compulsion she couldn’t rein in. She kept fidgeting, but had no problem staring at his dick. It took all of him to keep from laughing; she looked totally mortified and yet, oddly intrigued. Is it all the tattoos? Or maybe that I’m hairy as hell? He asked himself these questions, making light of it. Silly. He thought about cracking a joke to put her at ease, but thought better of it. Then, their gazes hooked. She broke her spell from pipe gazing, and realized his eyes were fixed on her. Her cheeks turned an even deeper hue of red.
“Sorry. I’m so, so sorry!” she whispered, looking completely mortified. She turned away, shielding her face with her hand, as if the most horrible thing had happened. King smiled at her, then cleared his throat.
“It’s all right. Relax.”
She mustered a smile.
“Uh, Professor Nassar, do you mind if I speak to all of the students for a second?”
“No, go right ahead.”
“Thanks. Most of you have done this many times – drawn nude models. It’s not your first rodeo. For some of you, however, this is your first time. I’ve been in your shoes, okay, and one thing is for certain: you have to look outside of the flesh, the body of the person, and focus on the curves, the lines, the natural design of their form.” The professor nodded in agreement. “Remove the aspect that it’s an arm, a jawline, a hair strand, and see it as an extension of yourself. Become familiar with it. Get comfortable. Pretend each curve and bend is a part of you, or maybe someone you’ve known for a long time. It can help you relax and focus. Some of you are probably struggling with this. Now in fairness, I don’t have the best vantage point from here, but if I were to guess, you’re so busy trying to get everything perfect that you are missing the process. The journey of the drawing is just as important as the finished product. Last but not least, if you get stuck or distracted, breathe. If you’re a little nervous, or you find this a bit funny, that’s okay, too. If you—”
“There’s nothin’ funny about it.” A student burst out laughing, causing a few others to chuckle too, as if they knew exactly what he was going to say. “My girlfriend is in here, man. I should’ve made her skip class. You makin’ the guys in here look bad.”
“Speak for yourself, little man. I’m packin’ too!” someone else yelled.
The room erupted in laughter, forcing the professor to try and calm everyone down.
“That’s enough, Jose. He’s our class clown.”
King smirked and shook his head. There’s a Shane in every group. Gotta love ’em.
“I should’ve sat up closer. Gah damn!” a young woman blurted. “I know your significant other is happy as hell! Real talk. The MVP is in the building, with thirty inches of Cobra Kai. Karate chop on that sexy ass.” The room erupted in laughter once again, this time louder than before.
King bowed his head. His face heated, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t stop the mirth from bubbling up. Freshmen. What did I expect?
“No more interruptions from any of you, please. Let’s get serious. Continue with what you were saying, King,” the professor urged as he rolled his eyes at his class.
“So, the last thing I was going to say is, whatever you’re feeling, pull from it. Use that. That’s what I do. I pour everything I’m feeling on the inside into my art. The things I don’t say with my mouth, I put on paper. Use your gift to serve you.”
“That’s great advice, King. Thank you for sharing that with them. Okay, class, sixty seconds then onto the next pose…”
The class continued for another thirty minutes. As the crowd cleared, he started putting his clothes back on. The professor had disappeared in a back area, then returned as he slid on his socks and sneakers.
“King, I want to speak with you for a second before you go. I hope you’re not offended by what I have to say.”
“If it’s anything along the lines of karate, then yes, I will be offended.” They both burst out laughing.
“No, not that. Um, as you were modeling and the students were drawing, I checked out more of your art online. I wanted to see when you graduated, just out of curiosity, but noticed you hadn’t. Is that correct?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I left early to make some money. I was living on