes. These emotions I have are so intense. It’s exhausting. So damn exhausting to have my emotions be such a rollercoaster. “I’ll be okay,” I whisper as her arms tighten even more around me. “I need to find a way that I’m not so affected by him. Once I can get that down, I should be okay.”

She pulls back from me, her hands reaching for my face. “Atta girl. That’s exactly it. Once you have your emotions back under control, you’ll be fine. You’ll be able to turn it off and act as though he doesn’t affect him.”

“I hope you’re right.” I pray that she is. I’m exhausted, I’m so damn tired.

“You have two more classes today. Why don’t you stay here, get some sleep? Rest, get yourself together. I’ve got this, I’ll take notes, extensive notes for you.”

I smile. God, I freaking love her. “That would be amazing,” I sigh. “You’re the best.”

She reaches for her cup as she stands before me. “Of course, I am. Now, go shower and get some sleep. You really do need it.”

I shake my head. “You’re lucky I love you.”

She blows me a kiss as she opens the front door. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, you will,” I promise her as I close the door behind her. Once she’s gone, all my emotions hit me, and I feel as though I’m about to crash. I’m going to forgo a shower and fall into bed and sleep.

I pray that I’m able to get a few hours. With the lack of sleep in the past two days, I’m in desperate need of it.

ChapterFour

Jacob

It’s been a month since Anastasia and I kissed. A long fucking month. I’m losing it. I’m going crazy. I’ve kept my distance from her, I haven’t tutored her in the past month, but it doesn’t stop the feelings that have surfaced with just one kiss.

Hell, finding out that she’s a virgin rattled me. I can’t lie. It shook me to the core. It only intensified my need to have her. I’ve never had the overwhelming sense to take someone, to claim them as mine. But that’s exactly what Anastasia has evoked from me.

I’m screwed. In the past month, I’ve started to distract myself from her. I’ve focused on repairing my relationship with my father. Every week we call and catch up with our lives, something we hadn’t done before, and I know that my mom would have wanted. She’d have been pissed at the way things had been between us, but now we’re repairing it. I even went home and saw him for my mom’s anniversary of her death.

Walking into the class my gaze—as always slides to Anastasia. She’s smiling and happy as she talks to her friend. The first class we had after the kiss she looked tired and fucking wrecked, but since that day she’s been happier, smiling a lot more and is more focused on her work in class.

As always, the air thickens when our gazes collide. My cock tightens as her eyes darken with lust. As much as she tries to pretend that the kiss never happened, her eyes are so expressive, and they tell me exactly how she’s feeling. She still wants me, which is a fucking relief because I want her too.

It’s crazy as fucking hell that I want my student, but I can’t help it. I can’t control myself, I want Anastasia. I need to keep my distance because if I don’t, I won’t be able to hold back.

I try my hardest to not focus on her during the class, but it’s impossible. It’s fucking impossible to concentrate. The woman has me struck, and I’m finding it hard to think of anything but her. I’m so damn pissed at myself for not being able to fight this attraction. For not being able to push her out of my mind and focus on my job.

Once the lesson is finished, Anastasia is pulled from the room by her friend, and I’m able to breathe a sigh of relief. It’s hard. It’s so damn hard to act as though she means nothing. Hell, I have no idea what she means, but it sure as fuck does mean something.

Pulling off my jacket once I’m home, I roll up my sleeves and think about what to have for dinner. While I’m contemplating between cooking or ordering takeout, my cell beeps letting me know that there’s a notification.

I pull it out of my pocket and read it. My gut clenches as I see who it’s from. Anastasia. Christ. That’s the last person I expected it to be from. What the hell?

Dear Professor Peterson,

I want to thank you for taking the time out of your personal hours to tutor me. I learned a lot from our study lesson, and I truly thank you for that.

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