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  My dad looked at me curiously, listening closely. I got off the couch and waved goodbye quickly as I walked to my room. This conversation needed some alone time.

  “He’s so nice and acted as if we didn’t see him at the frat party,” she continued. “I tried asking him what he did after we left, but he ignored my question and continued explaining the homework. But he did tell me not to bring up the party again before our call ended. So whatever.”

  I lay down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

  “Hello? What are you doing?” she questioned. “Are you still there?”

  “Oh, sorry. I’m listening to you.” And thinking about Connor..

  “Well, anyway, did you do your homework yet?”

  “I’ll start it after I talk to you.”

  “Let’s do homework together?”

  “Okay.” I smiled.

  Doing homework together meant baking a cake as we gossiped about boys and makeup lessons. I wasn't sure if homework would get done tonight.

  “Okay, see you in a few.”

  We hung up and I rolled over to stare at my picture on the nightstand. Connor had tickled me before that photo, flooding us with my giggles.

  I smiled.

  I’ve missed you, Connor.

  Chapter 4

  I arrived early to school and headed to Connor’s class to see if he had arrived early as well. I tried the doorknob and it turned easily in my hands, so I pulled the door open and walked inside.

  Connor was the only one in the classroom. He sat at his desk with his head down reading while eating his breakfast. I closed the door and turn the lock. He glanced up and blinked. I walked to him.

  “I should tell you that I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here in class alone with me.”

  “What’s stopping you?”

  He scooted back in his chair and his brow drew together in sorrow. “This is all very dangerous, you and I. I know I won’t be able to stay away from you. The harder I push myself to leave you alone the more I would want you. What do we do?”

  Then the moment came suddenly as Connor pulled me into his lap.

  I gasped in surprised. This was exciting and frightening all at once. I wrapped my arms around him and he rested his head on my shoulder.

  “This is wrong. All of this is wrong. But I don’t want to stay away from you anymore.”

  I grabbed his chin and whispered staring at his lips, “I don’t want to stay away from you.”

  He traced a finger along my freckles on my cheek as he stayed quiet, lost in his thoughts. “I’ll keep us safe. And I’ll protect you. I want you. Do you trust me?”

  “I do,” I whispered.

  He removed my hand from his chin and kissed it sweetly. “Before we go any further, you should know what happened after we left…We did move away, but we came back after a year. Vida, please believe me. I didn’t want to leave you, but we were kids. I had to go where my family went.” He paused and took a deep breath. “You’re still very much a kid.”

  “I’m seventeen,” I whispered.

  “You still have a lot of living to do, my beautiful ginger.”

  “I’m not a kid.”

  He chuckled. “Vida, I’m sorry. You’re right, you’re not a kid. You’re a breathtaking, gorgeous woman.” Connor grabbed my head with both hands and ran his fingers through my hair, pulling my head back. He kissed the tip of my chin and brought me back until our lips were inches apart. “Now, I’m going to kiss you like a woman should be kissed.”

  His kiss was gentle and teasing, tongue delving in and rolling, rubbing along a sensitive part underneath my lips—a part I didn’t know existed. I moaned, wanting more.

  Connor pulled back, staring into my eyes. “Are you ready for this?” he whispered.

  “Yes. Kiss me, Connor. Kiss me,” I breathed.

  He brought his lips back to me and kissed me again. His gentleness returned, but there was a hunger in his kiss, a possession—a silent, begging wish for me to be older.

  I was his …

  I kissed him harder and deeper, my hands running in his hair. I lifted my leg and straddled him, pressing myself against him.

  Forget your promise and your rules…

  Our kiss went on and on and on … tender and sweet, then rough and demanding. I didn’t want our kiss to end.

  Connor pulled back and brought his lips close to my ear. “Vida, we should stop now, or I won’t be able to stop later.”

  I rested my forehead on his for a moment to gather myself, then pulled back and smoothed his tousled blond locks. I smoothed my own hair and Connor shifted in his seat to move me off his lap.

