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Only it must be wrong because there’s a sudden downturn to her lips. She doesn’t speak the entire rest of the ride, letting the quiet music play between us instead. And I spend the entire time wondering if I should apologize.
The second we’re at the town house, Paloma says she’s headed up for a shower and a long nap but promises to get us dinner after. Which is enough to make me forget about my possible faux pas entirely.
“You should too,” she says as she starts up the stairs. “Sleep, I mean. Since it seems like you didn’t get any last night.”
A blush runs up my neck into my cheeks and she chuckles low before heading up.
I wait impatiently, bouncing on the balls of my feet, until Paloma’s door snicks closed, before I sprint for the back room with the Do Not Enter sign, setting a timer so I don’t get stuck in my head and stay in too long.
• • •
He’s so distracting.
Sleeves rolled up, half leaning on the podium, Toren Kane looks almost obscene. His hair is pitch-black and damp, pushing back and curling around his ears. He’s wearing one of his piercings again—only the one in his ear, as well as his cluster of rings, and a loose purple button-up tucked into black slacks.
Today is his observation day with our professor, who is currently seated in a far corner writing bits of notes onto a paper in front of him. But Toren seems to be doing well.
While I can barely focus on a single thing he’s teaching because I can still feel his hands between my thighs.
Still, I try to keep from biting through my lip, chewing on the end of my pencil instead, feet tapping, eyes glued to the presentation on the screen rather than the distracting form of wonder boy genius Toren Kane.
I don’t think people know how smart Toren truly is; in another life I imagine him in grad school, engineering maybe, or even just math. Studying and teaching, stealing the hearts of everyone in his classes. There’s a part of him that other people don’t seem to see, the same part fully on display as he makes his way now across the room while we work on the problems on the board, checking in with everyone softly. Encouraging in the way he always is with me.
Even if the idea terrified him, I know Toren would be a good dad. The best.
“Need help?”
I nearly jump out of my skin, neck snapping as I turn to look up at the looming figure over my desk.
“I . . . um . . . yeah.” It’s an honest answer as much as it is an excuse to keep him close. Part of me wants to reach up and bite his neck in front of all the students drooling over him. “It’s— I don’t really get it.”
Smiling, he leans closer. “How about I come over after practice for a private lesson?”
I don’t have time to respond before he’s up and surveilling the class once more.
Chapter 39
Toren
“You have to change that.”
A teasing, innocent look takes over my face before I can help it. “Aw, but it took me forever to even find it, Lil.”
She reaches for my phone suddenly, scrambling across the bed to try to tackle me. It’s a bit comical how easily I can hold it out of her reach.
“I’m serious,” Lily says, sinking to her knees and crossing her arms with a pout. If she thinks that’s helping, it’s not. It only makes me want to fuck her mouth more than I already constantly do.
“So am I.”
“It’s not funny.”
Her voice is tender now, and I pause, looking down at the photo on my lock screen. It’s Lily, fifteen years old in a pretty purple dress and my black long sleeve zip-up overtop like an ill-fitting cardigan.
She’d begged her father to let her go to our school’s homecoming dance, which he’d only agreed to because he picked her date—some asshole from the hockey team who already didn’t like me. As if that might assert some dominance. We’d planned to meet at the school, only when I got there and saw her date drinking outside the gym entrance with his friends, I asked what happened.
“Nothing, man. She started crying,” he said, before muttering. “Fucking weird-ass freak.”
It was impossible to stop myself then, letting my fist fly. I probably would’ve stuck around and pummeled my anger into him for longer, if there wasn’t a girl alone somewhere.
