“Lied?”
What am I, a parrot?
His hands grip the wheel, his knuckles white. “Yes, Sophie. I lied.” He turns to me then, and there’s something in his eyes, something almost desperate. “The way I feel about you, it’s…” he shakes his head. “You’re driving me fucking crazy.”
His voice drops, low and smoky.
“I want to do this. All of it. I want to date you, get to know you,be with you. You’ve lit up my world after too long in the dark. I look forward to class every day, not because I want to teach a bunch of high school students, but because I want to see you.”
I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
And then I’m moving, and so is he. Our hands grabbing, pulling, desperate to touch each other. Our lips crash together, each of us devouring the other. Starving for each other.
His body is hard beneath my hands, and suddenly, I’m not in my seat anymore. His hands grip my waist, lifting and moving me until I’m straddling him. Holding me tighter, he presses me flush against his warm body.
The car is too small, the space too tight. My legs are squished between his and the door on one side, the middle console on the other, but I don’t care.
All I care about ishim. The heat of his body, his hands onmy skin. The way he groans against my lips, like he’s losing control. I move against him, rocking my hips, and he shudders.
More. I want more. And the hardness between my legs conveys he does, too.
His fingers slip beneath my hoodie, rough palms skating up my spine, igniting every nerve in my body. I’m on fire.
“Sophie,” he groans, breaking away just long enough to breathe my name, and it’s nearly my undoing.
We lose ourselves in each other. It’s more than just a kiss, it’s a release of every emotion, of all of the tension, that’s been strung tight between us since the night we first met. The bar, all those months ago.
Who knew that we’d end up here, teacher and student, yet something so much more.
I tug his bottom lip between my teeth, a soft whimper escaping from my throat…
And then my phone rings, the sharp sound cutting through the steam in the car like a knife. I freeze and my heart plummets in my chest.
The only people calling me this late would be Sal… or my parents. I snatch the phone, terror seizing in my chest.
Dad.
Fuck.
Theo sees the name before I can hide it.
My hand shakes as I swipe to answer the call. I steady my breathing. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” His voice is sharp, loud. I cringe, my body going taut. Theo does too, his large frame going rigid beneath me.
“I—I went for a walk.” I stammer. “I needed some fresh air.”
“Get your ass home. NOW.” He yells, his voice steely. “It is way past curfew. Keep pushing it, Sophie, and you’ll regret it.”
Theo’s jaw locks, his grip tightening on my hips.
My head falls forward, resting on Theo’s chest. The weight of reality crashes back onto me.
“Yes, sir.” The phone clicks dead as he hangs up.
Theo tilts my chin up, his touch unbearably soft and light. “Are you okay?”
I nod, tears burning my eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