  “V, students will be coming in soon. You should get to your class.”

  “You’re giving me a new nickname?” A smile slowly formed on my lips. “It sounds so sexy and womanly.”

  His eyes roved over me and he bit his upper lip. He closed his eyes for a second and scooted his chair back so it faced his desk again. “Go to your class.”

  “Okay,” I whispered, reaching down to grab my messenger bag off the floor, glancing back at him. He looked back at me with an indefinable emotion.

  “Stay after class with me?”

  I blinked in shock, speechless. He’d caught me by surprise. Connor raised both brows and smirked as he waited for my response.

  “Yes,” I breathed. My mind was complete mush.

  “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  Thud …

  I turned and walked towards the door, the only thing I could do. My steps were unsteady and I bumped into the desk by the door as I walked out of the classroom.

  I steadied my walk as I moved slowly and carefully toward my first period class down the hall. Amber was outside of the classroom, phone in hand and head down. She yawned and looked up.

  “Hey, there you are. Was it rough waking up this morning?”

  “Yes, let’s not do that again. One all-night homework session is enough. An entire weekend is crazy.” I covered my mouth as I yawned. Amber had arrived at my place Saturday, but hadn’t gone home until almost 2am on Sunday which was technically this morning. It was going to be a long day.

  She laughed. “Ready?” She tilted her head toward the doorway. “I hope today goes by fast.”

  “Yes,” I agreed softly as we walked into the classroom.

  ***

  The day did go by fast and before I knew it, we’d reached the last class of the day … Connor’s class.

  Amber walked in before I did, her attention immediately directed to the front of the class. “Do you think he’s all alpha with his girlfriend … if he has one, I mean.”

  I stopped walking. “I think he would be sweet.” And tender.

  Amber sat down and started digging through her book bag. I sat down next to her and immediately glanced up at Connor. Our eyes locked.

  “I’m sorry,” he mouthed.

  My head tilted as I mouthed back, “For?”

  His mouth moved to speak again, but stopped, his eyes darting toward the door. I followed his gaze. Emma walked in, her eyes cast on me, then Connor, then back to me. She smirked as she sat in her seat.

  “Hi, Mr. Tomlinson. I hope you had a great weekend.” Her word oozed with fakeness.

  “I did. Thank you, Emma.” Connor walked to the board and picked up a marker, writing in big, bold letters POP QUIZ. He turned back around, his hard eyes falling on Emma.

  “I hope you studied what I assigned to read, Emma.” Connor walked back to his desk and sat down.

  Emma unzipped her backpack and pulled out her books, flipping them open. Her head bent low as she frantically started to read.

  “It’s a lot to cram into your head in ten minutes,” Connor said, working his jaw.

  I sat back and watched their exchange. It took me a moment to understand and remember the reasons for Connor’s irritation with her. Emma’s family had ruined his family too.

  “Oh, Connor,” I whispered, tears building in my eye
s.

  “Shit, pop quiz.” Amber sounded worried. “We’ve got this, right?”

  I rubbed my chin on my shoulder, blinking away my tears, then turned toward her and laughed at her pained expression. “Yes, we’ve got this. Stop worrying.”

  “Okay, but I’m crossing my fingers anyway.”

  Students filed into the classroom, and once the clock ticked three, Connor grabbed a stack of paper from his desk and handed it to the student sitting in the front.

  “Good luck, everyone,” he said before he sat back down. I watched as he picked up his cell phone and began to text.

  Amber dropped her head and whispered, “Do you think he’s texting his girlfriend? Or wife? Please not a wife.”

  My phone vibrated in my messenger bag. Amber glanced at it first and narrowed her eyes.

  Oh no…

  “Who’s texting you?”

  I grabbed my phone and turned off the vibrator, seeing an unknown number.

  “It’s my dad.”

  “Oh,” she said, raising a doubtful eyebrow as she handed me a quiz sheet.

