Fated An Alpha Male Romance - K. Alex Walker Page 0,29
to greet the lone student.
As the rest of the class filtered in, I noticed the diversity of the participants. Ethan had mentioned that they were all high school students, but some of them had faces that looked young enough to be in middle school, while others looked old enough to have graduated high school years before I did.
They walked in wearing an array of hoodies, sneakers, boots, flats, collared shirts, and more. I saw curly heads, colorful extensions, black, brown, and blonde hair, brown and pale skin. For students who were supposed to be in the middle of their “I’m not interested” stage, they were all excited and eager for Ethan’s class to start.
I looked at him and saw the same eagerness reflected in his eyes, leaving me with a tight feeling in my chest. I loved it when he was happy. I even started to wonder about the different things that I could possibly do to see that happiness there as much as possible.
“Dr. E, who is this beautiful woman?” a boy with a low fade and wearing a fashionable red bow-tie asked.
“This is Alexandra Miller,” Ethan announced. “My guest.”
“Is she your lady?” asked a girl with a mixture of cotton candy pink and blonde tresses.
“That’s none of your business, Shyann,” Ethan answered, with a slightly embarrassed grin. “But if I catch any of you guys in here looking at her the wrong way, I’m cracking knuckles and then making referrals to my office for treatment.”
The classroom erupted in laughter and Ethan sent a wink my way.
I stood next to him and listened as he went over his brief presentation on vitamins, nutrients, and the process of how food is converted into energy to be used by the body. I periodically glanced out at the students, surprised to find them all engrossed and asking relevant questions. Then, at the end of the presentation, they tore open their boxes and pulled out small bags of soil, more seed packets, and other materials necessary to start their plot. They yelled across the room to each other to compare who’d gotten what vegetable or herb, made jokes about finally learning how to grow something other than weed, and had so much fun with the task that I also got caught up in the chatter.
I wandered to tables to peek at students’ progress while answering questions about my clothes, where I worked, if I watched certain TV shows, my relationship with Ethan, and more. Periodically, Ethan would walk up behind me and touch the small of my back while helping a student ensure that they would grow seedling based on their planting technique. I found that I loved that hand there and would even discreetly lean into it. It was a far different experience than waltzing around a room engaged in a conversation that was never going to amount to anything, or talking to people who wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about me if it weren’t for my family name.
It was far different, and far better.
ONCE EVERYONE HAD at least one plant potted, Ethan surprised the room with dinner catered from the farm that had supplied all of the materials, and which was headquartered just outside New Orleans. The students, all whose names I’d learned in under an hour, congregated, ate, and jabbered until it was time to leave. I was actually sad to see them go, and was surprised when I got a few hugs — the guys’ hugs were a bit more cautious as they never took their eyes off Ethan — and wishes that I come back to their next segment. The cotton candy-haired girl, Shyann, nearly brought tears to my eyes by declaring that she hoped that she could accomplish at least half of what I’d attained in my career as she moved forward in life. Her mother had made a living off of her body, and she wanted something different for herself. Little did she know, she was already more than half the woman I was based on her resilience alone.
Once they were all gone, I turned to Ethan. “Could I come again sometime? This was extremely fun.”
“Anytime,” he replied. “I like having you with me.”
We went around the room cleaning up scraps, wiping off tables, and pushing in chairs. I dragged a bit, knowing that once the room was back in order, I’d have to leave. I’d only gotten approval from Roderick to leave the house for three hours and the time had gone by quicker than