“She is going to his house for studies.”
“Is that the new slang you use?”
“Slang?”
“Yes, like Netflix and chill. Studies and chill?”
Mia’s soft chuckle echoed in the car as rain continued to patter outside as I slowly drove us to her house.
“You are such a dork, James,” she snickered, wiping her eyes. “They are dating, but he is going to help her study.”
I hummed and flickered my eyes at her. Her mascara was a little smudged on the corner of her eyes, a few strays of her hair were wet and her cheeks were flushed with a rosy tint. As if she had just basked in the heat of the Italian summer.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I asked her when the white manor came into the view.
“What question?”
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“I don’t… I don’t have a boyfriend, James.” Her voice was soft, too soft, and her lips were too invi—
“Good girl.”
Mia glanced at me when I took a turn, her eyes wide.
“Y-you didn’t answer my question either…” Her cheeks were warm, too warm and flushed, with her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. All too sudden, she was everywhere as rain continued to storm outside. Her cherry flavored perfume, her glazed green eyes, dilated pupils that made me want to yank off the seatbelts and sin.
I had to force my eyes from her wet bottom lip when she whispered in the quiet of my car, “Do you want me to address you as Mister James?”
I WILL REWARD YOU
MIA
“Do you want me to address you as Mister James?”
I didn’t know what came over me to ask that question, but I wanted to know. I’ve addressed him as James since we’ve met, and I enjoyed calling him by his first name. Would he like that? Me addressing him as one of his students?
His blue eyes flickered to me. The shadows from the car and the rainy weather made them seemed dark, almost black. I clasped my hands together in my lap, feeling the dampness of my skirt, and squirmed under his heated gaze. It burned me.
His eyes noticed the movement, and I held my breath, waiting for his answer. He looked back at the road and answered in a low, gruff voice, “Call me whatever you want, Mia.”
“Whatever I want?”
He didn’t reply.
I pressed. “I’ll call you James. But in school, I’ll call you Mister James.”
He still didn’t reply. I wanted to look at his face and try to find out what he was thinking, but he didn’t turn to face me. Instead, he kept driving, his knuckles turning white from their grip on the steering wheel.
Feeling dejected, I looked away and slouched on the same seat that I had been in less than twenty-four hours. I made tiny circles on my thigh with my finger and thought about the homework and assignments that I had to finish before going to bed. Sighing, I was about to get comfortable in the seat when I noticed the streets.
James wasn’t driving me home.
My stomach dipped. “Where are we going? My home is the other way.”
“Change of plans.” He shifted the gear, and out of habit, my eyes drifted to his arms. I licked my lips and removed my gaze from the veins. I knew he was in a great shape. Anyone could notice that by the way he filled out all his clothes with his broad shoulders and tapered waist. But he wasn’t muscular like the jocks from my school. He was lean, tall and his forearms had delicious veins whenever he clenched his hands. I liked it. I liked it a lot.
Feeling the dampness in my underwear, I shifted and focused on his words. I was bad, bad. Crushing on my dad’s bestfriend wasn’t enough. Now I was crushing on my hot teacher too.