Teacher (Voyeur #6) - Fiona Cole Page 0,20

a little at his word choice and couldn’t stop the sarcastic retort if I’d tried. “Was it, though?”

He shook his head and laughed. “You’re funny.”

I laughed with him, and it was nice to be able to let my sarcasm free without overthinking each word out of my mouth.

But that ease faded quickly. We each faced forward and sipped from our glasses, neither of us speaking. When the silence grew uncomfortable, pressing down on my skin, I finally spoke up.

“This is weird. Isn’t it?”

“Not if you don’t want it to be.” When I only shrugged, he shifted to face me. “Hanna, I own a club where people have sex in the corners so others can watch. I’m not one to judge what someone enjoys.”

I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath through my nose.

“Did you enjoy it?” he asked softly.

The air left on a puff of laughter. “Yeah. I mean…yeah.”

“That’s good. That’s a first step.”

“I just…” I shrugged again, unsure of how to explain it without making everything weirder. But then I reminded myself that Daniel didn’t judge. He never made me feel like I needed to justify my feelings or hold back my words. Why start now? “I just feel like a ball of energy. Like a live-wire, and I don’t really know what to do with myself.”

“What do you usually do when you feel hyped up?”

“Read. Go to a barre class. But sometimes it doesn’t feel like enough. I still feel too high-strung afterward.”

“Do you still go to therapy?” he asked softly after another bout of silence.

The words poked at my irritation, and I ground my jaw to hold back my snappy retort that I didn’t need another worry-wort hovering over me. Despite my effort, the words still slipped out with an edge. “No. I don’t need it. This is all I have left to conquer. I’m not some wilting flower who can’t sleep at night. I’ve conquered all my demons, but this one.”

I kept my eyes on the bar, not wanting him to read the lie that I wasn’t really one-hundred-percent okay.

“Of course not. Even I can see how strong you are, and I’m not around you as much as everyone else.”

His easy response popped the bubble of irritation that had swelled inside me. “I’m sorry. Everyone always gets on my case, and it’s a knee-jerk reaction, I guess. Erik means well. Hell, he gets me a new can of mace every Christmas just in case I ever run out. Even though I’ve never had a reason to use it.”

His laugh perked me back up, bringing back my sense of humor.

“I should probably beef up so I can fend anyone off with my own two hands.” I hold up my arms and flex my small biceps.

“I don’t know, you look pretty intimidating right now. I think I actually see some muscle there…if I squint.”

“Oh, fuck you,” I said, laughing, shoving his shoulder.

When we’d both settled, he asked, “Another drink?”

“Probably not. It’s getting late. I should get home.”

“Let me walk you out.”

I ordered another Uber and tried to think of how to say goodbye the entire walk to the front. Did I hug him? Wave? Shake his hand? High-five? What was the protocol after watching sex together?

“Message me if you want to do this again sometime.”

“Really?”

“Sure.”

“Wow. Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

“Ummm…” I stuttered, standing at the open back door. “Thanks for everything,” I said, waving like he wasn’t less than five feet from me. “I’ll see if this guy wants to do math on the way home. He looks like a good deriver. Because derive means to solve problems and sounds like driver.”

His lips twitched, but he was kind enough not to smile at my awkwardness. “I like it.”

“Night, Daniel.”

I didn’t wait for his response before diving into the backseat and avoiding opening my mouth again until I got home. I mentally kicked myself for the lame joke as I got ready for bed. But by the time I laid under the covers, my mind strayed to other parts of the night.

I remembered the man’s tongue slipping through the woman’s legs. I remembered her moans of pleasure. I remembered how I literally sat on the edge of my seat, desperate for him to make love to her.

I remembered Daniel by my side, breathing just as hard as I was.

I remembered the ache that had flooded my core.

Maybe…maybe I could get that feeling back.

Slipping my hand under the covers, I squeezed my eyes closed and imagined being in the room again.