  There were five question, all of which we’d studied hard. I gave Amber a thumbs up and wrote down my answers. We finished at the same time and walked up together to hand in our quiz.

  “Art appreciation is so boring. That test almost made my eyes bleed,” Amber whispered.

  I nodded in agreement.

  As I put the quiz at the corner edge of the desk, Connor looked up from his phone. He dipped his head once, then returned his gaze to his phone. A pinch of hurt captured me as I turned and walked back to my seat.

  “I’m so glad we studied that section in the book more than once,” Amber said when we were back at our desk.

  “Mm hmm.” I grabbed my phone again to check my missed text.

  Student is asking for help after class. I’ll text you later tonight.

  The pinch increased.

  I stared at my phone, unblinkingly and blocking Amber from the view of my screen as she puckered her lips with annoyance.

  The students finished their quizzes and Connor walked to his podium.

  “I’m going to start teaching you what you’ll need to know for your final. I know we still have three months left of the semester, but there’s a lot to learn, and planting knowledge into your brains early will be a great thing for your busy minds. Grab your books and go to page two hundred and twelve. Vida, would you please read the first paragraph to the class.”

  My head jerks up and we locked eyes. He stared expectantly at me, but there was a hidden tease in those baby blue orbs of his.

  I started reading to the class, then Connor took over immediately after and explained why that particular passage had been included in the constitution. I admired his passion for teaching, and I smiled at the sexy way his hands moved as he talked, and how he lit up when the students understood what he was talking about.

  The hour went by quickly as the students hung on his every word. “We’ll stop here,” Connor said when he noticed the time. “Go home and read chapters four through six and read over your notes. I will see you all tomorrow.”

  He walked back to his desk as the students started to walk out. Amber stood with her bag, waiting for me to get up. Elizabeth, a shy classmate, walked toward Connor and grabbed a chair to sit next to him. She smoothed her blonde hair behind her ear before talking to him. He didn’t glance my way as he started talking to her. My gaze dropped, trying to hide my hurt as I followed Amber out.

  “See you later, girlie. I’m going home and crashing. You should do the same.” She gives me a hug before walking toward her car.

  I kissed the top of my Honda then stepped in. I drove home and arrived to an empty house. There were a note and dinner on the table, but I ignored both and headed to my room, falling fast asleep.

  Chapter 5

  A hard knock on the front door woke me up and I groaned, rolling over and burying my face in my pillow. My arm stretched out to my nightstand, my fingers tapping around the surface for my phone. As my fingers wrapped around it, I opened one eye to check the time.

  9 am.

  Shit!

  I dropped my phone and scrambled out of bed.

  I heard knocking again as I smoothed my hair away from my face roughly and walked to the front door, peeking through the peep hole. Amber stood outside with her arms crossed, annoyance and worry written on her face. I opened the door and rested my temple on the frame, my eyes squinting.

  "Oh my God! I was worried sick! What the hell, Vida? You didn't answer any of my texts or calls last night or this morning." Amber pushes her way in and gets the full view of my just woken self. "My goodness! You just woke up?"

  "I slept through the night." I frowned. "I didn't realize I was so tired."

  "Your dad didn't wake you up before work?"

  "No, he's not home."

  Crap…

  "Where did he go?"

  I shook my head, too tired to start protecting his secrets. "He's on a business trip."

  "Why didn't you tell me? You can't stay here by yourself. You’ll get lonely. You can stay over at my place until he gets home."

  "I like my space,” I say softly.

  “Well, if you change your mind—”

  "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready for school."

  "It'll be too late for school once you’re done getting ready. Wanna just ditch today?"

  "I have perfect attendance,” I pointed out.

  "One day off from high school won't hurt you,” she challenged.

  "It would only take one day to ruin my rules."

  Amber huffed. "Live a little, Vida."

  I frowned. "I do live.”

  She cringed. “I'm sorry."

