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The way I settled into a new college routine kind of surprised me, as did sort of enjoying the learning. Maybe it was my maturity, but at my age, I got along with the professors better than I ever did the teachers in high school. I also discovered I had the discipline to get through homework and projects like I never had prior to the military, a testament to how the armed forces turned a boy into a responsible man.
Only one class vexed me. English Lit. Only because I was forced to sit there twice a week in Mia’s presence, watching her strut back and forth across the front of the classroom. From her lips spouting passages from Wharton, Bronte, Austin, and Dickens to the tight skirts with a back slit halfway up her thigh showing off long, lean legs—yeah, she was pure distraction.
I also noticed how she attracted other guys taking the class, from those twenty-something students, to good old Jim, the former tuba player. I constantly kept my fists in check. To her credit, though, she maintained professional composure surrounded by guys with questions after each class.
I waited my turn to approach, always the last student to stay after class and walk her to her car. The brief moments to talk or make her laugh spelled trouble, but I couldn’t stay away.
“Hey, did you give any further thought to tutoring me?” I warmed her up with a smile while cringing inside about the upcoming quiz and the research paper she’d just assigned. “I read the chapters, but it’s all a jumbled mess in my brain. The way they talk in classic lit, and the nuances of dating back then, and the proper way they conducted themselves with the rules of polite society. Jeez, I’m glad I’m a modern man when it comes to things like that.”
She stopped in her tracks, walking to the door, shifting an armload of books from one hip to the other. I reached out and took them off her hands, shaking my head. Always, with her arms full of books. Had she never heard of a backpack, briefcase, or something to make her life easier?
“So you believe dating is easier now? Men and women have somehow evolved over the past one hundred years, making finding your perfect person a breeze? Too bad they didn’t have dating apps back then.” She teased me, like the younger Mia would have.
I missed our childhood days when we flung words back and forth to mess with each other. Her golden brown eyes stared up at me with a twinkle, waiting for me to come back with a zinger, something that challenged her, unlike the lines those the other guys fed to her. I knew Mia better.
“Oh yeah. Think about it. Tinder, dating apps, they all allow us to express who we are—”
“Or to present a fake version of ourselves.” Her eyebrows lifted, challenging me.
“–Okay, sure, some people aren’t honest—”
“Then things haven’t changed because people are always trying to present a certain front or to meet society’s expectations. You know, this would make a great exploration for your research paper. ‘A comparison of modern dating to English literature.’” There was that twinkle in her eyes again.
“Ah, all the more reason I need you to tutor me. See, I’m a logical thinker. But with all this writing . . . words give me a headache. Taking online classes while in the military was definitely easier than this.”
Her hand on my arm stopped me as we approached the parking lot. “Lucky for you then, because there is a logical progression toward approaching research—”
“Which you can tutor me through, so I won’t flunk out of this class.” I chuckled, trying not to stare at her hand. Heat flared on my skin from her contact.
“Don’t guilt me into doing this.”
“Is it working?”
She removed her hand and took a step back, sighing at the same time. “Fine. I’ll look at my schedule and shift some things around and let you know. Okay?”
“That’s my girl. And thanks.” I gave her my best smoldering smile and shifted the books back into her arms.
She took out her car keys and clicked to unlock her door. I opened it for her and made no attempt at hiding my interest in her bent over backside as she leaned in and deposited the books onto the backseat. It was a total dick move, but I was a lonely man. It was an impulse I needed to get control over fast if this tutoring thing was to work.
She was my professor. I was a student. We weren’t a man and a woman trying to date. She had her rules to follow, her job to worry about, and I understood. And I didn’t need her brothers beating me up for thinking sexy thoughts about their sister.
“See you next time, Mia.” I waved, and walked off, lost in thoughts all the way back to my car. So much so that I didn’t notice the campus police car slowly riding up behind me until it cut me off, coming to a stop ahead of me.
A big guy about my size stepped out of the car and came toward me. “Well, well. Who do we have here?”
Shit. I recognized him from the past, although he was scrawny back then. “Chad Buckingham? What the hell?” I eyed the dark blue police uniform he wore and the gold-lettered Chief of Campus Police name tag on his left chest. It would reduce my opinion of the college significantly if someone like him headed up security.
“That’s Chief Buckingham to you. What are you doing on my campus?” With his hands on his hips and his awful ginger scowling looks, he attempted a menacing stare. But I’d seen more action with bad guys around the world as a Navy SEAL than he’d ever see in his lifetime, so I crossed my arms with my intimidating stare back.
“It’s a public place, and I’m a student. I have every right to be here.”
He spat on the ground, narrowly missing the toe of my boot. The boot I’d like to shove up his ass. “Maybe so. But we both know the piece of shit you are. And I saw you talking with Mia, or were you harassing a professor? I’ll be watching you like a hawk, Delfino. One wrong move, and I’ll arrest you. And this time, your daddy won’t be around to intervene and save you.”
He folded himself back into the car and took off. I flipped him the bird behind his back.
Why was my return to civilian life riddled with layers from the past? It was one thing to manage my interest in Mia and not let it get any further, and now I had Chad to deal with? I didn’t deserve this. But he was right about Dad. I was on my own this time.
I shook my head, driving back to the Delfino ranch, thinking back to the night of the party where Mia had insisted I teach her how to do body shots. That night had changed my life in so many ways. The shit that happened after the party…It would be the last time Dad stood up for me. And the night that drove the final wedge between us.
