His vibe? What the hell was he talking about? “Sorry about our last call, Rob.” I wasn’t really. He had kept pestering me about what students I was hooking up with. It was before classes had started, and at the time I’d just been annoyed that he didn’t understand that I was actually here because I loved teaching. If he asked me now? That was a different story. Because now I was guilty.
“Okay…” he said. “So you’re not going to rip my head off for being irresponsible again?”
“Are you acting like an irresponsible idiot?”
“No?”
I smiled. That meant he absolutely was. “Then how could I possibly lecture you?” The elevator doors opened and I pulled my suitcase into the parking garage.
“Exactly,” Rob said. “So what’s up with you? I’d ask about the co-eds, but…I know that your dick is in your pants and you’re having zero fun.”
Kind of. “I’m coming up to New York for a few days to meet with my lawyer. Can I stay with you?”
“I’m not in the city.”
“Where are you?”
“Costa Rica. Man, you should come here instead. The babes are aplenty and some of them have already graduated. Just the way you like them.”
God. “What are you doing in Costa Rica?”
“The question is why aren’t you in Costa Rica? Come on! We’ll have so much fun! We haven’t taken a trip together in ages.”
“My lawyer is in New York. My spur of the moment vacation is specifically to see him. I can’t come to Costa Rica on a whim.”
“You can do whatever you want on a whim. You’re just too lame to.”
I shook my head as I put my suitcase in the car. “When are you coming back to New York?”
“That depends…. How long can you stay in Costa Rica on vacation?”
“Do you have a visa?”
“No. Do I need one?”
I laughed. “If you wanted to stay for a longer time. But without one you can probably stay a max of three months, depending on their laws. You should look into that.”
“I trust you. Three months. So…I’ll be here for two and a half more months.”
Of course. “Have fun with that. Let me know when you’re back home.”
“Will do. Sink your dick into a sexy student for me.”
“Stay out of trouble,” I said without acknowledging his comment.
He laughed. “I can’t make any promises. Later.” Rob hung up the phone.
I slid into the driver’s seat. Costa Rica. For a three-month vacation. With absolutely nothing to do. It sounded like my worst nightmare.
Chapter 14
Wednesday
I rolled my suitcase into my office and stashed it in the corner. I’d gotten back to campus without much time to spare before my first class. Waiting to the last minute to do anything wasn’t my style. But the more distance there was between me and Penny, the easier it was to convince myself I was doing the right thing by giving her up.
She’d sent me a simple text while I was away: "I hope that everything is alright, Professor Hunter." And that alone was enough to prove I was doing the right thing. I’d cancelled class because I was a dick. And she was worried about me. Me. She was supposed to be off going to parties and having the time of her life. Not wondering how her miserable professor was doing.
Despite the fact that my resolve had grown regarding Penny, I hadn’t gotten much else out of my trip to New York. The documents were still unsigned. And I was still waiting. How was I ever supposed to get a fresh start if I was still chained to that city? Always waiting. I pictured standing in the rain with Penny on Saturday night right before I kissed her. Waiting to know if I was making the right decision. Waiting to know if she wanted me as much as I wanted her.
I took a deep breath and ran my hand down my face. My fingers stopped on the scruff I’d grown in the past few days because I’d forgotten to pack a razor. If I was lucky, Penny would hate my beard. It would be a hell of a lot easier to stay away from her if she suddenly wasn’t attracted to me. Because she would stop looking at me like she wanted me to bend her over and… Breathe.
Today was going to be my new start to the semester. I’d keep my head focused on my classes and my students on an educational basis only. This was my job. How hard could it be to stick to the rules? Every other professor at this school did. I stopped outside my Comm class and took another deep breath. Stay focused. All I needed to do was keep my head on my work and my dick in my pants.
As I walked into the room, I didn’t even glance in Penny’s direction. And I wouldn’t have to, because today I was going to be sitting amongst my students staring at the front of the classroom. "It's presentation day!" I said and pumped my fist into the air.
Most of the class groaned.
"It's not going to be that bad.” My eyes were begging me to look at the back of the classroom even though my mind was telling them to stop. I clenched my hand in a fist. Breathe. “Okay, first up is Raymond Asher. Let me just fix this." I grabbed a podium from the corner and placed it in the middle of the room. "And I'll get out of your way." My eyes scanned the desks, looking for an empty one in the front row. But…there was only one empty desk in the whole classroom. The one in front of Tyler Stevens. In such close proximity to Penny that I knew I’d be able to smell her cherry blossom perfume. Fuck me.
I made my way to the back of the classroom. At least I hadn’t been forced to sit behind Penny. That would have made it impossible to focus on the presentations. I dropped my satchel on the floor and slid into the empty desk. Luckily the student next to me was drinking a cup of some crazy coffee concoction with whipped cream and it was all I could smell. I got this.
Raymond walked up to the front of the class and started talking. He casually grabbed the sides of the podium and leaned in a bit. It looked like he had done this hundreds of times. He gave a funny presentation about his grandfather who was apparently “clearly better than any of Professor Hunter's grandparents" and deserved a proper shout-out. Fair enough. The kid was a regular entertainer. I jotted down a few notes. If the rest of the presentations were this good, it was going to be an easy semester. I was just starting to feel less on edge when Tyler started whispering behind me.
"Crap, he stole my idea,” Tyler said. And even though I could hear him clearly, I had a feeling he wasn’t talking to me.
Penny laughed. I closed my eyes for a second. Breathe. I called the next name on my roster. Unfortunately Raymond was the only one in class that didn’t seem nervous to be standing in front of everyone. Almost all the speeches were about siblings, parents, friends, or significant others. I wrote down my notes about each presentation, hoping they’d be helpful. There was definitely room for improvement.
The minutes ticked by slowly. And the coffee scent in the room eventually dissipated and I could smell Penny’s perfume. It felt like it was all around me. The minutes ticked by even slower. Slow breathing didn’t exactly help when all I could smell was her.
Finally the minute hand clicked to the ten. "Great job today,” I said instead of calling the next name. “Class dismissed." I finished writing my notes for the last presentation as the students started filtering out.