Chapter 3 Alex
ALEX
Ilay on a blanket in the backyard of the frat, pretending to be napping. Instead, I was alternating between watching clouds drift by and fantasizing about Dr. Delicious.
I’d thought about the hot man I’d seen jogging so many times over the last few days, but I never thought I’d actually see him again. I’d considered going back out to the path to see if he jogged there daily, but what was I going to do? Step out in front of him and introduce myself?
Now I knew exactly who he was: Dante Theriot, professor of biology. His primary research interest was gene therapy. This semester, he was teaching biochem and molecular genetics, and I was one of his lucky students.
Not only did he have excellent scores on Rate My Professor, but staring at him through every class was going to be the highlight of my week.
And he was going to be the highlight of my semester, because now that I knew who he was, I was abso-fucking-lutely going to offer my ass to him, and he was going to take it.
Whatever I needed to do, whatever outrageous behavior was required, I would know what it felt like to be fucked by him.
If there was one thing my cold, calculating family had taught me, it was to set goals and refuse to bend until I met them.
Thursday, I timed my arrival to class perfectly, opening the door at precisely nine o’clock. Dr. Theriot glanced toward the door when I entered, then quickly looked away. Was he pretending he didn’t see me? Did he think ignoring me would keep me from seeking attention? He was so wrong about that.
When Dr. Theriot began his lecture, I quickly noticed he wasn’t looking at the part of the room where I was seated. Was that on purpose? Had I already gotten to him that much? I hoped to hell so.
He was right in the middle of a review of amino acids when I raised my hand.
He didn’t acknowledge me, so I called out, “Dr. Theriot?”
Isabella, who’d told me to stop causing trouble last class, frowned at me, but I ignored her. Someone needed to liven the class up, and I was happy for it to be me.
“Yes, Alexander? What do you need that can’t wait until I pause for questions?” His exasperated tone made me smile.
“Are we going to cover how DNA repairs itself?”
I watched as he paused to compose himself. He was angry, and I liked it. “We are. If you had read your syllabus, you would know that. Please refrain from interrupting the class with questions that aren’t relevant to what I am currently teaching.”
I winked at him. “I’ll try to ask my irrelevant questions at office hours.”
Again, that pause told me he wanted to say something unprofessional. Instead, he nodded and returned to his lecture.
“What is it with you?” Isabella whispered. “Are you always like that in class?”
“No, I’m just pissed he singled me out on Tuesday, and he’s fun to annoy.”
“I wouldn’t get on his bad side. I heard he doesn’t believe in extra credit or a curve. He’ll fail you if you make trouble.”
“He can only fail me if my grades aren’t good. They will be.”
She huffed. “Fucking geniuses. I should just get you to do all my work.”
I shook my head. “No can do. Too busy.” Busy chasing my hot professor.
After class, I ducked into a study lounge.
There were a few students there, bent over their laptops.
I settled into a chair and pulled out my phone.
I read through Dr. Theriot’s syllabus, seeing that DNA repair was on the list of topics, and then finding what I was actually looking for—his office hours.
Perfect. He would be available in a few hours. I’d get some lunch, then go see him. I could think of a lot of questions for him, like what did he look like naked and—
“Alex? What are you doing in here?”
The other people in the study room looked up, and I shushed my roommate, Mitch. Not that it would help. His speaking volume was always turned all the way up.
He frowned at me. “You actually studying or something?”
I sighed. “I was reading my biochem syllabus.”
He stared at me like he was trying to decide if I was joking.
How the hell did so many of my frat brothers not know I had a 4.
0? Most likely because I didn’t study all that much, at least not around them.
I was blessed not to have to work very hard to get what I wanted.
I would ace Dr. Theriot’s class no matter what, but it would be a hell of a lot more fun to work for my A on my knees.
“You’re kidding, right?” Mitch asked.
“No. Are you getting lunch now?”
“Yeah. You coming too?”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be around anyone else. I wanted more time to fantasize about Dr. Theriot. “Where are you going?”
“I’m meeting Bart and Clyde at Taco Town. Hangover cure, you know.”
They’d all gone to Wine Wednesday at another frat, which involved boxed wine in Solo cups and the inability to move before noon. I’d skipped it in favor of dinner at the house and some peace and quiet in my room for a change.
