The V- in 403C - Jess Bryant Page 0,17
winced when Star shoved him so hard that he almost toppled out of his chair and into the aisle.
“Class is over. Get up.” Star pushed at him again and Reed blinked as he glanced around to find that most of the students were already packed up and heading for the door.
“Shit.” He grumbled as he grabbed his backpack and stood, wincing when his neck and back gave a squeeze of pain.
“Yeah. You came in late and then fell asleep during the first lecture. Not the best way to start the semester.” Star frowned at him, perfect Cupid’s bow lips pursed, “Plus, you know, there’s that other thing that might be a problem.”
Reed winced and Star harrumphed. He couldn’t help it. His eyes instantly went to the front of the room and found Jonah. The man had his back to them and was wiping the whiteboard clean of his name and phone number. He didn’t turn around or look at him and Reed felt the lack of awareness like a tangible loss.
“Go. Now.” Star sighed, shoving at him so that she could get into the aisle and then wrapping one hand around his wrist to drag him towards the door as she walked away, “Come on. We need to talk, somewhere private, about what, exactly, happened last night.”
Reed gave Jonah one last glance but still the man didn’t turn around. He sighed and let Star drag him out of the classroom. Nothing had happened last night. Not really. But then, why did it feel like everything in his world had turned upside down when he’d walked back to the bar to find that Jonah had deserted him last night? And why had his heart kicked with excitement when he’d seen him today?
It was just that he’d wanted someone and he hadn’t gotten them into his bed. That’s what he told himself. He wasn’t used to losing, especially when it came to seducing someone he was attracted to. It wasn’t anything more than that.
Only that voice in the back of his head taunted him as he recounted the previous night’s events to Star, giving her only the basics and none of the intense feelings that had overtaken him when he’d had Jonah in his arms. He told her it was nothing, that a drunken kiss in a dark club meant nothing. That he wasn’t going to do a damn thing about it except forget it ever happened, just like the whiskey still in his bloodstream wanted him to. But he had a feeling Star didn’t believe him and he knew that he didn’t believe himself.
He was a liar and if he kept it up his pants just might catch fire.
Chapter Seven
Jonah’s hands were shaking as he wiped his name off the whiteboard at the end of class. He was so tense a headache had sprouted behind his eyes and his neck was aching from the way he’d very deliberately kept himself from looking at Reed for the last forty-five minutes. Even now, as the students talked and scuffed their feet heading to the door, he held himself steady despite feeling as if every nerve inside him was vibrating like a tuning fork.
His mind was whirling and he knew it wouldn’t stop until each and every student in the classroom was gone.
Would Reed leave with everyone else or would he want to talk to Jonah?
He hated the way butterflies swirled in his belly at the thought of even being near Reed again. All he really wanted to do was run out of the classroom but he couldn’t bring himself to turn and see if Reed was still standing there, waiting on him. Maybe that made him a chicken, but if Reed wanted to talk then he would have to be the one to make the move. Even if Jonah wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold it together if he did.
Seeing Reed walk into his classroom had knocked the air out of him and filled him with a sense of worry and dread that he hadn’t been able to shake for the entirety of his lecture. He couldn’t believe that he’d taught his first class and couldn’t even remember half of what he’d said. The entire time he’d been overwhelmed with fear that at any moment Reed would stand up and tell everyone what Jonah had done last night.
Finally, when the classroom was completely silent behind him and he could no longer pretend to be erasing the whiteboard without looking like a crazy