He held up two tickets, and I grinned.
“I was hoping you had gotten them.” I’d noticed the same young guy in the ticket booth, and the last thing I wanted was to deal with him again after the embarrassment of last night.
We walked inside. The theater was filling up. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand and led him toward the far corner of the back of the room. He jumped at my touch, but didn’t resist. We sat down, his hand not letting mine go.
“Just in case someone we know is here, I thought the back corner made sense,” I explained, my face flushing.
He nodded, his fingers entwining in mine, his skin so soft. “Makes sense.”
I barely heard him; I was too busy focused on the way his finger was gently stroking mine. God, how was it possible that the tiniest touch was arousing me right now?
As the movie went on, I did my best to watch it, but really, all my attention was on him. It took me fifteen minutes to work up the courage to reposition my hand so mine was on top, our fingers laced. He glanced at me with a small smile.
This made me feel more confused. Was he going to end this? And if he was going to stop us before we had even really begun, why hold my hand?
I wish I had the balls to kiss him right now.
This was the perfect arrangement: a dark theater, sitting alone in the corner, holding hands—but I couldn’t do it. No matter how much I ached to feel those lips against mine, I was too scared of being rejected.
Too quickly, the movie was over. We were the first people up and out of our seats, nervous about being spotted. We walked quickly to his car. He unlocked the passenger door and waited until I was safely inside before closing it.
We sat in his car in silence as I waited for him to talk. He was preparing a big speech in his head, I just knew it. I needed to say something now, or I’d lose my chance.
I couldn’t make a bigger fool of myself, so why not go all out?
“I want to say something.” I blurted it out before he could begin.
He glanced at me in surprise, but nodded.
“I like you. A lot. I understand your reservations about getting into a relationship with me, but I’m eighteen. I’m an adult, and we both have less than six weeks of school left. You’re not that much older than me, and I think you like me, too. I don’t expect—or even want—you to risk your job for me, so I’m willing to wait until school is over for the both of us before we start anything.”
I took a breath, waiting for him to respond. He was staring at me with those gorgeous blue eyes, and I was melting into him.
“You’re right,” he finally said. “I do like you, Wrenn. But regardless of the fact that you’re eighteen, this will always have started with you being my student. There is a balance of power thing to consider, and the ethical issues of me dating a student, or even suggesting I’d be interested in doing so when they’ve finished school.”
I snorted. “You’re worried that I’m feeling pressured by your being my teacher?” I unbuckled my seatbelt and turned to face him. Leaning over, I snaked my arm around the curve of his neck, pulling him closer to me. “Does this look like I’m feeling pressured, Dalton?”
He didn’t resist, not even as my lips met his. He kissed me back, his tongue slipping inside my mouth, wrestling against my own. I jumped as I felt his hand on my hip, running down my thigh and stopping on my exposed skin.
Kissing him felt so right, like we were a perfect fit. His lips were so soft, much softer than I’d expected them to be. I ran my fingers over the soft stubble on his jaw, the feeling making my skin tingle.
“I have no idea how this can work, Wrenn. It’s hard enough that I’m your teacher, but we both live on campus. That makes things nearly impossible.”
“I like a challenge,” I said with a smile as I caressed his face. “But if you want to wait until I graduate, I’m fine with that. I don’t want you getting into trouble, nor do I want you to feel like I’m pressuring you into anything,” I added, relaying his own words back to him with a hint of sarcasm.
“You act all innocent, but you’re a little devil, Wrenn,” he chuckled.
Grinning, I leaned over and kissed him again.
Finally, I felt like something was starting to go right in my life again.
Chapter Fourteen
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Wrenn
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“If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?”
We were lying on a blanket down at the bank of the river, staring up at the sky. It was a clear night, clear enough to make out all the twinkling stars above us. I shivered and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling the thick woolen blanket that covered us up to my chin. I giggled as he kissed me.
“Change about myself or my life?” I asked.