Unhinge Me (5 page)

Shit.

She sighed and looked up to see Caleb standing by the now closed classroom door. She stopped and, finally having no choice, looked up at him.

“Alexandria, please,” he said softly, taking a step towards her.

The effect his closeness had on her made her nervous and frustrated at the same time.

“Look, we really don’t have to talk about this. It was clearly a mistake on both our ends. We can be adults about this and just pretend it didn’t happen,” she rushed out. She didn’t know who she was trying to convince, him or herself.

Caleb walked closer to her, his eyes searching hers.

“Is that what you really want?” He touched her arm lightly. “Because if it truly is, I will leave you alone.” He didn’t like it, but he meant it. He was so glad to see her, but he could tell she was freaking out. The last thing he wanted to do was come off like a creepy stalker.

“But be sure, Alexandria, because for the record, I have no regrets… except—” before he could finish his thought, Alex’s eyes widened and she backed away. He knew what conclusion she was jumping to and closed the gap between them so he was standing near her again. “No, listen to me,” his deep voice commanded. “The only regret I have is leaving you there afterwards. I regret nothing about what we did. I know I should, but I don’t.”

Alex warmed at his confession. She wasn’t ready to admit she agreed with him, so she said nothing. She had backed herself all the way back to the desks and couldn’t go any further without falling over one. Caleb had kept up with her, so he only had to take one step to be right up against her. He did so and just stood there looking down at her. He reached out a hand to lightly touch her face.

“I know, as your teacher, it’s wrong to even ask you this, but give me another chance,” he spoke as he leaned into her. His breath was intoxicating and Alex bit her lip to try and keep her head on straight. “I think we deserve a chance to figure out what this thing between us is.”

Alex swallowed. Her mouth felt dry and she couldn’t speak. His nearness made her feel completely overwhelmed.

When she didn’t respond, he spoke again. “Meet me tomorrow night,” he begged. He wanted to grab her into his arms and kiss her, but he restrained, waiting to see what she would say.

Alex finally couldn’t take it any longer. She slipped out from between him and the desk at her back and mumbled, “I just don’t know.” Then she ran out the door. Once she was away from him, she was able to take a deep breath and clear her mind, but she still didn’t know what to think about what had just happened. And she had no idea what she was going to do tomorrow night.

Alex had three classes on Fridays so it was a busy day for her. It didn’t leave her much time to think about what she was going to do that evening. She still couldn’t decide if she should meet Caleb like he’d asked. On the one hand, she was humiliated that she had given herself to him so easily and he had left her there without saying a word. On the other hand, she knew what he had sacrificed to be with her and the danger he’d put himself in. If that was his reason for leaving her without saying goodbye, then maybe she could at least listen to what he had to say. Besides, she couldn’t deny the way he made her feel. Maybe he was right. Maybe they did deserve to find out what was between them.

After all her classes were over, she drove home to her apartment to think. She sat in her small kitchen at the round table that took up most of the space. She wished her grandmother was still alive. She always had the best advice. Thinking about her grandmother always made Alex a little sad. It had been almost four years since she had died and left Alex all alone.

Bear, the black and white tuxedo cat that her grandmother got her when she was fourteen, mewed at her from in front of her food dish. Mostly, the cat drove her crazy, always wanting attention only when it suited her and biting her when it didn’t. Deep down she loved the furball, though. Maybe that was because Bear made her feel connected to her grandparents still.

Suddenly, Rachael walked in. She never knocked. It was one of those necessities that disappeared when you were as close of friends as they were. Taking one look at her friend, she said “Missing Gramma?” Rachael knew Alex well, and she always got a sad, faraway look when she was thinking about her past.

Alex nodded. It was when she wasn’t sure what to do about something important that she missed her grandmother the most. She shook away her thoughts and was so glad to see Rachael that she jumped up and hugged her.

“Uhhh, ok,” Rachael smiled. “Don’t know what I did to deserve that, but I’ll take it!”

They sat down at the small kitchen table together. Rachael also knew when to change the subject.

“So what are we doing tonight?” she asked. It was pretty much a given that the girls spent Friday nights together relaxing after the hard week and “getting the kinks out”, as Rachael liked to call it, even though Rachael was usually the only one doing anything kinky.

“Actually, I have to talk to you about that,” Alex began, and before she knew it she had gone into complete and gory detail about everything with Caleb.

“It’s about time!!” Rachael said matter-of-factly.

Alex blinked. “Really? That’s your reaction?” she asked, astonished.

“Well, yeah,” Rachael said innocently. “I have been waiting for you to find some good action since I met you. It’s a total stress reliever!” She stuck her tongue out at Alex.

“Ew,” said Alex.

Rachael smirked. “On the other hand, I am slightly jealous of what might have been the best sex ever. Sounds like this one guy I met in Italy. Those Italian stallions really live up to their name by the way,” she said, wandering off into her own thoughts.

Alex smiled at her friend and stood up to feed Bear and get a cold green tea, automatically getting one for Rachael too. As she did the motions, she was busy thinking. Rachael didn’t seem to be much help on this one. She was going to have to decide for herself whether she should meet Caleb. Who was she kidding, she had already made the decision. She was going to go and she knew it. Instead of going around in circles about it, she decided to go figure out what to wear. At least this time she could wear her own clothes. She ran upstairs to find an outfit.

