Page 21 of Teaching Ms. Tingle

“Oh, I do. I mean it, motherfucker. You stop flirting with her, stop leaving shit in her office, stop trying to get her alone. Don’t threaten her with running your mouth about what you think you know is going on. You don’t know a fucking thing. I’ll have a good time hurting you if you push me."

“Kane, stop it, please,” I beg, turning to face him, pressing my body against his, hoping it will help distract him. His eyes are dark and cold. I have never seen this side of him. And I am not sure if I like this side at all.

“Kinsley,” he starts to argue with me, glaring past me at Alec. “He just wants to get me out of the fucking way. We both know he wants you.”

“Please, do not do this here. Alec,” I turn to face him, taking a deep breath. “Will you come to my office tomorrow so we can talk? This is just a misunderstanding. I am his tutor. There is nothing between us.”

Behind me, I feel Kane’s huge body go stiff. I regret my words the minute I see how they please Alec. I am so panicked I don’t know what else to do or how to handle this. Having him come to my office is a bad idea, but I need to keep control of this situation.

“Of course, Ms. Tingle. I will be there after class. See you then.”

Waiting for him to be gone, I whirl to face Kane. He is livid. Too damn bad, so am I. How could he do this? Why could he not just keep his cool? Alec had nothing to go on but suspicions. Based on his flirtations with me, they could be blamed on his own jealousies. Now he has ammunition to use against us both.

“What the hell were you thinking? Why would you give him a way to hurt you?”

“That prick can’t hurt me, Kinsley. You can, though,” he states, backing away. “Nothing between us? You were just about to have my dick between your thighs, but no one can know that, right? Jesus, you invited him to your fucking office. That motherfucker just wants to fuck you, Kinsley.”

Gaping up at him, I shake my head. “Do you think...do you think I invited him to my office to seduce him?”

“I would kill you both,” he growls, backing me against the bookcase. It should scare me but as usual his obsession for me just excites me. He grabs my throat, thick fingers closing tightly around the tender flesh. “No one else better ever fucking touch you. If he comes to your office, I am going to pink your ass, kitten. You. Are. Mine. Did you forget?”

Kane’s hand is beneath my skirt, his fingers twisting in my panties. He snaps them off, making me yelp as the lace cuts into my skin. Bringing them to his face, he inhales my essence, growling as his eyes flash. “Go home. I will be there tonight, leave the door open. If you touch your pussy before I get there, I will know, kitten. That’s mine and mine alone.”

Kane turns and stalks away, stuffing my panties in his back pocket. I am gasping for air once he is out of my space. My head is spinning. I am still shaking, but now it is from excitement. Seeing him so crazed should not make me so hot but it does.

His obsession is unhealthy but so is mine. Seeing him get so worked up has me wound so tight, it will take just a touch from him to make me come. I rub my thighs together, moaning because I am so wet it drips down my legs. What the hell is wrong with me? Where did this reckless woman come from?

Biting my lip as I close my eyes and imagine him coming to my room in the middle of the night, I sigh. Kane happened to me. It might be wrong, it might cross so many boundaries, but I don’t care. Just moments ago, I was terrified of anyone else finding out. Afraid of losing my job. My career.

Rushing from the library, I have to ask myself just one question: which would be harder to lose? Could I survive not being a teacher? Could I survive not having Kane in my life? If forced to choose, what would my choice be?

For me, the answer is fast and simple: a hundred times over, it would be Kane. I would always, will always, choose Kane.

Chapter Ten

Kane

Anger is a tool I generally reserve for the field.

If I get cut off on the highway, if someone door-dings my car at the market, or if an opponent shit talks leading up to a game, I save all my aggression for the field. I use it to make my game better.

This anger, this rage simmering inside me as I stalk through the dark streets of Harmony Hollow, it will do me no good on the field. I will end a career if I play this upset. Knowing someone wants my girl and will hurt her because he cannot have her has me nuclear level pissed off.

There is one person who can talk me down. Hell, I guess I have two now. Kinsley could tell me to sit like a good pup and I would. Any other time. In any other situation. Right now, just one other person can calm me down, so I head there before I go looking for Alec to rip his head off.

“Coach,” I call after stepping on his porch, seeing his cigar light up in the darkness. “You got a minute to talk?”

Smelling the cherry sweet scent of his cigar already calms me down. When I got recruited to play here as a freshman, it was because of Coach Lucas. He saw more in me than anyone else ever had. He cared about more than my game on the field, he cared about the choices I made.

“Told you once you never have to ask. What’s going on, son?”

Sitting down in one of his rocking chairs, I smile. There have been some father figure types in my life, but he is the first one I truly view that way. I had a few good coaches growing up, men that helped keep me on course. If I lost a game or got drunk or lashed out in anger, they gave up on me. Coach Lucas has never given up on me, no matter how I mess up.

“I am... well,” I take a deep breath, deciding to just get it out. “I am in love with a woman I have no right to be in love with. Tonight, someone saw us together and I think it might cost me my scholarship. I honestly don’t care about that. All I care about is what it might do to her. I couldn’t stand it if she got hurt because I couldn’t wait to graduate to be with her.”

“What are you going on about? How could being with someone you love cost you anything?”

“It’s Ms. Tingle, my English tutor. Since I am coming clean, I’ve been in love with her since last spring. When she was assigned as my tutor this semester, I....I just couldn’t hide it, I couldn’t pretend or wait any longer. If she didn’t feel the same, I wouldn’t even be here. Because she does...it just happened. And I don’t regret it, and I won’t give her up, even if it means my scholarship and my degree. But how do I protect her?”

---