Stay focused, Willow.
“Well, we better get to work then,” I say.
I jump off the bed and grab a yellow legal pad of paper and a pen out of my desk drawer and place it in front of him.
“This is kind of old school, but I think better this way and maybe you will too. Jotting down random thoughts and ideas first for your essays will help with outlining. Pull up the syllabus, so you can tell me what the topic is for the first incomplete assignment.”
I’m hovering over Freak’s shoulder and when he turns his head to answer me, it takes me a moment to realize just how close we are to each other. He’s at eye level with my braless breasts, which are bouncing beneath his hoodie.
He suddenly looks away and up at me. I wonder if mine are mirroring what I see reflected in his fiery pupils… an inexplicable curiosity.
“Stop staring at me like that,” I react after a moment.
“I’m just trying to understand what you like about Aaron.”
“Why do you need to understand it?”
“You’re smart, funny and sexy as fuck, Teach. You could have anyone you wanted.”
“That’s, um, inappropriate to say.” I lower my eyes, almost stumbling over my own words.
“I’m just being honest.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know you better than you know, Aaron.”
A text alert from an unknown number startles me out of our lustful stare off.
555-4678: Hey, this is Aaron. Wondering when we can reschedule my session? Trying to prep for organic chemistry next month.
Oh, my God!
I turn the phone around, practically shoving the phone in his face, to show Freak the message.
“Are you responsible for this?” I ask totally shaken, because after what transpired at the café I didn’t actually think I’d hear from Aaron.
“No, but this is a good sign.” He clears his throat. “It’s a great sign. I told you that me taking his spot would infuriate him and it did.”
“So, this text is only because he’s mad at you?”
That doesn’t sound like genuine interest in me at all.
“Yes, but that’s only going to work for your benefit. In fact, I’m thinking that if we turn things up a notch, I’ll be able to meet my terms of the agreement in record time. You may even bring him home this Christmas to meet the family,” he says mockingly.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Santa.”
I place my thumbs on the keypad of my phone as I think about what I’m going to say in response to Aaron’s text.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to schedule him for a session, obviously.”
“No, that’s exactly what you shouldn’t do. Trust me, I’ve got this. You tell him you can’t fit him in. Be real nice about it but blow him off.”
“Blow him off? That’s your brilliant plan?”
“It’s a strategy as old as time and it’ll work.”
