33. Anna
CHAPTER 33
Anna
I was jealous.
The moment I saw them together, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I hated seeing her hands on him. She was the beauty standard I could never be—fair skinned, blue eyes. I couldn’t compete with that with my latte colored complexion and dark curls that I couldn’t be bothered to straighten. Where she was petite with huge breasts, I was curvier and short.
The only thing that made it worse was that for once, I was early. And I was early because the entire day I floated on nine thinking about my night with Reign. Twenty minutes had passed since then, and I sat next to a classmate. My eyes darted to the glistening spot of cum that I missed on the table and how dangerously close his pencil was getting to it .
I cannot believe you actually licked it off the table.
I wanted to be disgusted. I wanted to say I was ashamed and that I’d never do it again, but with the taste of us lingering on my tongue and the heartbeat that persisted in my clit, I'd be lying.
Reign stood at his podium like usual, doling out poor grades and new assignments to the class. His face still glistened with the two of us, and my stomach heaved, wondering if others saw it too.
My eyes flicked to the student next to me. The tip of his eraser was literally soaking in my come. I snapped my eyes back to the front of the room when Reign’s harsh voice invaded my ears.
“You’ll all be assigned a partner for the final project,” he said, pulling up a name generator on his screen. “You’ll work with them through the end of the semester. No late work will be accepted. If one of you fails, you both fail. Easy enough to understand, I should hope.”
His fingers slid his glasses down his face in a motion that made my mouth fill with saliva. He clicked the mouse on the screen as the pairings popped up on the screen. His gaze rolled over me, full of salacity. My nipples hardened and the heartbeat in my clit ramped up to a full-blown attack. He oozed virility, and I was desperate to get another taste.
I tore my gaze away from the sexy professor and searched the screen for my name.
“Just great,” one of the guys across the room said out loud. “I'm gonna fail for sure.”
Shit. Lane Tomlison and Anna Walker.
It was me. Of course, I was partnered with him. The one guy in class who seemed to ridicule me the most. Any time I turned something in, he’d roll his eyes. If Reign called on me and I got the answer wrong, which was always, he’d laugh. Any time I was told to stay after class, he’d turn his shit eating grin on me, hoping that I'd get dropped.
I knew I sucked at this class; I certainly didn’t need reminded.
Reign turned his iceberg stare on the guy. “Mr. Tomlison,” his voice lowered an octave. “Do you have a problem with the pairings? ”
Reign’s body moved at an agonizingly casual pace. One that reminded me of a predator hunting his prey just before going in for the kill.
“Yeah,” Lane cleared his throat. “I do actually. You said if one of us fails, then we both fail, and she’s the stupidest bitch in class.”
My throat tightened. Do not fucking cry.
All eyes turned to me, watching me. Studying me. Waiting for a reaction that they’d all label an overreaction . The only person who didn’t turn to stare was the only girl left in the class, she kept her head down in her chemistry textbook, refusing to look.
My eyes whipped down to stare at the desk. Hot and tense, I felt the sting of tears. Their arriving presence blurred my vision. My hands clasped to fists in my lap until my knuckles turned pale. Why didn’t I drop this class?
“Miss Walker has the highest grade in the class.” Reign stepped right up in front of him, drawing the attention away from me and back to him.
Lane rolled his eyes and leaned back until the chair was on two feet. “Bullshit.” He crossed his arms over his chest, challenging Reign.
Reign’s expression darkened. His nostrils flared as he wiped a hand down his face. “If you don’t want to be partnered with her, that’s fine.” He leaned both hands on the desk, nose to nose with Lane. “I can fail you right now.”
Lane’s jaw clenched. The muscle ticked furiously as his eyes landed on me. “I’m talking to you,” Reign snapped. “Not her.”
“Whatever, man.” Lane snatched his bag up and trudged over to me. “Gimme your number, and we can work on this shit tonight in the library.” He shoved his phone towards me.
My hands shook so badly I could barely hold the phone. I glanced at Reign. Then down at the phone. Then back to him, hoping he would understand. Was it really okay to give him my number?
The subtle nod was barely visible.
I put in my number. “I’ll meet you there. I have to stay after class,” my voice was so soft I wasn’t sure he’d even heard me.
“Yeah,” he said as he sauntered off, slamming the door. The air lightened with his exit, students picked up their stuff and exited the class. The other girl offered me a sympathetic look as she exited. Everyone was rushing to start the mountain of a final project that Reign had assigned.
I sucked at everything in this class, and that final project was sure to be a final grade death sentence if I hadn’t been getting special treatment. The silence was thick, save for the tick of the clock as the last student left.
I felt his presence looming over me.
“Vixen?” His voice was a stark difference from how he talked to the class. “What do you need?” Fingers caressed my damp cheek as a few of the tears slipped over.
“I need you,” the words felt like glass coming up my esophagus. Shame heated the blood in my veins. You’re always failing at everything in life. But Reign, I met his gaze as his lips closed over mine, always felt right.