with his unexpected advance at the party earlier in the semester. But I feel like a bit of a jerk for never returning to say goodbye after taking Gabriel’s call. He really seems to be a great guy, not to mention being easy on the eyes.
The instructor begins, and I pull out my notebook to take notes. Three minutes in, a folded piece of paper slides onto my desk. I peek at Evan, who’s pretending he’s way too into the lecture and didn’t just slip me the note. I roll my eyes, and I open it.
I think he just spit on the girl in green.
I look up at the front of the class, finding a girl in a green dress wiping at her notebook. My head whips to Evan, and I mouth, “No way!” He shrugs and goes back to pretending he’s taking notes. I laugh when I steal a peek at his notebook and see he’s drawing comic book characters.
Class carries on when another note lands on my desk. I smirk, opening it.
I think Professor Geller’s fly is open.
My eyes fly up to the front. Sure enough, it is. A chuckle slips from my lips. I cover my mouth and duck down. Stealing a peek at Evan, I shake my head. Oh my god, how embarrassing. Gathering myself, I try to focus on what he’s talking about, but another note lands on my desk. I turn to Evan and mouth, “Stop.” But I still open it.
You’re super hot when you laugh.
Rolling my eyes, I crumble up the note and throw it at him. He leans into me. “What? It’s true. Go out with me.”
“No,” I whisper, trying to pay attention to the front of class.
Evan leans farther over. “Why not? Do you have a boyfriend?”
No, I actually have a Master. I chuckle to myself, thinking how ridiculously crazy that sounds.
I’ve known Gabriel most of my life. I’ve always felt this pull toward him. It wasn’t always sexual, but as soon as I grew boobs and knew what sex was, I started categorizing them together. Gabriel just breathes sex. Power. All the things I would read about it in my mom’s silly romance novels. To learn his proclivities for sex wasn’t shocking. What worried me was being someone who could please him. He certainly was a control freak. I’ve eavesdropped on him and my dad’s conversations enough to know how ruthless he is. He’s cutthroat in every sense of the word. Sometimes I wondered if he had the bodies of his enemies buried in his backyard.
He was also all man. He was taller than my dad. Muscular. His skin was darkened from the sun and jet-setting around the world for business. When I was younger, I would daydream about taking those trips with him, being the beauty on the arm of the beast.
On late nights when he and Dad would drink in his office and discuss anything under the sun, I would sneak in after he left and drink out of his glass. Smell the cushion where he sat. Relish in his masculine cologne. And now, it’s still surreal to think…
“What’s so funny? Is that no to a boyfriend? Yes?”
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” I tell him because it’s the truth.
“Well, then go out with me—”
“Will you two please shut up?” the girl next to me hisses. I apologize and focus back on the board. Evan doesn’t say another word to me, but every so often, I peek over to see him drawing a new cartoon on his notepad. Class ends, and I get up, stuffing my notebook in my bag.
“I’ll see ya around,” I say kindly, turning to leave.
“I’ll walk out with you. I saw this girl eyeing me. If she thinks I’m with someone, she’ll leave me alone.”
“Who?” I ask, looking around for a straggler.
“The girl in green. Can you imagine having to kiss her after she was infected with Geller spit?”
Oh my god. “Seriously?”
He flutters his eyes. “Would I lie to a beautiful girl?”
I shake my head. “Whatever. Let’s go.” He grabs my bookbag and walks next to me. We hit the bottom step and make our way across the foyer when he says really loud, “Just carrying out my girlfriend’s things.”
“Was that necessary?” I ask, pushing through the doors of the science building.
“Man, thanks for that. I owe you one. Maybe dinner?” He wiggles his brows at me, and I laugh at his clever attempt.
“Nice try.” My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I retrieve