Asher is openly staring at us, irritation written all over his face. His date looks over her shoulder at the crowd to try to see who he’s looking at. His reaction makes me wish I had kissed Matt, which then fills me with guilt. I let the guilt quickly give way to annoyance.
Annoyance at how Asher thinks he can behave with no consequence. Annoyance at myself for liking him despite that. And annoyance at the fact that we had met as student and professor, and that we hadn’t simply encountered each other in this bar.
Asher says something to the woman, and she shakes her head before he pushes himself to his feet and makes his way through the festive crowd to the bar.
“Would you like another?” I ask suddenly.
Matt glances down at his beer, which is still half full, before looking back up at me. “No, that’s okay.”
I finish off my martini in one quick gulp before standing. “I just don’t want to get stuck in a line,” I explain before leaving him sitting alone as I head toward the spot at the bar where Asher is.
“What are you even supposed to be?” I scoff. “A professor?” He gives me an amused grin—like he expected me to show up—as he unbuttons the top few buttons on his shirt and reveals aSupermanT-shirt underneath. I snort. “That is one of the laziest costumes I’ve seen. You know Clark Kent wears glasses, right?”
Another smug smile appears as he slowly pulls a pair of glasses from his jacket pocket and puts them on. I feel my anger start to dissipate, which frustrates me. I don’t like that I can’t simply stay mad at him… or better yet, leave him alone. I had originally stomped over here with the intent of making him as angry as me. Or to poke at his buttons some more. He wasn’t supposed to like it.
I roll my eyes, and he laughs. “I have experience with picking costumes with minimal effort.”
“Of course you do,” I sigh. “Halloween is the best holiday, and dressing up is fun.”
“I can tell you and your friends put a lot of work into yours,” he murmurs, looking me up and down. His gaze stalls on the slit in my skirt and pauses again on my chest, where the corset pushes my breasts up higher.
I feel my face flush, and I clear my throat. His eyes snap back to mine, and he shifts his weight. “Well,” I mutter. “I’m gonna get back,” I gesture over my shoulder to Matt, who’s been waiting patiently at our table. At some point during the conversation, Sam and Derek came back. Sam winks at me from across the bar. “Hopefully, this is the last time we bump intoeach other tonight, Professor.” I nod my head at him as I scoop up the shots and make my way back to my friends.
“Only two?” Sam asks, batting his eyelashes at me.
I glance over my shoulder to see Asher still chatting with the bartender while he gets his beer. “I’ll grab two more, just give me a few moments,” I say, plopping down on the chair. “My feet are killing me,” I lie.
10
ASHER
I can barely focuson what Nikki’s saying, some inane story about her day in the ER. She should be everything that I should be interested in. For starters—she’s my age. She’s successful, and not one of my students. This is our second date, and I can tell she’s into me; she’s come up with multiple excuses to touch my arms, my legs, and my chest. I probably could’ve taken her home on our first date, and I know that I could cut this date short and invite her back to my place, and she’d say yes. But none of that sounds appealing.
Not when she’s not a petite blonde, with whiskey colored eyes and soft golden skin.
Why the hell can’t I take my eyes off Summer?
Matt is making his way back over to her with two waters, and I begrudgingly appreciate the gesture. Her last drink seemed like she just needed an excuse to go to the bar so that she could speak with me. He says something as he hands her the water,and she giggles again. His returning smirk makes me want to hit something.
Preferably him.
I was halfway through my first beer and having a lovely conversation with Nikki when Summer walked in wearing one of thosefuckingskirts, though this one has a dangerously high slit up the side. I swear she knows what they do to me and is just wearing them to torture me.
Summer flips her hair over her shoulder and bats her eyelashes at the tool in front of her before her gaze briefly drifts over to me.
She’s fucking with me.
She’s not the first female student to try and flirt with me… but she is the first to get a reaction out of me. Not that I can let her know that. I ball my hand up into a fist and try to refocus on Nikki.
“I’m so glad we were able to meet up tonight. I’m having a lot of fun.” She trails a finger along the back of my hand, drawing circles. “I really enjoyed our last date as well.”
A small trickle of guilt drips down my spine, making me want to squirm in my seat. I can admit to myself that when Nikki texted me asking if I was doing anything for Halloween, I wasn’t originally planning to go out. But I did suggest we come to this bar for trivia, hoping Summer would be here. If Summer got jealous of seeing me with Nikki, well, that was just a bonus.
But after watching Summer flirt with someone else, I’m starting to feel like a douchebag. If she feels even half of what I’m feeling, any sense of victory has ebbed away.
“Yeah,” I say to Nikki. “It’s been fun.”
“I’m glad Jared thought to introduce us.” Her smile widens.
