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“Of course I am,” she gloated.
I brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before stroking my thumb along her lips. Electricity shot to my chest when she pressed a kiss to the pad of my finger.
“There are a lot of things I haven’t done,” I said, hating to admit it, but needing her to know.
“It’s okay, Callum.”
“I know. I just . . . You make me want to be honest. You make me feel like I can be honest. I’m not sure why, but it’s there, just the feeling I have when I’m with you.”
“Is it wrong that I feel honored at being that for you?” she asked on a whisper.
“No. I want to try with you, Oaklyn. I care about you and over the past few months you’ve become more than a friend. Something about you clicked with me. As wrong as all of this is,” I took a deep breath before saying it again. “I want to try with you.”
“There is nothing wrong with this.” At her fierce tone, I cocked my eyebrow. She smiled at my reaction. “Other than me being your student, but I won’t be forever, and I don’t want to keep fighting this. I care about you too, and I want you.”
Shifting forward, I pressed a soft kiss to her lips before moving back to my pillow. Her hand snaked out between us and touched mine, asking for permission. I opened my palm and watched her slim fingers link with mine.
Somehow, by some miracle, my breathing evened out and I fell asleep, my hand gripping hers like a lifeline.
22
Oaklyn
I didn’t know what time it was when I first opened my eyes, but there was a glow coming out from behind my blackout curtains. I was mid-stretch when I saw my overstuffed chair pulled into the corner and remembered last night. Reaching out, expecting to find Callum, I instead met cold sheets.
A glance around showed no signs of him, unless he was hiding in the bathroom with the lights turned off, but the sheets were cold. He’d been gone for a while. I tried to ignore the doubt filling my mind as to why he had left in the middle of the night without waking me. Splashing cold water on my face at the bathroom sink, I remember how he’d said he would try, and I had to be grateful for that.
The pinch in my chest eased when I flicked on an overhead light and saw a piece of paper taped to my front door.
Oaklyn,
I had an early breakfast meeting and had to leave. You looked too beautiful sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you. I can’t thank you enough for last night.
C
I dragged my finger along the C, liking the sharp curve. His handwriting fit him. Perfectly in line, clean without any messy strokes between. I turned my back and leaned against the door and held the piece of paper to my chest like a love-sick fool. It was a reminder that last night had happened and hadn’t just been a crazy figment of my imagination.
Although, maybe his confession would have been better if it hadn’t been real. The breath left my body in a pained exhale as I remembered his story. I’d been in shock. My body had tingled with adrenaline as I hurt for the man in front of me. My mind had scrambled to process that Callum, six-foot-four, two-hundred-plus-pound Callum had been taken advantage of in the worst possible way. I couldn’t imagine the lasting effects that it must have had on him, but a lot of his actions made sense after his explanation.
A part of me had hated pushing him to tell me. I would have rather him have told me he was ashamed of himself for wanting a student. I would have rather heard almost anything other than that he’d been sexually abused.
My eyes burned all over again.
He was a more beautiful and amazing man than I’d already thought him to be.
And he’d pleasured himself for me. He’d wanted me to watch. He’d wanted to share that moment with me. He’d felt safe enough with me.
The emotions had washed over me on a wave and exhausted me by the time my orgasm had subsided, that I’d selfishly asked him to stay. Needing the comfort as much as he did.
What was I going to do with all of these feelings over the long weekend? Left to my own thoughts until we went back to school on Tuesday. I had no way of reaching him. I even flipped the note over in hopes that maybe he’d left me his number, but it was blank. I kicked myself for throwing away his card in a moment of anger.
I could email him, but that felt on the edge of desperation, and I only had his school email. God forbid someone had access and opened it. What would it say?
