Page 20 of Dead and Buried

I don’t even realize I’m not breathing until I get lightheaded and have to pull away for gasping breaths. Zane is breathing just as heavily as me. I can see my pink-tinted gloss smeared across his lips. His tongue darts out to taste where I just was.

Then I’m kissing him again. Softer this time, more controlled. My fingers thread through his hair and he groans when I pull a little too hard. He nips at my bottom lip and I moan, loosening my grip.

I want to pout when Zane pulls away. His forehead rests against mine as we breathe deeply. “I should go,” Zane says, though he doesn’t make a move to do so.

I nod my head. “Yeah. You should.” But my hands knot themselves in his shirt to keep him where he is.

“We’ve got class tomorrow morning. It’s getting late.” He pulls away, his blue eyes watching me.

I force myself to let him go because he’s right. Zane takes a step back and gives me a small smile. His lips are still shiny from my lip gloss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” His hands cradle my cheeks before he leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my lips. I actually do pout this time when he pulls away. “Get inside.” He nods his head toward the entrance.

I sigh, but do. I wave at him before pulling the door closed behind me. Zane doesn’t move as I back away from the door. I’ve just gotten inside my room when my phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it out of my pocket, I find a message from Zane. When I open it, I realize it’s a screenshot of the list we made.

Zane

Read smut

Stay out until the sun rises

Go on a date

Get drunk and sing karaoke

Have a slumber party with pillow fights, candy corn, and rom-com movies.

First kiss

Go to Walmart

Learn how to cook

Lose virginity

I smile at the phone before grabbing my stuff to take a shower quietly, since Sandy is already asleep. I guess she wasn’t really worried about Zane’s intentions after all.

Lennox

Tuesday morning campus news releases an article about an incident with one of the athletic students. They didn’t offer much information, so I had to do some digging of my own. Apparently, he was high and cut his own dick and balls off. I’m suspicious, because high or not, what guy cuts his own dick off? I have a suspicion Zane had something to do with it.

I have to ask him later since it’s my first day acting as TA for Professor Bowing. He’s one of the older professors at the school, and as such, has stricter rules in his classroom. Some student’s groan when he goes over the rules, which won’t truly take effect until Thursday when they come back to class.

“No food or drinks, no phones out. I expect you to listen and take notes during lectures, no talking while I’m talking, and wait to be called on before speaking,” he tells them. I’m watching as Viv actually takes notes on the rules, nodding along to everything he says. “If you violate any of these rules, you will be asked to rectify the situation or to leave.” Viv underlines something in her notebook before looking up at the professor.

Bowing extends his hand to me. “Some of you have met my TA, Lennox Finch. If you’re taking this class as an elective, you probablyhaven’t. He will be helping out in class. His office hours will be written in the syllabus, and any issue he cannot help with, he will bump up to me. Any questions?”

A lot of the students shake their heads while some just stare back blankly at him. Viv looks at me for a long moment before turning back to the prof. Bowing turns to me. “Can you pass out those syllabuses?”

Hopping up from my seat, I pass out each one individually. Sure, it would be easier to hand out a stack for each row, but I want to see all the students, and Viv is at the end of the last row. The other students, I just put the paper on their desk, giving them cursory glances so I can recognize them if I see them in the halls. When I reach Viv, I hold her paper out for her and wait for her to take it from me.

Her lips turn up into a smile and I can’t help but return the expression. On my way back to my desk, I chastise myself. I’m obviously obsessed with this girl and I need to keep my distance. She’s Zane’s girl. I need to remember that.

It’s hard to do when she seems to suck all the attention in the room. The second she walked into class, most of the guys looked at her. Some even tried to get her attention, but she politely dismissed them.

Half paying attention to Bowing as he goes over the syllabus, I watch Viv as she follows along, taking notes when need be. Her planner is open on her desk and she notes down any important dates that Bowing mentions, which would be useful if he didn’t like to spring pop quizzes on the students at least twice a month.

She’ll figure that out soon enough, as will the rest of the class. When the professor finishes with about fifteen minutes to spare, he instructs the students to look through the first chapter in the textbook.

Most of the students pull out tablets since the e-books are cheaper than the physical copies. Viv isn’t one of them though. She pulls out her book and highlights parts and takes notes in the margins. It’s almost like a compulsion to go over and see what she’s writing. I barely contain myself to my seat. Bowing, however, does make his way around the room to see what the students are up to. He peeks over hershoulder as she jots down something in her book. “That’s an interesting take on it, Miss…”

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