AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You know how old I am.”
“My age isn’t relevant under these circumstances. You need to keep in mind that I’m still your professor.”
“For a handful of weeks. I want to say you’re twenty-six or twenty-seven, but that would make you a child prodigy. Were you?” I curl my hands around my mug, feeling the heat seep into my fingertips.
“No. And I’m older than twenty-seven.”
“By how much?”
She rolls her eyes and purses her lips. “I’m almost thirty.”
“Almost? So you’re still in your twenties, like me.”
“For a few more months, yes.” I can tell I’m making her uncomfortable.
I don’t want her to get up and walk out, so I shift gears. “By the time my dad was in his mid-thirties, he was retired from playing hockey.”
“That’s very young.” She tucks her hair behind her ear.
She has three earrings in the right one. Two up near the top of the shell, as though maybe she had an industrial at one point and didn’t quite want to give up the rebellion. It’s a bit at odds with the bunny socks and cardigans and thick-rimmed glasses.
“He played for more than a decade. Professional hockey careers are short compared to the way most people will stick with the same thing for decades. Some players only get a season or two on the ice before their career is over.” I rest my elbows on the table. “How old were you when you finished your PhD?”
“Twenty-six.”
“That’s faster than most.” For reasons I’m unsure of, I want to know how she got where she is. “Why were you in such a rush to get through college? It’s kinda the last hurrah before you have to start taking life seriously.”
“Are you saying you don’t take life seriously?”
“It’s not that I don’t take it seriously. It’s that I know it’s full of slap shots and chippy plays, so you gotta enjoy the good stuff when it happens.”
“Is that why you half-ass your assignments in my class?” She arches a challenging brow.
“I half-ass a lot of things. I don’t think I realized how intense your class was going to be.”
“Did you think it would be an easy A?”
“More like a moderately effortless C. I probably should have paid closer attention to my advisor when I was signing up for classes. My first professor seemed to like me well enough, but that obviously changed. I tried to switch out after you took over, but I’d passed the deadline, so you were stuck with me.”
She laughs, and her smile does something to me, makes my chest all warm. It’s stupid. She’s a professor. Educated. Established. She’s done everything she can to put distance between us this semester, but for whatever reason, the universe seems pretty determined to keep pushing her back into my orbit.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” She said there’s no live-in boyfriend the other night, but that doesn’t mean there’s no boyfriend at all. Plus, there was a gift basket in her foyer when I checked in on her on Friday.
She focuses on her tea. “I thought we were going to talk about your creative writing assignment, not my personal life.”
“We are. I’m just curious. You’re beautiful. Smart. Funny. Kind. Strong. Independent. Someone has to have noticed that besides me.”
She leans back in her seat and crosses her arms. “You can’t flirt with me, Maverick.”
I bite my thumbnail and give her a half grin. “It’s a compulsion. I can’t help myself.”
“Does that mean you flirt with everyone?”
“Not everyone. Just women I find attractive, and I’m a single Pringle, in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.” She shakes her head and picks up her mug. She’s still smiling, but it’s stiff now. “Keep it up and I’m leaving.”
“I’m sorry.” I hold up a hand. “I’m nervous and deflecting.”
