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He peels the gloves from my hand and slides my fingers into them. “I’m used to the cold. I play football in this kind of weather. You are wearing my gloves whether you like it or not.”
Out of fear I will seem ungrateful, I accept his offer. His hands are so big that mine look like a child’s in comparison and the material bunches up in different places. Once he has my fingers situated inside the holes, he takes my hands and shoves them into his coat pocket along with his. This is so intimate and unlike anything I have ever experienced with another man. So far, my sexual history only involves Shawn. My lack of experienc
e doesn’t help much since I have nothing to compare. But Shawn is most definitely boyfriend material.
The more I discount him, the more he does something that I least expect, luring me further into his trap. He has my mind and body under a spell, his magic working deep within me, capturing me in ways I had never thought possible.
“I cannot let you get on the bus with me again.” I peek up at him, and he squeezes my hands.
“You can’t stop me, Ella. In fact, I would like to see you try.” His sexy smirk ignites a fire beneath my skin that causes my cheeks to flush, and this time, it’s not from the cold.
“Are you going to make it a habit of riding the bus home with me every night.”
He nods. “As long as I don’t have practice or a fraternity event, I plan on it.”
I grunt in frustration. “I don’t want to be the reason your grades slip even more.”
“Well, you see, that’s where you are wrong. I plan to use this time to study and do my homework. Do you have any idea how loud it is at my house? I live with sixty dudes, most of whom are partying half the time and could care less about school.”
“I guess I will believe it when I see it, but I like the sound of you studying outside of our sessions.”
The bus pulls up at the curb in front of us, ending our conversation. Shawn removes our hands from his pockets and presses a palm to my back, guiding me toward the bus, as the doors open.
He leans down, and his lips graze the shell of my ear. “Just so you know, I’m not that easy to get rid of, so I hope you like the company.”
I tilt my head back so that our eyes meet and smile. “I would love the company, and I would also like to see you pass your classes.”
He clamps his other hand down on my shoulder and kisses my forehead. At this moment, we don’t need words to convey our feelings.
Shawn is a man of his word. From the night at the bus stop forward, he waited at the cafeteria to join me for the ride home. He never walked with me up my driveway again, but just knowing he was there was all I had needed to get through another night at Hell House. Too bad we’re weeks into our sessions, and I am still grounded. Clarissa lives to torture me and that she does so well.
School and my daily appointments with Shawn are all I have to keep going. I look forward to class more than I ever had in the past. Before it was an escape from my house, and to some extent, it still is. But now, things are different. Seeing Shawn every day brings a smile to my face. He makes my miserable existence bearable and gives me something I never had before—hope.
Sitting side by side in the back of the tutoring center with Shawn, my heart speeds up when his fingers graze mine on the table. The energy that fills the void between us is so palpable everyone in the room can probably feel it, too.
I gave Shawn a reading assignment now that we are ahead of schedule. He passed his last few quizzes and projects. As his tutor, I’m so proud of him. But, as his whatever we are to each other, I am ecstatic beyond words. Who would have thought that meeting each other would be good for us both? I had disregarded a relationship with Shawn because I thought were bad for one another. It turns out I was wrong.
“Okay, I’m done.” Shawn sits back in his chair and looks at me. His expression is unreadable. “What’s next, Boss Lady?” He gives me the most adorable wink that causes my skin to tingle without him even touching me.
“I’d like to see how you did on your Constitutional Law test.”
His eyes glaze over, and he turns his head away from me. I assume it’s because he failed until he removes the paper from his bag and slides it in front of me. My eyes widen when I see a big A scribbled in the top right-hand corner.
“You did it, Shawn. Congratulations! I’m so proud of you.” Without thinking, I reach over and wrap my arms around him.
He hugs me back, holding me tight, and my skin pricks with tiny bumps that go straight up my arms. “Thanks, Ella,” he breathes against my ear, causing a chill to go down my spine. “This is all because of you.”
I sit back just enough slip from his embrace, settling into my chair before Mrs. Potter comes over again and tells us about the no touching rule again.
“No, it’s because you cracked down and put the time and effort into your classes. How many people would take six buses every night just to get some peace to study?”
“That’s not the only reason I ride the bus,” he says, flashing me a boyish grin. “If you weren’t on it, I would probably go to the library or Broad Street Beans.”
“Well, I doubt you would get much accomplished sitting in the middle of a crowded coffee shop, but the library sounds like a good idea to me.”
“But then I wouldn’t get to enjoy the company of a beautiful woman, now would I?”
My cheeks flush from his words. “Will you stop that already? I think you just like embarrassing me.”
