Page 5 of His Favorite Student
“Everythingcomes with instructions, Dani. And Jessie loves reading instructions. That’s the whole point. Maybe she’ll actually follow them.”
“I still cannot believe she didn’t know whatitwas,” a third voice chimes in, nearly a whisper. “Like, she said she thought it was for ‘personal tension relief’ like she was reading a brochure.”
“Well, it sort of is.Technically.”
“She’s like a little baby rabbit.”
“Or a cute little fairy.”
“She’s the best-looking girl on campus and has literally never—” The voice drops off like she was about to say something totally inappropriate.
I should stop listening. I’m thirty-six years old and eavesdropping on students. I need to just order my coffee and go back to my office. But they’re talking abouther, so I simply can’t stop myself.
“Not even once,” she continues. “Her mom interrupts her once and she just…stops trying?”
“Right?” one of them giggles. “If I go more than two days without one, I turn into the bitch from hell!”
Jesus, are they talking about what I think they’re talking about?
“Yeah, well, even if she reads the instructions,” a voice whispers, “she still has to, ya know—findher clit!”
“Shhh!” the boss girl laughs. “Shut up! This isn’t the dorm!”
They giggle, but my entire body goes tight. I was right. Jessieisan innocent. These girls are her friends, and they’re saying she’s never even had an orgasm.
Christ. Someone’s going to have to change that.
I nearly crush my coffee cup as the server hands it to me. The world seems to muffle around me as I stride across the quad, a singular mission in mind.
It takes me eleven minutes to find her.
It’s not hard. I’m a man who spent years locating vital organs in dying patients. Finding one girl on a campus of a few thousand students is not a challenge. I just think about where she’d go.
A girl like her, super organized and ready to learn? The outside courtyard by the science building.
There she is…
More blood rockets to my center as I stare, watching her as she sits on a bench, sunlight glowing through her hair, scribblingin her notebook with her green pen. My breath catches in my chest, and I’m forced to brace myself against a tree to stop from falling over.
It’s not just me, either. I catch a handful of guys glancing over at her, obviously checking her out. She doesn’t even notice. One of them looks like he might want to approach her, but there’s no way in hell that’s happening.
I stride quickly over, no plan in mind. I just need to reach her, talk to her, show everyone around that she is off-limits.
That she’smine.
She senses me before I reach her. Her pen slows, and she looks up. When she sees me standing over her, her eyes go wide, and her lips part as if daring me to kiss them.
“P-Professor Holt,” she stammers.
“Miss Monroe.”
There’s a brief moment as she glances around the courtyard the way people do when they’re trying to figure out if they’re in trouble. “Is there…a problem with my enrollment? I checked the form online three times, but I—”
“There’s no problem, Miss Monroe.”
“Oh, good.” She closes her notebook and looks up at me.Christ, just look at her.I want to take a big bite right out of her.
This is the part where I am supposed to tell her that I enjoyed her participation in class and that she should keep up the good work. Then walk away.
