Page 74 of Teach Me Your Ways

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CECE

Istayed in the park a good twenty minutes after Grady headed back. We didn’t want to walk back together and risk being seen together. It was strange to be a grown-ass adult and being told who I could and couldn’t date. I had everyone trying to boss me around. What was the point of being twenty-something with a kid and people were still trying to run my life?

Was this how life was always going to be? Were people going to boss me around the rest of my days? I had Grady trying to tell me I wasn’t allowed to dive because I had a kid. What the hell was that about?

I checked the weather and there was a chance of a storm. It wasn’t a guarantee. And he was still going to dive. He was going to take Lina diving and it was pretty damn clear that chick wasn’t a strong diver.

Then Grady went behind my back to get me kicked out of my spot. What the hell? Although for that last one, I would go easy on him. I did understand his reasons. And if he knew why I got that TA position in the first place, he would really be pissed. And I wouldn’t blame him at all. Spying on him was shady.

God, why did everyone think they had the right to make decisions for me? First it was my mom, telling me I was throwing my life away when I got pregnant with Sophie. Then it was every well-meaning relative and friend who thought they knew what was “best” for a young single mother. Go back to school, don’t go back to school. Date, don’t date. Focus on Sophie, focus on yourself. Everyone had an opinion about how I should live my life.

And now it was Grady deciding I was too fragile or too distracted to handle a simple dive because I had a daughter. Like having a kid suddenly made me incompetent. Like I hadn’t been diving since I was walking, like I hadn’t logged more underwater hours than half the graduate students in the program.

The worst part was how his protective streak made my stomach flutter even as it pissed me off. The way his jaw had tightened when he talked about keeping me safe, the flash of concern in those green eyes when he mentioned the storm. It reminded me of how he’d looked at me that night in his house, right before he’d stuck his tongue halfway down my throat.

Fuck. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about that.

But my body had other ideas. The memory hit me like a rogue wave—his hands gripping my hips, lifting me effortlessly as my legs wrapped around him. The way he’d growled my name against my throat, his stubble scraping my skin as he worked his way down my neck. God, the man knew exactly how to light up my whole body.

I shifted on the park bench, my thighs clenching involuntarily. This was exactly why working together was going to be impossible. How was I supposed to maintain professional distance when I could still feel the phantom touch of his fingers trailing down my spine? When I knew exactly what he looked like with his head thrown back in pleasure, muscles straining as he moved inside me?

The memory of his weight pressing me into his couch made heat pool low in my belly. The way he’d whispered filthy promises in my ear, telling me exactly what he wanted to do to me, how good I felt wrapped around him. Shit, even his voice had been enough to make me come undone.

I took a shaky breath, forcing myself to focus on the present. On the students laughing nearby, the distant sound of traffic, anything but the ache between my legs that Grady Stone seemed to trigger just by existing.

This was exactly what everyone was trying to protect me from, wasn’t it? Making messy, complicated choices that could blow up in my face. But damn it, I was tired of being protected. Tired of being managed and handled like I couldn’t make my own decisions.

I was going on that dive once I determined whether conditions were safe enough. I was going to prove to everyone I could take care of myself. The dean could find another spy to take down her arch nemesis. My goal was to finish my education and then I was going to get far away from this little soap opera these people had going.

Fuck this. I didn’t need the drama.

I got to my feet and started my walk back toward campus. I didn’t have a class. I was supposed to be studying in the library but that was the last thing I wanted to do. My thoughts drifted as I tossed my cup in the trash.

I sensed movement behind me. A figure in little running shorts, a neon tank top, and sneakers that looked almost cartoonishly small came power-walking up. It was Professor Winters, drenched in sweat, breathing hard but smiling like he had made the world’s greatest discovery.

He smiled when he saw me. Or maybe it was a grimace.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He slowed, doubled over, hands on knees, chest heaving. “Just finishing my steps for the day. Trying to hit ten thousand before noon.”

“Before noon?”

“I’ve got a lecture at two and then a meeting followed by another meeting.” Every word was gasped. I truly wondered if he might fall over.

“Do you need water or something? Or a doctor?”

He straightened, wiped his forehead with the hem of his tank, and grinned. “I’m good. Just catching my breath.”

He looked red. Hot. Maybe on the verge of heatstroke.

“Why don’t we sit down?” I suggested, genuinely concerned for him.

We moved to sit on a nearby bench under a tree. He was still struggling a bit.

“Professor—”