Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 41137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
“Thought I’d get some work done.”
He grins and leans back in his chair. I walk over to him, a little hesitant. I still don’t know where we stand, despite… well.
Despite the incredible sex we’ve had.
I mean, he’d still my boss and my teacher. He has all the power and control.
But he’s also my Daddy. So I don’t know how I’m supposed to act around him.
He stands and walks over to me. He wraps his arms around me, kisses me slow and deep.
I guess that answers that.
When we break apart, he smirks. “I was hoping you’d show up.”
“Really?”
“Really. Part of me was afraid that it would be…” He trails off, shrugs.
“Parker,” I finish for him. “Although I think you may have a crush on Howard.”
“He is the sexiest one of the group,” Jason muses.
“Gross.”
“I’m drawn to assholes with bad hair, what can I say.”
I grin and kiss him softly. “I can relate, although I’m drawn to assholes with good hair.”
He winks. “At least you respect the hair.”
I laugh as we break apart. Just then, the door pushes open again, and Howard himself steps into the room.
I freeze. I’m standing maybe a foot from Jason and I bet I’m blushing like mad. We’re not embracing anymore, thankfully, and if Howard had walked into the room only a minute earlier, he would’ve seen us kissing.
Instead, it’s only suggestive, instead of downright criminal.
“Uh, hi,” he says. “Sorry. I was just coming in early to work.”
“Good, get in here,” Jason says, instantly switching into professor mode. “Glad you’re here, Howard.”
“Thanks.” Howard tosses me a quizzical look, which I choose to ignore.
“Clara had the same thought. Why don’t you two tackle some modules together?”
I glare at Jason but he just smiles back placidly.
“I have my own stuff to do,” Howard says.
“Come on, you guys need to learn some teamwork. Get to it.” Jason walks over to his computer and sits down. “And play nice.”
I sigh. “Let’s get this over with,” I mutter at Howard. He hesitates for a second, looking annoyed, but he follows me over to my terminal, sits down next to me, and we both log in.
Working with Howard is like pulling teeth, except in this case, my dentist is an asshole college guy that thinks he knows absolutely everything. We can’t do anything my way, and if I try to explain to him how he might be doing something inefficiently, he just scoffs at me and keeps going anyway.
It’s annoying, but there’s not much use in fighting. I know it’ll just waste more time, and besides, I don’t care about this anyway.
I keep stealing glances at Jason. He’s studiously ignoring me and Howard, which is probably good, but still. I can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking.
That was close… really close.
Toward the end of the hour, just a few minutes before the others are going to show up, Jason leaves the room. When he’s gone, Howard leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.
“What did I walk in on earlier?” he asks me right away, not even bothering to ease his way into it.
I go still. I avoid his gaze for a moment, gathering myself.
Finally, I look at him.
“Go fuck yourself, Howard.”
He looks surprised but quickly gets pissed. “No reason to be a bitch. I’m just asking.”
“You didn’t walk in on anything. You’re such a sexist asshole.”
I figured a good defense is a better offense, so I might as well try and turn it around on him. Even though he’s not wrong.
I know it’s a dick move. I shouldn’t gaslight the poor guy, but I also can’t risk letting him find out the truth.
Besides, it’s not like I’m lying. Howard really is a sexist asshole. In this instance, his sexism just happens to be somewhat accurate.
Whatever. I refuse to feel bad about being mean to Howard. He freaking deserves it for all the grief he’s given me so far.
And for no reason at all.
“Didn’t look like nothing,” he pushes. “You looked awkward. And Professor Turner was standing pretty close to you, giving you this look.”
I narrow my eyes. “What kind of look?”
His smirk drives me insane. “The kind of you look you give someone before you try to have sex with them.”
It takes all my energy to stop myself from slapping him in the face.
“You’re disgusting, Howard,” I say softly. “You should keep your mouth shut.”
He sneers, standing up. “Whatever. Now I know how you got into this whole thing to begin with. Probably slept with him already.”
I stand up, hand balled into a fist. Screw slapping, I’m going to punch this nerd in the nose.
The door pushes open again before I can swing. Parker, Alan, and Coop all head inside, chattering with each other.
“Dude, no way. Storm is the hottest of the X-Men, by far,” Coop is saying.
“Mystique, bro,” Alan says.
“I think you’re both—” Parker doesn’t finish. The three of them stop and stare at me facing down with Howard. “Uh, hey, guys. What’s up?”