Do I just say hey, I’m gonna go have hot, dirty sex with my other boyfriend, be back in a bit? Do I invite them to come with me? What?
So, like the true coward I’m proud to be, I don’t do anything.
Besides, I missed the guys a lot, and as mind-blowing as sex with Roman is, I’m perfectly content curled up on the couch between Asher and Cam watching stupid comedies. Cam has his arm slung casually around my shoulder, and Asher’s hand rests gently on my knee. I know if I call it out, or even think about it too long, I’ll get all awkward and flustered about it… so I don’t.
I just let myself enjoy it instead.
We’re up bright and early the next day, and after breakfast, we all walk over to Wellwood Hall together before we part ways. The main school building is massive and imposing, and it sort of looks like the architect changed his vision half a dozen times while designing it. There’s not really a cohesive style, and parts of the structure soar at least six or seven stories high while others are only three or four stories. Then there are the turrets and towers that rise up in places, their gray stone facades piercing the blue sky.
I have some classes with the guys, but since they’re a year ahead of me, I also have a lot of stuff on my own. When I walk into my first class, my gaze darts around, and I feel a sudden pang in my chest as I realize… I’m looking for Raul.
We always sat together in the first-year-only classes. It was our thing. We supported each other that way, even if we weren’t always super loud and vocal about it.
My heart squeezes. Just another reason why you can’t let yourself get attached to anyone. You never know how or when the universe is going to yank them away from you.
I sit down at the front, if only because Alyssa and the others tend to sit in the back and I’d like to do my part to avoid the drama.
Roman enters the large classroom, and my stomach flips. I haven’t seen him since the night the guys got back, and I know that was only a day and a half ago, but it already feels too long.
I’m turning into a damn sap. Fucking hell.
“Welcome back, everyone.”
He thunks his books down on the desk as he surveys us. Warm morning sunlight streaming through the windows glints off his ebony hair, and he’s got that hint of shadow on his jawline that I love. I remember how that scruff tormented the tender skin of my breasts and thighs, and I have to squeeze my legs together to suppress the ache that rises up.
His gaze lands on me, and even though his lips don’t move, I could swear his eyes are smiling at me. I flush slightly, biting my cheek to hide my own smile as I glance away.
Roman’s a tough teacher, and he doesn’t make an exception for me… although sometimes I fear he pays a bit more attention to me than to the others. It’s probably to make up for how he panicked a little and was far tougher on me than on anyone else at the beginning of last semester, but still. The last thing I need is Alyssa or one of her friends figuring out I’m sleeping with a professor.
We do our morning meditation, something that’s a staple of this class because it helps us relax and tune into our emotions, then move onto the rest of class. I watch Roman’s hands as he starts the day’s lecture, writing glowing runes on the large board behind him to illustrate his point. I don’t know where my darkly handsome professor got his training from, but sometimes it feels like he knows everything about everything to do with magic, and it all just seems to come so… easily to him.
So far, all I can do is my sonic boom, which isn’t always helpful since it tends to send people—me included—crashing into walls, and my spider climb. Alyssa was kind enough to nickname me “Cockroach” for that little trick.
But Roman makes it seem so easy and effortless—beautiful, almost. And he’s so passionate, his voice rising and falling as he discusses the importance of a true connection between the head and the heart.
That’s about when I realize I’m not actually paying attention to the lecture the way I should be.
Shit. I