I opened my door and got out with a huff, hating the way light chuckles escaped his lips as I fumbled to stalk over to him.
Once we were both standing in the concrete parking lot, I crossed my arms over my chest in annoyance before addressing him. “I don’t have ideas about this,” I replied in a whisper before gesturing between us. “I was just looking out for you. I don’t usually go for older guys, anyway,” I added while looking him up and down with scrutiny. Even though I tried to appear nonchalant, my eyes still lingered on his broad shoulders and long, muscular legs.
“Older, huh?” he asked with another chuckle. I hated how self-assured he sounded. Decker looked around the empty parking lot before taking a step closer to me. “I’m twenty-four, by the way. I’m not some old creep preying on high school girls. Besides, regardless of whether I am your teacher or not, nothing would ever happen between us.”
I tilted my head to the side while taking another step closer, my breasts brushing against his chest as I invaded his space. “And why is that?” I asked in a husky voice before quickly adding, “Not that I care.” I hadn’t even realized how turned on I was until my traitorous voice turned sultry and needy. Every inhale had me brushing against him. I could smell his masculine cologne. He was under my skin, and I wasn’t sure how that made me feel.
“Nothing would ever happen between us because you’re Lance’s sister. End of story. Now get your ass inside so we can wash beakers.” Decker then spun around and started walking up the steps toward the main entrance. Gaping, I stood there for a little longer to process his words before following after him. Once at the main door, he pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked it before letting us both inside.
The main hallway had burgundy tile and crisp white walls. It opened up into a large cafeteria where a mural of their mascot, a pirate, was painted on the right side. Large, expansive windows covered the hallways, immersing the entire building with light. I could hear in the distance that a vacuum was running, likely the janitorial staff gearing up for the new school year.
Decker started walking toward the left, checking on classrooms and speaking as he went. “This is one of the top rated STEM schools in the country. All applicants have to take their ACT to be considered for admission. It’s a private school, but forty percent of our students are here on scholarship, thanks to some generous donations from elite colleges looking to find their next freshman class. I took the liberty of checking your scores, with Lance’s permission of course. You’d be automatically accepted, for sure. We only house grades eleven and twelve, which means this is more of a college preparatory than a full-blown high school. We offer a ton of college courses, and most students graduate with at least sixteen freshmen credits under their belt. Most of our students go on to places like MIT or Caltech.”
I’d admit it, the school was top notch. Every classroom had MacBooks on the desks, and high-tech screens in front of the room where whiteboards would’ve been.
“You looked at my ACT scores?” I asked. Of everything he had said, that little fact was lingering at the front of my mind.
Decker chuckled. I was starting to hate his laughter. Not because it was necessarily an annoying sound. If anything, he sounded downright sexy every time his lips parted and a laugh escaped. I was just tired of him thinking he’d figured me out. Especially since now all I could think about was figuring him out. That truth he’d tossed into my lap like a grenade on Sunday had been haunting me ever since. I had questions burning inside of me, but I refused to give in and ask them. It seemed like he was expecting me to bring it up, and for some reason, with Decker, I preferred to do the unexpected.
“Yeah. I looked at them. I also turned them into our admissions department a week before you got here. They were very impressed.”
I still remember the day I took my ACT. I had to be up at four in the morning to drive Mama to one of her chemo treatments. I dropped her off at the hospital then raced to the school to take my exam. I ended up being thirty minutes late to pick her up, and she sobbed in my lap, telling me how I was selfish and didn’t care about my dying mother.
“I could’ve done better. I was distracted that day,” I said with confidence. I didn’t necessarily want to brag, but for some reason it was important to me that Decker knew I was smart.
Decker stopped in front of the classroom door and proceeded to flip through his large ring of keys before stopping at one and sliding it into the lock. “This is the chemistry lab. Since you’re a merit scholar, I’m assuming this is where you’ll want to spend most of your elective classes. We hire some nearby professors to come in and lead lectures on occasion. We also have partnerships with local labs that have internship programs.”
He opened the door and stepped inside, but I kept my feet firmly planted in the hallway. “Can you please stop talking like this is a done deal?” I asked before taking a step inside. I was so busy staring at him that I didn’t fully take in the room.
“Can you stop pretending like you’re not going to give in?” Decker whispered as I paused right in front of him. My shoulder tapped his chest, and he leaned over before brushing a long, pale strand of hair behind my shoulder. “I think you’d really like it here if you gave it a chance,” he added.
His lips were so close to my ear that a shudder traveled down my spine at his whispered words. I wanted to believe him. I really did. I was a sane, rational person. I could look an opportunity in the face and know if it was good for me. I hated my self-destructive nature in that moment. It reminded me too much of Mama.
Tearing my eyes from the floor, I twisted to stare at him, praying that my eyes didn’t look as heated as my entire body felt.
“Only if you stop pretending like you know me,” I replied, feeling proud of myself for my confident clap back. When his mouth dropped open in shock, I took that as my cue to enter the lab and start looking around.
It was nice. Every bit of technology occupying the lab tables was highly advanced. It looked more like an expensive pharmaceutical lab than a high school chemistry classroom. Every square inch of this room was filled to the brim with the highest quality testing equipment. And even though I was ashamed to admit it, it really was nice. I would’ve never had an opportunity to even look at some of this stuff back in Texas, let alone work with it.
“Holy shit,” I said before running over to a centrifuge to stare at it. I’d never seen one up close! Right next to it was a fume hood and one of the most expensive microscopes on the market. “And students get to use this?” I asked.
“Under supervision, yes,” Decker replied with a smile.
“You don’t play fair, Mr. Harris,” I replied with a sigh while running my hand over the microscope.
“I know I was kind of an ass when you first got here…”
“Kind of?” I scoffed.
“Don’t make me regret this, punk. This is a good opportunity, Blakely. But don’t get confused; I’m doing this for Lance.” Yeah. Sure you are, asshole. There was more between us. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but we were like a chemical reaction boiling over in one of these beakers. I felt hot whenever Decker was near, as well as intrigued by him. Maybe the allure was because he was forbidden, but there was something definitely there.