“Just make sure to wear a front clasping bra!” Rachael called after her.

Alex found herself being paranoid as she walked to the classroom to meet Caleb that night. She kept looking around to see if anyone saw her, but no one did. It wasn’t like she hadn’t walked to class dozens of times before, but that was when she didn’t have unsavory intentions. Nervously, she stopped before his door and took a deep breath, remembering the last time she’d stood there. Wanting answers, she took a deep breath and walked in. She found Caleb pacing the room rather than sitting at his desk this time.

Instead of speaking, she looked down the hall to make sure no one was around and then quietly shut the classroom door.

She could feel the tension in the room as Caleb stopped and stared at her. He was so relieved to see her there. He hadn’t realized, until that moment, how afraid he was that she wouldn’t come. This was his second chance and he knew he wouldn’t get a third. He wanted to speak, to say a million things. He wanted to explain and get on his knees and beg her forgiveness for his coldness the other night. He tried to read her face to see what she was thinking. He walked closer to her.

When he reached her, she just stood looking at him, so he knew he was going to have to be the one to start talking. But instead of getting out all the words he wanted to say, he impulsively grabbed her, threw her up against the classroom wall, and kissed her passionately.

Alex gasped from the impact and felt consumed by the kiss before her brain even had time to react. She was so confused and couldn’t decide whether to slap him or wrap her arms around him and lose herself in his lips. She chose the latter.

Together they stood like that, exploring one another’s mouths, barely coming up for air. Caleb held her face in his hands while he invaded her mouth, taking possession over it. She kissed him back eagerly, trying to give back to him as much as he was trying to take. Dizzy with desire, Alex had a distant thought that she should be hesitating, but the way Caleb kissed her was intoxicating and she couldn’t think of anything but him.

Caleb ran his hands through Alex’s hair. It was even softer than he’d imagined. He sighed, pulled away, and looked into her eyes.

“I have to apologize,” he breathed. “What I did that night was unacceptable. You deserve so much more than my cowardly actions.”

Oh yeah, that,
she thought to herself.

Caleb looked at her harder. “The next time I make love to you, and I will, I’ll hold you afterwards like you deserve,” he promised.

Alex’s heart skipped a beat at his words. The thought of a next time made her weak in the knees… and more than a little moist.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps in the hall outside the door. They both froze. With the door shut and locked, it wouldn’t look good if they were found in there together. Someone knocked on the door. Caleb put his hand over Alex’s mouth and his finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet. All that could be heard was the loud beating of their hearts. Alex’s head was tucked into Caleb’s neck as they stood silently waiting. She resisted the urge to nip at it.

Finally, a piece of paper slipped under the door and the footsteps disappeared down the hall. They both let out a held breath. Caleb walked over and picked up the paper. Seeing that it was just someone’s late assignment, he walked over and set it on his desk.

“I can’t do this,” he said, turning back to her.

“Oh.” Alex’s heart dropped. He was right, what they were doing was wrong. Maybe it was better if they ended it now.

But instead of telling her to leave, he walked over and took her hands in his.

“No, I mean I have to get you out of here. Somewhere I can…” he leaned in close, “touch you without being afraid of being seen.

His deep voice and blue eyes mesmerized her. Relieved, she nodded and let him lead her out of the classroom.

Together they snuck down the halls, stopping to check around corners before going around them. Alex kind of felt like she was living an episode of
Scooby Doo
the way they were creeping around,
only cartoons had never turned her on before and this was definitely a turn on. Finally, they made it out to the parking lot and, thankfully, found it empty.

“Do you trust me?” he asked her as they walked, his dark voice sending chills down her spine.

When she took a pause before answering, he got nervous. Would she say no?

Slowly, she finally said, “Yes… I think I do.” She looked up into his eyes. “Although I’m not sure why.”

That was good enough for him. Caleb flashed a big smile that showed the slight dimples in his cheeks and said, “Get in.”

It suddenly occurred to Alex that they were standing in front of a car, and not just any car. She wasn’t good with car names, but the dark, metallic silver convertible looked expensive and super hot. Caleb opened the door for her and, not used to men being chivalrous, she was instinctively a smart-ass and curtsied before getting in. Caleb chuckled, then ran around to the other side to get in.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but this looks a bit extravagant for a teacher’s salary. Even for a college professor,” Alex observed. “What kind of car is it?”

Caleb appeared to be deciding whether or not to be honest and finally said “Yeah, it’s a BMW M6 and it’s a bit much, but I couldn’t help myself,” was all he would say. He got a devilish grin on his face, revved up the engine, and turned up the radio.

Alex made a mental note to get more information about that later and sat back to let the loud bass drown out all thoughts of clarity as Caleb drove.

Alex was so relaxed, it felt like only a few minutes in the car, but it had actually been over forty-five. When Caleb pulled over, Alex sat up to see a small pub that looked like it was taken out of a medieval movie scene. It sat alone, surrounded only by a few pine trees. She looked around to see what they were really there for, but couldn’t see anything else in any direction, so she turned to study the bar as Caleb walked around to open her door.