I swallow.
"This feels very...forward."
"Asking questions is how you learn," he says easily. "There's no such thing as a dumb question in my classroom." I roll my eyes internally at his professor voice. "Now. Balls. Optional. Only if you're comfortable. They're also quite sensitive so palming them can be very pleasurable."
He closes the book. "That's enough theory for today."
"Thank God." I hiss, feeling like my cheeks are on fire.
"I'm serious," he says, softer now. "You don't need to know everything at once."
I blink at the sudden sincerity in his voice and eyes before he blinks and it's gone, the amused smile back on his face. "Thanks...I think."
He settles back in his seat, before closing the book. "The rest is a bit more in-depth then what you need to know, so we can move onto the female anatomy."
I raise a brow, "I think I'm good on that one."
Asher blinks back, running his hands through his hair, looking suddenly sheepish, "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Umm, thanks?" I mutter, straightening in my seat, "for the tips."
He's staring at me and it feels like he can see right through me and then he gets up from the chair so suddenly I sit back a little in surprise.
He doesn't look at me, focused intently on something at the far wall. Awkwardness fills the space between us, and I force myself to look away, back at the business textbook open in front of me. "When do you want to start tutoring?"
This was a bad idea. I should stop this while we're ahead.
"I've got to make an appearance at the party tonight." Is his only answer. The team always do, most of the parties are thrown in the hockey team's honour for one reason or another.
"That wasn't my question."
He rolls his shoulders as if they're tense, "Can I let you know later?"
I nod, beginning to pack up my things all while feeling his gaze on me. He doesn't say anything else before walking off.
Chapter 5
Tip five; don't be afraid to ask for what you want.
Ivy
Sunlight filters into my room from the bay window to my right, coasting over my covers and the tips of my toes.
I pull my eyes away from the glow and back to the computer in front of me, forcing my mind to focus on what it needs to.
My assignment.
Yet, even as I try to pay attention, my mind keeps drifting, falling into fantastical lands far away, to lords and ladies, to dragons, to Fae magic, to more than just this life I live.
And that's all my mind needs, I can no longer focus on the assignment in front of me, instead I need to read like I need oxygen.
I'm sure if you ask a psychologist why I feel compelled to do something as soon as I think it, so that I'm no longer indebtedto the carousel of my thoughts and the what's ifs, they'd tell you there's a label for it.
But I'm doing fine so it's fine.
• • •
I'm not even two pages into the book when there's a knock at my door and I look up, narrowing my eyes at the wood as if I can see through it.
