Chapter Nine
NINE
Micah
As I walk through the East Nashville University campus, I catch myself smiling.
I still can’t believe I had such a fun conversation with ShakespeareInLust last night. I expected them to be annoyed at my fangirling, but they were so sweet and gracious about it. And even when I started complaining about my workday, they were such a good sport. They even vented about work too.
It was such a fun conversation—everything flowed so naturally. It felt like talking to an old friend, and it put me in the best mood.
I take a second to breathe in the crisp January air. Despite how chilly it is, the sky is a beautiful shade of cornflower blue and there’s not a cloud in sight.
I’m due to observe another one of Aidan’s classes today. My smile drops. Just the thought of being in the same room with that guy has all the muscles in my neck and shoulders tensing.
I take a deep breath as I walk into the building that houses the English department. It’s a beautiful winter day, I’m in a good mood, and I’m not going to let him ruin it.
I make my way to the elevator and hit the button for the floor where Aidan’s office is. When I walk up to his open door, I take a breath to steady myself before I knock.
“Come in.” His low, gravelly voice hits my ears. I close my eyes. God, I hate that I like the sound of his voice so much.
When I step inside, he’s frowning at something on his laptop screen. He looks up at me and his frown etches deeper into his handsome face.
He’s pissed to see me.
That makes two of us, buddy.
I walk up to his desk. “About our argument yesterday. I’m not going to let it affect our time together here at the university.”
He blinks at me. Then he scoffs. “Okay.”
He looks back down at his computer. That familiar mix of frustration and anger simmers inside of me. If that wasn’t the most passive-aggressive dismissal I’ve ever seen.
I unbutton my coat. “That’s all you have to say? ‘Okay’?”
“Yeah, Micah,” he says through a heavy, annoyed exhale. “That’s all I have to say.” He doesn’t even look at me when he speaks. It’s like he doesn’t even think I’m worthy of eye contact.
I clench my jaw. This jackass. I can’t stand him either, but I would never speak to him like this.
I place my palms on his desk and lean down so I’m hovering over him.
“Do you think you could pay me the slightest bit of courtesy, Professor Scott, and look at me when you speak to me?”
He closes his eyes and clenches his jaw. He takes a breath. And then two seconds later, he finally opens his eyes.
He starts to look up from his laptop, but his gaze snags on my torso. His eyes go wide.
For a second, all I can do is stand there in shock.
Is he…is he gawking at my chest?
A million invisible needles prick all over my body. I want to crawl out of my skin.
I should probably be used to this. Guys have been staring at my chest since puberty hit. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had a larger-than-average chest…and men have always seemed to want to stare at it.
Every muscle in my body twitches with the urge to cross my arms over my chest, to shrink and hide myself.
But I don’t. I stay standing over his desk. I shouldn’t have to cover myself because he can’t seem to handle himself around a woman’s body.
“You’re a pig,” I mutter, my voice low and hard.
Aidan blinks and shakes his head, like he’s coming out of a trance.
He finally looks me in the eye. “N-No, I wasn’t… I mean…”
His face is fire-engine red. Good. I hope he overheats from embarrassment.
He blinks again, his blue eyes wide with panic. “Your blouse is unbuttoned,” he blurts.
Dread rockets through me. I look down and instantly wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
Because the entire top part of my blouse is wide open, exposing my black lace bra.
I gasp when I see how the tops of my boobs are practically spilling out of the cups. You can almost see my nipples…
Oh god no…
I stumble back and turn my body away as I quickly button it back up. And then I button up my wool coat, even though I’m inside, just to cover myself even more.
Even though I’m sweating out of sheer embarrassment.
“I-I-I didn’t mean to…” he stammers.
Anger slices through the fog of humiliation. I spin around. He’s standing up now, but he’s still behind his desk.
I glare at him. “You didn’t mean to? Are you serious?”
His cheeks are still bright red as he opens his mouth, then closes it, then opens it, then closes it again.
Finally, he huffs out a breath. “Of course I’m serious,” he says. “I just…couldn’t really help it…”
My mouth falls open. The fucking audacity of this guy to gawk at my breasts and then feed me the lamest excuse possible.
“You couldn’t help it?” I almost laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
He tugs a hand through those chestnut curls. “I mean…you were leaning over my desk…” He flings his arm toward his desk. “And they were… I mean you were…kind of in my face…”
My mouth falls open as I stare at him. “You’re accusing me of purposely shoving my boobs in your face?”
That panicked expression reappears. He shakes his head furiously. “No! I know you weren’t trying to shove…yourself in my face. I just meant that it was jarring to see…”
My head falls back as I groan. “I can’t believe the way you’re acting right now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I scoff at how indignant his tone is. “You’re acting like you saw a car accident and couldn’t help but stare.”
He shrugs. “Well, I mean, yeah, that’s kind of how it felt.”
I let out a laugh of pure disbelief. “Oh my god. You can’t be serious.”
Aidan flashes that lethal frown once more. “I think you’re overreacting.”
I step toward him. “And I think you’re disgusting. Because based on what you’re saying, you can’t seem to control yourself. Apparently your eyes have a mind of their own and just have to gawk anytime they see a pair of breasts.”
His gaze on me sharpens. He clenches his jaw. “I’m offended that you’d imply such a thing.”
“It’s true.”
“You know, this entire problem could have been avoided had you just buttoned up your blouse properly.”
My jaw falls to the floor. He’s blaming me for this?
“So you’re saying it’s my fault that you can’t help but gawk at me like a creep?”
He exhales sharply. “Look, if Jason had walked in here with his shirt half-open, I would have gawked too.”
I stare at him. “Somehow I doubt that.” I turn to leave. I still have to observe his class later today. Just the thought of being around him after this whole awful incident makes me want to scream.
I can’t avoid it though. I have a job to do.
When I get to his office door, I stop and turn back around to him. “I don’t ever want to mention this again. Okay?”
He folds his muscled forearms across his chest and aims a hard stare at me. “Fine.”
“And don’t ever look at my chest again.”
Aidan quirks an eyebrow. “That won’t be a problem. As long as you can remember to put your clothes on properly.”
My jaw plummets to the floor. I can’t believe he just said that.
He sits back down at his desk, ignoring me as he hammers away on his laptop.
I stomp out of his office, fuming. Seriously, fuck this guy.