I felt heat as if the sunlight had burned through the high clouds and reached through the treetops to touch me directly. I blinked and saw the light had not changed, except in Ford's eyes. The smoky-gray had deepened to reveal a dark blue, like the stormy ocean when the depths are disturbed.
My hands were supposed to push him away, not drag my fingertips across the ridges of his abs, and start to slip around his waist. The absentminded move made Ford's lips part on a ragged sigh and I felt his arms flex around me.
"Clarity," he whispered, louder this time.
"We can't," I said.
Ford’s voice was a low growl. "That doesn't make this any easier to ignore."
A wave of desire was pouring out from his eyes and I felt myself about to drown. My entire body buzzed with the need to press against him, test the soft pressure of his lips, and dive into the whirlpool of lust I could feel spinning inside of me.
It took every bit of strength and nerve for me to turn around and secure my carabiner to the zip line. The line stretched out through the branches at a reasonable angle, but I wasn't prepared for the speed my body weight would create. I flew through the autumn leaves and the wind buffeted away my scream before it could escape my throat.
I wanted to enjoy it, the wild rush of it. The free flying sweep out of the treetops and over the forest floor was exactly what I needed to capture for my news article. If I could make the reader feel the same exhilaration and sense of rapture, then Ford would have to give me an A+.
The only problem was separating it from my personal experience. What I had felt on the far-reaching ropes and the treetop platforms was not what the reader wanted to know. Somehow, I had to untangle the riot of feelings I had experienced on the high platform. My heart skidded to a swinging stop at the thought. Did Ford feel the same way I did when we touched?
I must have imagined it. Otherwise, he was right; how were we supposed to ignore it?
Two ropes course instructors caught me at the bottom and released me from the harness. Ford came flying down, laughing and whooping. When he was also free, he walked over to me.
"I don't care what you say, that was awesome."
I drew a shaky breath and pushed him away. "How's that for getting outside my comfort zone?"
Ford bumped a bare arm against me and we both felt the jolt of electricity pass between us. "There's no going back now," he said.
#
My notes trailed off into a blank space slashed with absentminded pen marks. I had forgotten to hit record on my laptop and Professor Bauer's lecture was almost over. I wanted to throw down my pen and admit defeat, but I could feel his eyes on me. Not a long stare, or a glance that anyone else would notice, but every time his eyes passed over me, I was back in the treetops.
The night after the ropes course, I couldn't sleep. It gave me plenty of time to write and rewrite the article to make up for my D+, but even I had to admit that was not why I was sleepless. Lexi had pressed me the entire way back to campus, but I didn't say a thing.
There was no way anyone could know what happened with Ford. Almost happened. I had to keep reminding myself that nothing actually happened. The proximity, the temptation, the ragged words he whispered were all so heady in my memory that I felt a wave of hot guilt every time he glanced up at my row.
"Ms. Dunkirk, perhaps you can recap the best storytelling beats for a human interest piece?" Professor Bauer asked.
The lecture hall turned on me and all I could was shake my head. If there had been a crack in the floor, I would have tried to crawl in it. Where was my focus? I bent my head and concentrated on that day's material. The answer had to be in there somewhere.
I couldn't untangle any of my other thoughts, but I was determined to find the answer to his question. When I didn’t answer he moved on to someone else.
The next time I looked up, the last student stepped out of the lecture hall and I was alone with Ford. He startled when he looked up and saw me, then his surprise turned into a slow-burning smile. I slammed my book and stood up to gather my things.
"Having trouble focusing?" Ford leaned a hip against his desk.
"No. Why would I be unfocused?" I snapped.
He laughed. "I don't know, maybe your head is still up in the treetops. It was pretty impressive how you conquered that ropes course."
"As long as the article I wrote changed that D+ to an A+," I said.
Ford caught me at the exit. "Clarity, I want to apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I think the excitement of the course just got the better of me."
All I could do was stare at his strong fingers holding my arm in a gentle but iron grip. "I was terrified," I said, "I don't remember much."
He grinned and my insides flipped. "You can't lie. And I meant what I said."
My vision furred around the edges. "About what?"
"You can't go back to being all ultra-focused. Now that you pushed your own boundaries, there's no going back." Ford slipped his hand down my arm to squeeze my fingers.
"Did I get the A+?" I asked.
He rolled his eyes. "Yes. Happy?"
I walked out of the lecture hall before he could see me smile.
In the foyer of Thompson Hall, I let out a wobbly breath, then almost screamed as someone called my name.
"Clarity? Jeez, sorry. Are you okay? I didn't mean to startle you," Thomas reached out a hand to steady me, then shoved it in his pocket instead. "I was just waiting in case you wanted to grab a coffee or something."
"Thanks, Thomas, that's nice, but I'm going to head over to the library," I said.
"Maybe tomorrow," Thomas said. "Hey, I've got the notes from today's lecture if you need them. Professor Bauer really zeroes in on you, doesn't he?"
I stopped and turned back to my classmate. "Why do you say that?"
Thomas brushed his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes and shrugged. "Everyone thinks you're Professor Bauer's prized student. I mean, you're the one he calls on with all the hard questions, and you're usually the first to make him clarify something."
I cleared my throat around a rising knot of panic. "I don't think he singles me out. He's hard on the students he thinks aren't paying attention."
"That's not you, usually," Thomas said. "Usually you're more than ready to hold your own."
I knew Thomas wanted to say more. He shifted from one lanky leg to the other. "What is it?" I crossed my arms and looked up at him.
"It's just, well, I feel like you should know the rumors, even though you're totally above all that." Thomas didn't know what to do with his hands and they flapped around until he shoved them deep in his pockets again.
Thompson Hall started to spin around me. "What rumors?"
Thomas cleared his throat. "Professor Bauer, people say that he, I mean, he has in the past ..."
I groaned, "Just spit it out, Thomas!"
"Professor Bauer seduces students."
I stepped back and gawked up at my tall classmate. "You think Professor Bauer tries to sleep with students? And you think you need to warn me about this?"
"It has nothing to do with you," Thomas yanked his hands out and held them up in surrender. "I just thought you should hear that rumor in case he starts paying you, you know, too much attention."