Chapter 20

Tessa

 

 

My body started to tingle, a weird vibe that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I could feel my senses kick up a notch and that stranger-danger feeling washed over me. Someone was looking at me; I could feel it. I looked up and scanned the dimly-lit bar, trying to figure out what my senses were trying to tell me.

I already know, but refuse to believe it until I can verify it with my own eyes. And then it happened. I saw him. He was sitting at a table with his brother. Ian was here, and he had seen me. No, seen isn’t the word. His eyes were on me as if I were his prey. It sent a delicious shiver over my body as I watched him greedily stare at me.

I grabbed Maria’s arm. “He’s here,” I hissed.

She only smiled. It was a devilish smile.

“You knew?” I asked in horror. “Maria, you can’t do that. Wait, how did you know he would be here?”

She refused to answer but gave me a quick wink and a smile before she grabbed my hand and led me through the bar and towards Ian. This couldn’t be happening.

Ian was still staring, but occasionally looking away to stare at his brother.

Maria kept pulling my hand until we reached an empty table that happened to be next to Ian’s. I looked at Maria, my mouth dropping open in shock. Did Maria set this up?

She cleared her throat, looked at me expectantly and I suddenly remembered my manners.

“Oh, uh, Maria, this is Ian, I mean Professor Dunlap. Professor, Maria,” I said, feeling like a complete idiot. Why was I introducing them? We could have sat down and ignored them. Well, I could have tried, but there was no way I could ignore the man. He was all-consuming.

Maria was beaming. “I know, and this is Jake. Jake, this is my roommate, Tessa,” she said, before leaning in and kissing the man.

Ian and I both stared at the two, our mouths agape.

When she looked back at me, I knew I had been bamboozled.

“This is who you’ve been seeing?” I asked in a high-pitched voice.

Maria laughed. “Yep.”

Ian was staring at Jake. “I didn’t know. You didn’t tell me you were seeing anybody,” he said, with a hint of irritation in his voice. “If you had a date tonight, you could have told me.”

Jake shrugged his shoulders. “We thought it would be fun if each of us met the most important people in our lives. It’s part of dating, you know. I meet her friends; she meets mine,” he explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I looked at Maria, questioning her with my eyes. Had she told Jake about the kiss? I would have to mind my tongue from now on. She had been compromised. I knew how people in relationships were. They told each other everything.

I looked over at Ian, and he looked like he wanted to run out of the bar. I offered a smile. “Sorry,” I mouthed.

“Have a seat, ladies,” Jake said. “We ordered appetizers. What will you have to drink?”

I didn’t think I could drink, let alone eat. The tension between the group was palpable. Or at least I know I could feel it like a heavy blanket around me anyway. Maria and Jake didn’t seem to mind a bit. Jake grabbed the table I was at and pulled it over and butted it up against the one he and Ian were sharing. It left me sitting there in the middle of the patio. My only option was to scoot over, which would put me directly beside Ian.

I could see the horror on his face and realized this was as bad for him as it was for me.

“Come on, scooch in,” Maria said, grinning ear to ear. “I don’t think the professor bites. Does he?”

I wanted to die. Right then and there. She had to have told Jake, based on his reaction to what she said. For his part, Ian was shooting death glares at his brother. I looked from one brother to the other, and my money was on Ian. He was older, bigger and royally pissed.

“It’s okay,” he said, in a low voice, looking at me.

I nodded and carefully moved my chair next to his. We sat next to each other all the time. This is no big deal, I reminded myself.

The waitress appeared, dropping off a variety of appetizers and taking our drink order with the promise to return in a jiffy. Maria and Jake had their heads together, talking and kissing on occasion. They were in their own world.

“Nothing like a blind date to make your day complete, huh?” I joked, knowing how much he had hated the one on Sunday at the barbecue.

Like that, the tension flowed away. Ian’s shoulders went back a little, and he smiled before taking a long drink of his beer.

I watched as his lips touched the bottle and he began to drink. Heat washed over my body as I remembered those lips on mine. I longed to feel them again, to taste him. He put down his beer, his gaze never leaving mine. I know he could see my passion rising to the surface by the way his normally light green eyes darkened. I had seen that happen once before, right before he kissed me.

“Your drink’s here,” he mumbled.

I looked up and watched the waitress place my cocktail on the napkin in front of me. “Thank you,” I said, my voice low and husky.