  Hurt, I turned around to walk to my room, but Amber stopped me again. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  I stopped. There was something in her voice …

  Desperation.

  I knew that tone all too well.

  My face softened as I turned toward Amber. “Isn’t today the first day of the fair?”

  She grinned. “We’re going?”

  “Yep, just let me get dressed.”

  When I got to my room, I picked up my phone to check for a missed call or text from Connor. Nothing. I decided to text him instead.

  Hey, I’m not going to class today. Woke up late. Just thought you’d want to know

  I waited for his text. Five minutes passed before I gave up and tossed my phone on my bed. My chest squeezed.

  Why hadn’t he texted me?

  ***

  After I’d finished dressing, we went back to her place so she could change out of her school clothes. Then we’d decided to do a little shopping which turned into a lot of shopping, so it was after five by the time we finally made it to the fair.

  “It’s okay. The fair is prettier at night anyway,” she told me. I had to agree.

  The loud booming noises hit us as we walked closer to the entrance gate, but since it was a school night, there was no line.

  “I got a fake ID from Emma,” Amber whispered. “I want to drink. Can you drive home?”

  I sighed. “Okay.”

  “Thank you,” she mouthed and pulled my hand to the booth that issued wristbands. When we get in line, Amber composed herself to show confidence as we waited. I glanced around and my eyes fell on a familiar blond who was standing with five other guys, beer in hands and laughing.

  My mouth dropped open.

  “Wow. Mr. Tomlinson sure has a fun life,” Amber said.

  The people in front of us left with their wristbands, so we stepped forward. Amber handed over her fake ID, and a wristband snapped around her wrist. She grinned. “Time to get some beer,” Amber said, pulling my hand.

  Naturally, she led us toward Connor. "Mr. Tomlinson, we should stop meeting like this,” Amber teased.

  One of the guys nodded his head at Connor, then smirked.

  Connor blinked at me, then smoothed an eyebrow with the knu
ckle of his thumb and gave his friend a disapproving look. Without thinking, Amber lifted her cup and took a drink, her eyes closed in bliss. Connor's jaw twitched.

  "How did you get the beer?"

  Amber’s eyes popped open, then she slowly took the cup from her lips and looked to me for help.

  "Give me your cup," he commanded.

  Amber passed him her cup without hesitation. He downed the dark brown liquid, then crushed the cup in his hand.

  "Someone’s in trouble with her teacher,” one of the guys chuckled. Another guy in the group looked around and nodded toward the beer counter. His boys get the hint and leave Connor with us.

  “How did you get the beer?” he asked sharply.

  “I got a fake ID.” Amber hung her head.

  “The stupidest thing you can do right now is to want to become an adult. Be a kid as long as you can.” His voice softened.

  Amber lifted her head. “I know. It was just a lot going on,” she whispered.

  “That must be the reason why you didn’t go to school today?”

  “Yes,” Amber said softly. “And Vida didn’t wake up for school on time.”

  He raised an eyebrow and cut me a look for a split second before glancing back to Amber. “I’ll show you how to have fun without the need to intoxicate yourself.” He smiled and capturing us with his bright blue eyes.

  Connor turned back to Amber. “Trust me?”

  “Amber beamed. “Yes.”

  Connor’s friends join us again, full cups of beer in their hands.

  “I’ll see you guys at the carnival section. These ladies need to get schooled on some good ole small town fun.” Connor winked.

  I blushed. If he kept this up, I’d be a pile of mush at his feet by the end of the night.

  “Hey, man. Wait. Let us finish our beers. We’ll join you.” They downed their beers and one guy collects the cup, throwing them in the trash.

  As we walked towards the carnival, Connor fell behind, walking next to me. He grabbed the hem of my green and yellow flannel, his knuckles brushing the top of my butt.

  My body instantly hummed.

  He came closer, his lips next to my ears. “Did you drink?” he asked, his breath warm and raspy.

  “No.”

  “Good girl.”