Filed to story: Shhh Professor! Please Don’t Tell! Novel Free
Melanie’s Dare was changed to getting the concierge’s number, which took her all of thirty seconds. I had a feeling she’d done something other than set a building on fire last night.
“Okay,” Melanie said, returning to the circle and tucking the piece of paper that held the concierge’s number into her bra. “Professor Steele is next.”
My heart sank. Then again, best to get it over with.
“Truth,” I said.
A ripple of “ooh’s passed across the circle.
What was I thinking? I should have asked for Dare. They might ask me something merciless. I just hoped they fished for something obscene which they wouldn’t get. I’d never done anything obscene.
Right?
They thought for a few moments, and then Henry asked, “What do you love more than anything else in the world?”
Oh no.
The circle chorused approval of the question.
“Money, obviously,” joked Tony.
Was that really what they thought of me?
I sat still for a few moments, staring into space. They thought I was trying to think of an answer. I was trying to figure out how to let out the answer that was burning on my tongue without saying her name.
“I love…my heart,” I said.
“Daw,” cried Tony. A few of the girls cooed.
“That’s so sweet,” said Melanie, sincerely.
Ellie glanced up briefly, hurriedly, and then looked back down at her book. Her lips were pressed together.
Everyone thought I’d meant it literally. As if I was saying, “I love what allows me to love more than anything else.” I hated that Ellie had heard it. To her it must sound like some sort of narcissistic response “I love me
.”
I’d meant her. I’d meant Ellie. Ellie was my heart.
I awoke to the feeling of something rising and falling against my back. My eyelids fluttered open.
Sunlight. A view of a balcony overlooking the ocean. White gauze curtains fluttering in a fresh morning breeze.
I was naked. There were two strong arms wrapped around my torso, pressing against my stomach and my breasts. Someone’s legs were nestled against the back of mine.
Jackson.
I was sleeping with Jackson.
I inhaled deeply and felt him shift against me. He nuzzled his nose against my shoulder.
“Good morning,” he whispered.
I wiggled around until I could see his face. His eyes gazed into mine, bright and blue. He was smiling like he couldn’t possibly stop. I felt shy. Holding him like this felt like something I’d done a thousand times, and also like something I would never quite get used to.
“It’s late,” I whispered. “I should get out of here. Before anyone comes to find you.”
Jackson rolled over and glanced at his clock.
“Seven o’clock isn’t exactly late,” he said.
“I’d meant to be out of here before dawn,” I whispered. I felt as though the walls had ears. Nobody could know I’d been there.
He nodded. “Okay,” he said. He kissed me on the nose.
We sat up together. The air seemed to prickle on my breasts. I felt shy about being naked in a way that I hadn’t last night. I didn’t mind Jackson looking at me it was more of a feeling that the universe, the daylight, could see me. I shivered a little even though the air was warm.
I got back into my bra and panties hurriedly and tugged my dress on over my head.
“Shoes?” Jackson asked me. He was still sitting in the middle of the bed, still naked, his hair mussed up and the sweetest sleepy expression on his face.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and kissed him, long and tenderly.
Would it be the last time I would get to?
“I didn’t wear any,” I said.
He smiled, biting his lip as if that was sexy. I smiled back at him, kissed his forehead, and went to the door. I opened it cautiously, peering down the hallway. There was no one in sight. I turned around one more time to look at Jackson. I didn’t mean to smile at him, just look at him a glance back for my own sake to treasure the sight of him. But I was smiling. I guessed that the smile on my face was as radiant and dazed as the one on his.
I crept out into the hallway. I took a few slow steps, moving silently, and then decided that speed was the better option. I pulled up the skirts of my long dress and began to scamper down the hallway towards the staircase.
As I turned the corner, I nearly collided with someone.
Professor Spaulding.
My heart dropped through the floor. He blinked at me, his expression frozen. He looked me up and down.
I could feel my heart hammering in my ears.
He knew where all of our rooms were. He had made our hotel reservations. He had put the boys on the third floor, the girls on the first floor, and the professors on the second floor.