Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
“Alright,” I ask near the end of the time period. “Does anyone have any questions?”
A girl in the back raises her hand. “Are you two single?”
The class erupts in laughter while Mike and I laugh and roll our eyes. This, unfortunately, isn’t the first time we’ve gotten that question from students. In the front row, I see the girl from the sauna blush furiously and look down, avoiding our gazes.
“Definitely an inappropriate question,” I respond with a quirk of a brow, “and one we won’t deign to answer. Any other questions about the class or the subject material?”
There are none. “Then you’re all dismissed,” I say. “Mike and I will stick around for a little bit if anyone needs anything. Good first class, and we’ll see you next week.”
The fifty-odd students rush out the door, talking and laughing, feet hitting the floor with the intensity of a minor stampede.
“Hey,” I hear a voice near the front murmur. “I have a few questions I want to ask the professors about the class. I’ll be done soon, but go ahead and go back without me.”
It’s the curvy girl talking to her friend and the friend cocks her head.
“You want me to wait?”
“No, don’t worry about it,” our beautiful woman says.
The sauna girl’s friend waves and exits the room, leaving her alone in the room with us. Finally, everyone’s exited and the classroom is empty and quiet. I take a deep breath and feel Mike stiffen beside me. Is she going to out us?
But the young woman looks shy, smiling slightly, wringing her hands in front of her. “Um, hi,” she says with a laugh. “This is super awkward to say the least. I just was wondering if you… um, recognize me…”
“Of course we recognize you,” Mike growls, his blue eyes flaring. “It’s good to see you again. I didn’t know if we would.”
She instantly relaxes, smiling herself. “I’m Violet,” she murmurs.
I smile. “Good to officially meet you, Violet. I’m sorry we didn’t introduce ourselves yesterday. Didn’t want to ruin the heat of the moment, you know?”
She laughs, still blushing. God, she looks incredible in that sundress. I struggle to pull my attention away from the swell of her breasts and the lushness of her hips. Unless she says otherwise, she’s our student now, and nothing more. I need to stay utterly professional.
“So how long have you been teaching here?” she asks after a pause.
“About five years,” I say. “We both managed to get gigs here at around the same time. We went to grad school together.”
“Are you a freshman?” Mike asks.
She shakes her head.
“No, this is my second year.”
“Well, we’re certainly glad to have you in our class,” I say, and mean it. “And about what happened… It’s entirely up to you. If you want, we never have to talk about it again.” I exchange a glance with Mike, who nods in agreement. “The last thing we want to do is make you uncomfortable in any way. We can keep things strictly professional if you like.”
“But,” Mike chimes in, “we would both love to see you again in a non-professional setting, if you have any interest in that. And we’d love to talk about this more elsewhere, since now, here, isn’t really the best place. Scott, what do you think?”
I nod. We definitely have a lot to talk about, if Violet’s game.
She nods shyly. “I would like that.”
“Great,” I say. “Why don’t you meet us later this week at Cafe Horus? It’s on Madison and East Fifth. Is there a day that works for you?”
“I don’t have classes on Thursday,” Violet says.
“We have a 10 a.m., but other than that, Thursdays work for us,” I say. “Let’s meet Thursday at one. Our treat. Oh, and I jumped to conclusions: do you drink coffee?”
Violet smiles. “As a college student, it’s basically the law that I drink coffee.”
We all chuckle. Beautiful, smart, and with a great personality to boot? Violet is certainly an interesting young woman, and I look forward to the chance to get to know her better--whether in a personal or professional context.
“We’ll see you then,” Mike says. Violet nods, chews on her bottom lip for a second, and then blushes and practically flees the room.
As soon as she’s gone, I cast my friend a sidelong glance. “What are the fucking odds?” I ask.
He lets out a low whistle while getting his stuff together.
“Slim to none,” he says. “We’re either the unluckiest men in the world or we’re about to be the luckiest.”
With a laugh, I agree. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
6
Violet
With an exasperated sigh, I flop face-down onto my bed, surrounded by nearly every article of clothing I own. Plenty of fashion magazines have advice on what to wear on a first date. None of them have prepped me on what to wear on a first date with my professors, plural.