“Yes, sir.”
His words, while they don’t have any effect on me, they do remind me of when Tessa said them two days ago. They were full of sarcasm and clearly not meant for me to hear, but fuck did they go straight to my cock. Control has never been one of my kinks, and yet, the thought of having her in the palm of my hand is enough to make me come undone. She’s wild, uncontrollable, careless—and all I want is to make her beg for me while she’s on her knees.
I shake the thoughts from my head as I realize this is not the time, nor the place, to be imagining things that will give me away. Instead, I plaster the same hard-as-stone look on my face that I’ve mastered over the years and sit behind my desk to hide my obvious hard-on. Fuck, what this girl does to me.
“All right. Take the rest of the class to read chapter sixteen and write down at least one theory you have about the book.”
AT THE SOUND OF the bell ringing, everyone gets up, stopping at my desk to drop off their assignment before leaving the room. I hand Oakley his phone back as he passes, with a lowly spoken threat that if he doesn’t knock it off, he’ll risk losing his place on the team. His fear is evident as he swallows and nods. Something tells me he won’t be a problem anymore.
Once everyone is gone, only Tessa and I remain. She walks up to my desk and all but slams the paper down on it, then turns to me with her head held high.
“Are you going to give me my phone back?”
I smirk. “Now, now. Is that any way to ask for something?”
She mumbles something under her breath before plastering the fakest smile onto her face. “May I have my phone back, please?”
Stroking the bottom of my chin, I make it look like I’m actually considering it. Then, I drop my hand and shake my head. “Yeah, no.”
“What? Why not?”
“You know why,” I say, leveling her with a look.
Her mouth opens to argue it but then Trent comes into the room and she clamps her lips shut. She huffs, storming out and leaving me to snicker. Trent looks between me and the door she just disappeared through with an amused grin.
“What’s got her all pissed off?”
I shrug. “She was disrupting my class, so I took her phone.”
His eyes widen. “And she let you?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t she? I’m her teacher.”
He shakes off the shock and chuckles. “She doesn’t listen to anyone. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you to fuck yourself.”
Oh, she probably would have had you not come in here. I go sit down at my desk and rest my feet on top of it as I wait for my next round of trust-fund brats.
“So, did you need something, or are you just stopping by to see if I still want to punch you in the face for tricking me into this gig?”
“I didn’t trick you,” he argues. “I thought Hyland would make an exception. The fact that he wasn’t going to is something only him and Blaire knew.”
Fucking Blaire. That reminds me of the voicemail she left on my phone this morning. Apparently, I have an interview this week where I have to go and gush about how much I love my new job, and how coaching high school football is a calling I didn’t know I had. It’s all a crock of PR bullshit, but I understand the necessity of it. At least the one thing I have to look forward to is going to the game in a month.
As students start to filter in, Trent gives me an apologetic smile and leaves the room. It’s not that I’m still pissed at him. Okay, maybe I am, but it’ll fade in time. It’s just a little difficult not to want to punch him when I’m standing in the middle of my own personal hell.
HALFWAY THROUGH THE DAY, Tessa’s phone still sits in my drawer, tempting and taunting me. It’s practically begging me to look at it. Invading someone’s privacy is wrong, and something I used to hate when my ex did it to me. But the chance of knowing a little more about the girl who has managed to get the most response out of me in years is too difficult to pass up.
I pull the phone from my drawer and swipe to open it, only to feel disappointed when it immediately asks for a password. I rack my brain to try to think of what it could be.
123456. No.
543210. Nope.
With the obvious ones out of the way, I wonder if maybe it could be numbers that spell out a word. Lennon seems to be her closest friend.
536666 for L-E-N-N-O-N. Access Denied.
Fuck. What the hell could it be? I swallow down the lump in my throat as I try the next one and hope it hell it’s not correct.
O-A-K-L-E-Y. 625539. One more attempt before the phone locks.
Sighing in relief, I never thought I’d be so glad to get it wrong. Okay, I’ve only got one more chance before it locks for the next five minutes—long enough for me to talk myself out of this moronic idea. Then, an idea comes to mind.
674276.
The phone opens instantly, and I can’t help but laugh. The girl actually made orgasm her password. Why does that not surprise me? After checking to make sure no one is around, the first thing I do is go to her text messages with Oakley. It’s pathetic how badly I need to know what they were talking about.
Oakley: I’m serious, Tess. Come out with me on Saturday.
Tessa: And why would I do that?
Oakley: Because I’m the best. Duh.
Tessa: Yeah, I’ve heard. The best at making a girl regret the night before.
Oakley: Ouch. You wound me.
It ends there, making me glad I took their phones when they did. Then again, it looks like she had the situation completely handled. Oakley may want her, but she’s not an option he has. Especially not if I have any say in the matter.
I know I should stop. I found what I was looking for and now I should put the phone back in my drawer where it belongs. My fingers, however, don’t get the memo, as they go back and open up her text with Lennon. The thread seems never-ending, so I stop the first time I see my name.
Lennon: Are you okay? I’m sorry I left you there, but my dad would have killed me if I wasn’t back by the time he woke up.
Tessa: It’s fine, honest. Not a single part of me minded waking up in Asher’s bed.
Lennon: How’d that go?
Tessa: The exact way I’d expect it to. His mouth says we can’t but his eyes say something else.
Lennon: Think you’ll wear him down?
Tessa: Have you met me?
A student clears their throat, and I instantly click off the screen and put it on my desk. Toby stands in front of me, looking confused.
“Can I help you?”
His brows stay furrowed. “Why do you have a rose gold phone?”
I grab the device and toss it into the drawer. “Why are you so goddamn nosy? Now, what do you need?”
Thankfully, he sighs and changes the subject, bringing it to something safer and more controlled—the assignment. I need to be more careful, but there’s something about her that makes me forget who I am and what I want. And judging by those texts, she has no intention of stopping this little game she’s playing.