“You look like you could use a distraction.”
Jess
The first week of class is my favorite. It’s syllabus week, which means we only go over the hell we’re about to endure instead of actually getting any of it assigned to us just yet.
As I take a seat near the back of my last Wednesday class, Scope and Methods of Political Science, I chug down the rest of the iced coffee I picked up on the way over and sink down into the chair.
I’m still hungover from post-rush weekend and I can’t wait to get back to the sorority house. I need a freaking nap.
I’m one of the last ones in and less than a minute later, the professor claps her hands together.
“Alright, let’s get the logistics out of the way, shall we?
” She’s a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and a smile too cheerful for me at the moment.
She’s dressed modestly in an all-navy dress suit and dark red lipstick covers her bird lips.
Yep, definitely fits the part of a political science professor.
“I’m Dr. Louise Maynard and hopefully you all already know that this is Scope and Methods.
If you’re here, I’m also safely assuming that you’re Poli Sci majors.
So, show of hands, how many of you are pre-law? ”
I raise my hand along with a dozen others and we all look around the room at each other. If Erin were in this class, she would raise her hand, too. Of course, she already took this course last year when we were sophomores.
Show off.
“I see, I see,” she appraises as our hands slowly fall back down.
“Well great. As you know, this course is required for the major. Let’s jump into what the semester will look like.
” She leans back against the desk and crosses her ankles, pulling the syllabus out from a notebook behind her.
“My Graduate Assistant will be here soon to pass out your copies. Take notes until then.”
She starts going over class policies and grading.
I groan when she says attendance is required and worth ten percent of our grade.
I hate classes that count attendance. I’m paying for this class.
I should be able to decide if I want to attend or not.
But whatever, I don’t really have a say in it.
My parents let me do whatever I want as long as I keep B’s or better, so that’s that.
Looks like my Wednesday evenings will get off to a late start. This class is from 5:30 – 7:50p.m.
Dr. Maynard is just wrapping up the breakdown of test scores versus presentation scores when the large wooden doors open, causing her to pause.
I’m still jotting down notes as she claps her hands together again.
“Ah! There he is. Class, this is my GA. He’ll be helping out throughout the semester with grading and tutoring along with various other tasks.
” I finish my notes and lift my eyes to the front.
When I do, I drop my pencil along with my jaw.
“Jarrett, would you like to introduce yourself to the class? Tell us a little about your graduate program and career goals?”
Jarrett, AKA the guy who had his hands weaved into my hair last week, is standing tall at the front of the room with Dr. Maynard.
He’s dressed in black slacks and a teal Palm South button up that accentuates his tan but covers the tattoos I know are lining his arms. Definitely a huge change from the boy in board shorts I jumped in the back of a pickup truck.
He casually runs a hand over his smooth head before tucking both hands in his pockets and appraising the room with a small grin and a glimmer in his dark eyes.
“Hey everyone,” he says, clearing his throat.
Is he nervous? “I’m Jarrett Locke. I graduated with my undergrad from PSU last spring and decided to stick around for grad school.
I have a particular interest in government relations for non-profits, so I hope to one day have a career where I can explore that passion daily.
” A few of the girls around me sigh and I fight against the urge to join them.
Holy swoon. Please, someone wake me up. Someone tell me I don’t want to bone my professor’s graduate assistant.
Or that I already did.
“And I have nothing but faith that you will do just that,” Dr. Maynard says, beaming at Jarrett. “Okay class, that’s all for today. Jarrett’s going to call attendance and then you’re free to leave.”
I repeatedly try to swallow as Jarrett goes down the list of names and one by one, students get up to leave. Why did my German ancestors have to leave me with a name close to the end of the alphabet?
“Jess Vonnegut,” he says, my last name rolling off his lips slowly.
I stand and quickly throw my messenger bag over my shoulder. “Here,” I chirp and bolt for the door. He checks me off and glances up quickly before his eyes fall back to the clipboard in his hand. When he realizes what he just saw, his eyes snap back up to mine.
Crap.
I cringe and try to duck away from his glare as I make my way up to the front of the room toward the door.
It feels like it takes me ages to walk there, and his eyes never leave me.
I feel them burning into my skin every step of the way.
When I reach the front of the room and cross right in front of him, I chance meeting his gaze. And instantly regret it.
His eyes are smoldering, dark, hungry – and they automatically ignite the same animalistic fever he inflicted on me last week. I gulp and he closes his mouth, opens it again like he might say something, but then snaps it shut.
“Fuck,” I mumble under my breath, pulling my eyes away and breaking through the door. I hold my breath until I reach the end of the hallway and burst out of the glass doors to the outside world. Panting, I pull out my phone and send a text to the girls.
