“Um… Professor?” Luca asks in a timid voice. I look up to find him standing in front of my desk, bottom lip pulled between his teeth and his hands gripping the clipboard so hard his knuckles turn white.
Fuck me. How can he simply…stand thereand be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen?
Those deep brown eyes that look a bit wet, as if he might burst into tears at any moment, pull me in. My own hands itch to hold him as tight as he’s clutching the clipboard, so he knows that someone will piece him together if he falls apart.
He’s small, delicate, so fucking sweet. Probably too sweet for a gruff bastard like me, so I’m going to stay away. Ihaveto. If I don’t, I’d fuckingconsumehim. I’d overwhelm him until I’m all he can see, taste, touch, smell. I would require nothing less.
Someone like Luca wouldn’t be able to handle all I wanted from them. It doesn’t stop me from wanting, though.
Doesn’t stop my mind from leaping back to the past either.
He fidgets in front of me, those guileless eyes pleading with me to say… something.
Clearing my throat, I say, “How can I help you, Mr. Archer?”
“Um… I have to go to my next class. I can’t finish your office today.” He looks around at the mess, his gaze bouncing fromone stack of papers to the next. I can almost feel how much the thought of leaving it unfinished bothers him. “But I can finish this week.” He turns back to me and hands me the clipboard. “I started a system for your filing. It should be pretty easy to keep track of. Just… you can…”
Ticking up an eyebrow, I take the clipboard from his hand and look over his system. It’s not bad. It’s actually very smart, and easy to work with.
Thomas never developed a system while he worked for me. He was content to file my paperwork as I gave it to him, and leave shit where he felt like it.
When I don’t reply for a few beats, Luca fidgets from one foot to the other. “If it’s too much, I can stay…”
I flick my gaze back to him and say, “No, it’s fine. You did good work.”
Just as I knew it would, his features relax and a brilliant smile crosses his face. It’s like a light is shining under his skin, illuminating him in a way that makes my fucking knees weak.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!
Henever looked at me like that. Never looked so free and happy after a simple compliment. Luca seems different… but is he really?
Sharp knocking at my office door has both Luca and me snapping our heads up and in the direction of the sound.
Crista struts inside, looking around my office. “Well, I guess having a competent TA makes all the difference.” She looks at Luca, giving him the once-over. He curls into himself, his eyes lowered and that pretty blush gone.
I have to fight the growl that wants to burst from me.
“Thank you,” he murmurs. “I’ll be here tomorrow, Professor.” He scurries out, and I stand as if I’m some kind of fucking Victorian gentleman.
When I hear his quick footsteps retreat down the hall, I sit down and turn to my computer.
“Bad idea,” Crista says, taking her favorite seat on the edge of my desk.
“What?” I ask, even though I know.
“Don’t play coy with me, Professor,” she drops her voice to resemble Luca’s. “He’s a student.”
“Not my student,” slips out of my mouth before I can gobble the words back.
Her sharp laughter grates on my nerves. “No, not your student. Be careful if that’s what you want to pursue, though. It can get… messy.”
Sighing, I push back from my desk, threading my fingers through my hair. “I know. I won’t do anything. I can’t.”
“You need to come out with us tonight. If you find someone who’savailable”—she gives me a stern look—“then you won’t be thinking about bending your TA over the desk and fucking him until he cries.”
God, that image implants itself into my mind, morphing and solidifying until I can almost taste the tears running down his cheeks as I rail Luca into the wood of my desk. He’d be sweet too, thanking me for making him feel so good, soaking up the praise I gave him for being such a good fucking boy.
It’s a no-brainer. I’ll be going to Mask with Crista and Mika tonight.
