Page 37 of Unwritten Rules

And so, I’d dashed outside, uncaring of my state of undress – it’s not like he’s not seen it before, and besides, he’s made it painfully obvious he doesn’t see me that way.

It’d only been as I’d closed the distance between them and me that my eyes had shifted to Nate, and I’d thought, why not.

Kill two birds with one stone.

And so, rather than go apeshit on her ass, I’d laid one on him – a chaste one in fairness; I’d held on to some resolve.

But even then, my body lit up like the Fourth of July under his touch. Every inch of my very exposed skin pebbled with a cascade of goosebumps, and it had taken every ounce of my rapidly fraying determination to pull back.

Zara’s face had been priceless, especially when Nate had simply side-stepped around her, wearing a broad smirk on his handsome face, his vast palms still firmly gripping my backside to carry me koala-style back to the house.

“I’ll see you at 5 p.m. Remember now, littlest DeMarco, whilst on campus, I’m Professor Hawthorne, yes?”

He levels me with his most serious face, all heavily drawn brows and dark, intense eyes. It’s the same one he uses when debating prose with me or listening to my brother rant about the latest Caden drama, and the desire to shatter his learned austerity is altogether too tempting.

“No Westley refs, eh?” I drop my head back against the headrest, twisting my head to side-eye him. “I was so looking forward to being your Buttercup.”

Popping the P at the end, I’m on the cusp of cracking up when Nate playfully squints his eyes.

“More like my fucking Hell…my worst fucking nightmare, wench! Now, be gone.” He smirks, then waves a hand dismissively. “You have your induction with Chancellor Higgins in twenty minutes, and he’s notoriously always early.”

Reaching across my lap, he grabs the handle to tug the door open, but as he pulls back to his seat, his arm brushes deliciously off the white button-down shirt I chose to wear today.

I’m wholly unable to stop myself from arching my chest forward, the simple touch of his forearm across my breasts enough to send a zing of unfettered lust straight to my sex.

In his haste to sit back away from me with an apologetic look on his face, he jerks back, catching a shirt button with his watch and tugging it with him. My shirt buttons pop one by one, almost as though in slow motion, until my entire upper half is exposed to the general populace and one thunderous-looking Professor.

I grasp the edge of the shirt together, roughly yanking the sides closed across my exposed white lace-covered breasts and without making eye contact, we both begin to speak.

“I’m so sorry—”

“Excuse me—”

Still holding the edges of the material, I turn to him at the same time that his eyes search for mine. His swirling chocolate eyes hold my gaze with an intensity bordering on violence.

“Accidents happen, Nate.” My voice trembles ever-so-slightly, and my chest rises and falls at speed as my heart gallops beneath my breastbone.

I stare back at him just as intensely, refusing to give an inch under his powerful glare until a knock on the SUV’s bonnet draws our attention.

A woman around my age is standing front and centre, arms crossed and feet braced apart.

Her light brown hair is pulled back in a high ponytail, and if it weren’t for the grimace on her face, she’d be an absolute knockout.

“Fuck me.” Nate’s whispered expletive reaches my ears easily in the stillness of the vehicle.

“Who’s that?”

Seems I’m asking that a lot when it comes to pretty women and this man.

“A student, littlest DeMarco. Go! I need to have a word with her.”

I can’t help furrowing my brow in a cocktail of anger, annoyance, and a dash of hurt.

“At least give me a moment to salvage some modesty, Professor.”

Beginning to close the handful of buttons, I refuse to look at him as my irritation, irrational or otherwise, escalates considerably. Finally, upon reaching the top button, I lean forward to grab my bag from the passenger side floor and slip from the vehicle without another word.

My frustrations are only compounded further when I pass the mystery student.