- Emergency meeting. My room. Ten minutes. -
When I make it back to the sorority house, Erin, Ashlei, and Skyler are all waiting in mine and Skyler’s room. “Oh my God,” I say immediately, tossing my bag down on my bed. “You are never going to believe who the graduate assistant is in my Scope and Methods class.”
“Oh! Are you taking Dr. Maynard?” Erin interjects. “I love her. Whoever her GA is, they’re lucky. She’s the best professor in the department.”
“Yes, I am. And he may be lucky, Ex, but I’m definitely not.”
Ashlei checks her phone for the second time since I’ve arrived. “Spill, Jess. You’re not making sense.”
“It’s Jarrett.” I wait, but they all just stare back at me so I sigh and toss my hands in the air. “The guy? From last week? Hot bartender, super hot truck?”
“Oh shit!” Skyler says at the same time Erin gasps, “No!” Ashlei just laughs. I toss a pillow and smack her square in the head with it.
“I’m sorry,” she says through her laughter. “It’s just, only you, Jess. Only you.”
I groan, plopping my ass down on my bed and covering my face with my hands. “I know, right? Motherfucking fuck, dude. I really wanted to bang him again!” This time they all crack up and I toss pillows until I run out of ammo.
“Well, you win some you lose some, J-Love,” Erin says, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
I grin at the ironic use of my nickname.
They gave that to me freshman year when I said I was “in love” with every single guy I dated.
Luckily, heartbreak got me out of that phase.
Now I just have fun with boys – and it’s a lot less stressful that way.
“Shit,” Ashlei murmurs, typing out a text on her phone before hopping off Skyler’s bed. It’s then that I realize she’s got a gym bag packed and thrown over her shoulder. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.”
“Where are you going?” I ask, appraising the bag.
Her eyes dart around the room but she smiles confidently. “Just the gym. Then maybe out for a while.”
“Hell yes, I could use a drink,” I say. “Where you going? Ralph’s?”
“Um.” She hesitates, shifting. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll text you after the gym. Love you!” Then she’s gone.
Skyler and Erin eye me curiously. “Don’t ask me, she’s been weird since we got back. Did either of you talk to her over the summer?”
“I called and spoke to her a few times and we chatted on Facebook,” Erin says, taking her spot on Skyler’s bed. “But other than that, not really.”
“Yeah, I saw her during Shark Week but that’s it,” Skyler adds. Since we’re the Palm South Sharks, there are always huge parties and events during Shark Week on campus. I was on a cruise with my family this past summer and missed it.
“Hm…” I kick off my wedges and fall back against the cool sheets of my bed. “I don’t know, maybe I’m thinking too much into it. She’s probably just busy with the first week of classes. What are you two doing tonight?”
Skyler looks at Erin and they both shrug. “I was going to see if Cassie wants to hang out, but other than that, no plans,” Skyler says.
“Girly movie night? I’ve got a bottle of wine stashed under my bed.” I waggle my eyebrows.
“Done and done. I’m already stressed from classes this semester,” Erin says. “I’m going to change into yoga pants. Be right back!” She trots out of the room just as Skyler types out a text on her phone.
“I invited Cassie,” she says, dropping her phone to the bed. “I really think I want her as my Little, Jess. Do you like her?”
“Yeah, she’s cool. But if you want her as your Little you better put in work. Jamie Dapreese has been hanging out with her a lot since Friday, too.”
Her eyes widen. “Really?”
I nod, grabbing the remote to our TV off my bedside table and powering it on. “Yep. I saw them having lunch today between my two earlier classes.”
“Well,” Skyler replies, kicking back and letting her shoes fall to the floor, too. “I’m Skyler Fucking Thorne. I love Jamie, but she doesn’t have shit on me. I’m going to show Cassie a kick ass time in the next few weeks and she’ll realize our group is the best place to be in this sorority.”
“Well, duh,” Jess says, winking. “Just beware. You know Jamie, she likes to buy everything she wants – even if what she wants is a person and not an actual thing.” Skyler nods and I know she’s thinking back to Jamie’s past boyfriends and all the shiny toys she’s bought them. She’s clever, that girl.
“Noted. Alright, what are we watching?”
“Something with lots of smut,” I say, flipping through the channels. “I need a sexual distraction.” Skyler giggles and I smirk, still looking for something that fits that description.
When I find a channel with a Rom Com on, I drop the remote and grab the wine bottle from underneath my bed.
After a few swigs, I start to relax. So what if the bartender I hooked up with is one of my teachers now?
At least he’s just the GA and not the actual professor.
That would be awkward. Still, I was sort of hoping for a repeat of that magic he gave me in the truck.
I had so many scenarios imagined already.
The shower, the bed, a public dressing room, his kitchen…
Sighing, I take one last pull of the wine before passing it to Skyler. Oh well, no use dwelling on it now. He’s off limits.
Right?