“Go on. I’m going back to the house.” I wanted to change and make sure I was ready for Dr. Theriot’s office hours.
When I arrived at his office, the door was cracked, but I knocked anyway, figuring I’d at least start out polite instead of barging in.
“Come in.” I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. He didn’t look up from the paper he was reading until he heard the latch click. “Oh, it’s you.”
Jesus, he was hot—wearing slutty little glasses with the cuffs of his sleeves rolled back to expose his forearms, and fuck me? Who was this man? He tapped his pen irritably on his desk, and I knew I needed to respond.
“It is.” I tried to say something else, but no more words would come. He looked so fucking hot, he had me speechless.
“Open the door.” He gestured toward it. “We are required to do office hours with them open.”
“But what if I want privacy for our chat?”
“I do believe that rule was made precisely to prevent too much privacy between a student and a professor.”
I rolled my eyes, then walked to the door, opened it, and bowed dramatically.
“Better?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Marginally. Do you have an actual question? If not, see yourself out.”
I smiled. “I have so many questions.”
“Then take a seat and ask them.” He indicated the chair in front of his desk.
I sat down and took in the books and papers on his desk.
They were all stacked neatly—not even a pen was out of place.
No food wrappers or half-filled coffee cups in his office, just one cup sitting on a fucking coaster.
His office wasn’t boring though: there was an analog clock with a picture of a bird at each hour in place of numbers, an actual typewriter sitting on a low shelf.
Bookshelves that were overflowing and a ceramic pen cup that had to have been handmade.
“I didn’t expect you to be so…” I swept my arm over the desk. “Orderly. Aren’t professors supposed to be hapless messes?”
He glared at me. “I’ve never been hapless in my life.”
I didn’t doubt that. “What have you been?”
“That is none of your business.”
I smiled. “So I can only ask you biochemistry questions?”
“That is correct.” He was tense—back straight, jaw clenched. Did he really not like me, or did he like me too much?
“So you won’t tell me why you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you. I dislike the way you’ve behaved in class.”
“I don’t hate you either.”
He sighed. “Then make sure you don’t disrupt my class next Tuesday. Is that all, or do you need to go over course material?”
“Why are you so anxious to get rid of me? Aren’t you supposed to be helping students during office hours?”
“If they need help with coursework. But I’m not here to socialize. I have a lot of work to do.”
I pointed to the paper he’d been reading. “What are you reading about?”
“That’s not—”
“I really want to know, and I bet it’s relevant somehow, or you wouldn’t be reading it.”
He let out a long exhale. “The paper is an overview of recent research on negative immunological responses to stem cell gene therapy.”
“Interesting. Tell me about it.”
“I don’t think—”
“I want to learn, and isn’t it true that explaining something is the best way to learn it and retain the information?”
Dr. Theriot huffed. “Who would have thought you would have listened to study skills advice?”
“I don’t necessarily take the advice, but I have a great memory.”
I thought he would protest again, but he began explaining more about what he’d been reading. It was actually fascinating, and he was damn good at explaining complicated ideas. I could listen to him talk for days.
“I would love to learn more about the stealth cells being used to disable antibodies,” I said.
He looked surprised that I’d actually been listening. “We’re working on stealth cells here in our lab.” He explained what experiments were being conducted and encouraged me to look into undergrad research opportunities.
This time, my smile wasn’t calculated. He’d taken my interest seriously. I had to force myself to break eye contact. Damn, he was mesmerizing.
As I glanced away, a chickadee called out from the bird clock. I wondered how he’d ended up with something a quintessential grandmother would have in her house. My grandmother, on the other hand, would never let such a pedestrian item into her mansion. “I’ve got to go.”
He raised his brows. “So soon?”
“I’m supposed to be meeting my advisor now.”
Dr. Theriot gestured toward the door. “Don’t let me keep you.”
“I’ll see you next week, if not sooner.”
“Next week will be soon enough.”
I rushed out the door, hating that I’d set up a meeting when I could have lingered there, watching the way his hands moved as he talked. Focusing on his beautiful mouth, wishing I could feel it on mine.
Fuck. I’d never actually kissed a guy. What would it feel like to kiss Dr. Theriot?
I was determined to find out.