Dr. Kavanagh watched the three of us making out in her room with narrowed eyes and a mouth puckered in prim disapproval. The sight should’ve shriveled up my budding arousal like a bucket of ice-cold water straight to my junk, but alarmingly, seeing her watch me suck on some other girl’s tongue only juiced me up more.
Not for the first time, I wondered how old she was. Vinegar and piss must really preserve a body, because there was no way she could be as young as she looked. I definitely would’ve carded her if she’d been a stranger who’d come into the bar where I worked. Without a wrinkle in sight, her lips had that fresh, inexperienced plush look about them, making them young...and incredibly kissable.
Which was an unexpected, disturbing thought I wanted to scrub from my brain with acid and a wire brush. What freak thought about their most detested teacher that way? Still, that mouth lacked age lines that would cup an older woman. She had to be in her early twenties, even though that couldn’t be possible.
“Excuse us.” I smirked as I curled my arms around both Tianna and her friend and escorted them from the lecture hall.
Kavanagh might be like every other educator in my life who’d told me I was shit, but here, in this world, I was a king, and I needed my groupies to help remind me of that. The girls giggled and snuggled in around me, more than willing to oblige.
“Want to come to lunch with us, Noel?” Tianna asked, rubbing my back, while her friend smoothed a palm over my chest. “We have something especially tasty for you up in our room.”
Her companion snickered at the not-so-hidden double meaning. “You’re into...sandwiches...aren’t you?”
Oh, hot damn. A threesome. I was tempted. I mean, what guy wouldn’t be? A couple hours between the sheets with a pair of no-strings-attached beauties would ease my nerves, a lot, but…
I winced. “I really shouldn’t. I have another class I can’t miss.” I couldn’t afford to flunk one course, let alone two.
“Are you sure?” the redhead asked, her fingers trailing downward now. “We’d make it worth your while.”
I caught her hand so she couldn’t tempt me into changing my mind just as my cell phone vibrated in my jeans pocket. Offering her another apologetic cringe, I shrugged. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but...rain check?” Please.
Her wide smile was instant. “Of course.”
“All right, then. I look forward to it.” Grinning, I swatted her on the ass, nudging her along. Tianna hooked her arm through the redhead’s, and the two girls strolled away.
With a wistful sigh, I stole a moment to enjoy their firm backsides sheathed in tight denim as I blindly dug my phone free. I answered, unable to take my gaze from the snack I’d just turned down.
“What’s up?” Even as I spoke, my eyes tracked those swaying hips. Maybe I could meet up with them later today because seriously...a threesome.
“Noel?” The girl on the other end of the line sniffed. “Colton’s sick. He won’t eat or get out of bed. I don’t know what to do.”
Alarm, thick and instant, roared through me, immediately ripping my thoughts away from sex. “What’s wrong?”
I plugged one ear with my finger and turned my back to the sprawling campus to move away from the sidewalk. The shadow of a small tree growing by a row of perfectly trimmed hedge didn’t provide the privacy I would’ve liked, but it would have to do.
“I don’t know. He has a fever of a hundred and four and says his throat hurts.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed my face. Fuck. “Have you called the doctor? Is he drinking enough fluids? Where’s Mom?”
“I don’t know.” Caroline exploded into a round of sobs. “She hasn’t been home all week. Colton begged to stay back from school yesterday and since he hadn’t missed yet this year, I thought it’d be okay. But he’s worse today and—”
“Okay, okay.” Out of habit, I lifted my hand to stop her, even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “It’s going to be fine. Just calm down. He probably has strep throat or something like that. See if you can get him to take some Tylenol and water. Get that fever down. I’ll contact the doctor’s office and find out if they can see him today. Call you back in a few.”
I hung up on my sister before she could pile any more shit on me. Caroline had been forced to shoulder a lot of responsibility after I’d left home, but I was doing the whole college bit and gunning for a pick on the NFL draft for them, so I could take care of her and our two younger brothers.
Because our mother sure as hell didn’t give a shit.
Relieved I had saved the number of Colton’s pediatrician in my phone after last year when he’d gotten chicken pox, I dialed the receptionist and was grateful they could fit him in for a late afternoon checkup.
When I called my sister back, she sounded calmer. “Thanks, Noel. I’m sorry I freaked on you. I just—”
“Hey, no apologies. I know what it’s like, remember? And that’s what I’m here for. Just let me know what the doctor says. Oh, and wait, do you have any money for the appointment or medicine they’ll prescribe?”