And … he needed to move. To bring some distance between them.
“Do you want some more coffee?” he asked.
He didn’t wait for an answer but grabbed their empty cups and headed into his kitchen. The coffee pot was still warm.
What he needed was something stronger than coffee. Whiskey. Brandy. Something stronger.
Or a good fuck.
He hadn’t been with a woman for over a year. The last person he’d been dating had gotten a little too close. She had started to talk about moving in together so they could be close to one another.
Their dating was only supposed to be sex. Fun, casual sex with no complications. All of a sudden, she was asking for a key to his apartment and his schedule at work. There was even a whole host of questions about what he liked and didn’t like.
A casual fuck had turned into a nightmare. So, he’d ended it. One year ago. There hadn’t been anyone else. And he hadn’t had any desire to be with anyone else—until Teal.
Damn it.
After pouring them both a mug of coffee, he turned to find Teal standing in his kitchen. “You don’t have to get me coffee. I appreciate you trying to help me. Let me know if I did badly.”
“Where are you going?”
“It’s your weekend, and I’m pretty sure you had a lot more interesting things to do than hang out with me.” She’d pulled her bag up to her shoulder.
This was his chance to get out of it. She was giving him an opening. Just tell her that he didn’t want to tutor her and that he had a whole lot of crap on his plate. Only, he couldn’t bring himself to say a word of it.
He wasn’t going to get the distance he craved because the truth was that he didn’t want it. Not from Teal. He could want her.
That wasn’t the hard part of this. Wanting her went without saying. He needed to accept that he wanted her. All the freaking time. Not a moment went by when he didn’t think about her. He’d never been this consumed by a woman before.
Teal wasn’t some giggling schoolgirl. She was all woman. Every single part of her. He wanted her, craved her, but that didn’t mean he had to succumb to his desires. There was noreason to. He was stronger and could deny himself.
“I’m as new here as you. There is nothing else for me to do, and I’ve got no problems tutoring you. I’ve got coffee, and if you give me a few minutes, I’ll mark your exam and we’ll take it from there.”
She nodded at him and then glanced at the door.
This was now up to her. “So long as you don’t mind.”
“Unless you have other plans.”
She shook her head. “Nah, I never have any plans.”
“So, I guess you miss being around your friends.”
She frowned. “Not really.” She snorted. “I’m part of the loser squad.” She shrugged. “Not that I mind. I don’t make friends too well.”
He moved past her to the dining room table and sat down.
“I guess you never had those problems,” Teal said.
“Wow, aren’t we judging now?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve seen the way people are with you. Even my mom, and she can be a bitch to new faces until she gets to know them. You got a dinner invite and polite conversation, and you’re not a client.”
“Well, for your information, I was the kind of kid no one wanted their kid hanging around with.”
“You were?”
“Oh, yeah. I wasn’t a nice kid or a good kid. I was a pain in the ass, and I thought I knew best, and guess what, I do.” He winked at her.