I felt him jerk next to me. He too was experiencing the same affliction as I—forbidden passion was a bitch. I wanted him so badly, but I couldn’t have him. It didn’t seem fair. I watched Maria and Jake lean into each other. They were happy. Their relationship was completely normal and didn’t break any rules.

“I guess you weren’t expecting this,” he said in a quiet voice. “I know I wasn’t.”

I shook my head. “No. Not exactly. She said she wanted to go out. Blow off some steam and all that crap.”

I debated the merits of telling him she knew about the kiss but was too embarrassed. It made me sound like a silly girl running to tell my friends about my kiss with a boy. What was the rule—never kiss and tell?

We sat in relative silence, engaging in conversation occasionally when Jake and Maria came up for air. Their attention never lasted long, and they ended up returning to their little love nest, seemingly unconcerned that it was in the middle of a crowded bar.

“Need another drink?” he asked.

I vigorously nodded my head. “Yes!”

He chuckled before waving the waitress over. It was a new one. She looked at me, held out her hand and demanded to see my ID.

“Little late for that now, isn’t it?” I grumbled but did as she asked.

I handed her the ID; she declared I was legal and took our order. Before I could get my license back in my wallet, Ian snatched it out of my hand.

He was reading it when I snatched it back. “Yes, I’m legal,” I laughed, knowing he was curious.

His gaze heated up about a hundred degrees before he leaned in close to my ear and breathed, “Lethal is more like it.”

I couldn’t move. His hot breath washed over my bare skin, nearly causing me to climax without even touching me. My mind jumped back to the way his lips had felt against my own, and I was craving to know what they would feel like against my neck.

My heart was doing a series of flips and twirls that made it difficult for me to breath. I finally brought both my breathing and my racing libido under control and looked at him. He was taking another drink from his fresh beer as if he hadn’t just made me wet. I had a feeling he knew exactly what he did and was feeling very proud of himself.

I was half tempted to reach under the table and give him a taste of his own medicine but decided against it. When the waitress delivered my drink, I took a long sip of the icy liquid. It helped cool the fire that had been started under my skin.

With the fire extinguished, I was able to turn my focus back to the conversation between Jake and Ian. Finally, Maria and Jake had disengaged themselves, and we were able to have a real conversation. It was fun. The earlier episode was forgotten, and I was able to relax with Ian by my side. It all felt very natural.

When Jake checked his watch, it was a signal our night was over.

“This was fun!” Maria exclaimed. Jake had his arm around her as they made their way to the door.

I had to agree. “It was.”

Ian walked behind me. “I had a good time. I wasn’t expecting it to be so fun.”

We stood outside, waiting for our Ubers to arrive. Maria and Jake walked away, leaving Ian and me alone on the sidewalk. Once again, the tension spiked between us. We had made it through our double date. It had been far better than I could have imagined when I first realized what Maria had done, but now we were back to the awkward part.

“I guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow,” I said, hoping to clear away the tension.

He nodded. “Yep. I’ll be the guy teaching,” he said, with a grin.

I felt like an idiot.

He stepped in front of me. “I’m joking. I know this is a little weird. Don’t let our fantastic evening be ruined by this part. I’m not going to kiss you goodnight. We went out, had fun with our friends, and now we’re going home.”

I smiled. “We did, huh? It was nice to get away from the school stuff. You’re a fun guy, Ian. I’m glad I got the chance to see this side of you.”

He smiled. “Me too. I mean, I’m glad I could be myself around you.”

A car pulled up to the curb; I checked my phone. “That’s ours. I’ll see you tomorrow. Maria! Car’s here!”

She emerged from the shadows and climbed in the car.

The moment the car pulled away from the curb, I turned to her. “What the hell were you thinking?” I screeched.

She giggled. “Don’t be mad. He’s a good guy. You’re a fun girl. You both had a good time. Don’t even try to deny it.”

I glared at her. “That’s not the point. You know we can’t date or anything like that. Maria, we both have a lot at stake here. You know that.”

She shrugged. “I do, but I also know both of you need to have some joy in your life. You two seem to bring each other joy. I think that’s what is important.”

I sat back in the seat, mulling over her words. It was important, but my future depended on me graduating. I couldn’t risk losing everything for a little ‘joy,’ as Maria called it. Maybe after I graduated, Ian and I could find joy, but until then, we had to keep our distance. Maria and Jake would just have to accept that. If only Ian and I could. I knew he was still struggling to keep his distance.