The Professor

Chapter 4

NOAH

The sound of the call ringing filled the car while I drove down the road as fast as I could without going over the speed limit and I frowned when the call got sent to mum’s voicemail again. The text she had sent to me while I was with Dalia stated that she and Shane were at Laguna Hospital because they had gotten into an accident, and I had been trying to reach her ever since but she wasn’t answering my calls. I was starting to get a bit worried.

I had already called dad but his phones were switched off, and I knew I could call Shane to check on mum but there was no way in hell I was doing that.

I frowned as I ended the call before scrolling through my call history to find my sister’s number, but paused when my eyes fell on Dalia’s contact. After getting her number, I had called her so she’d have mine, and I had also given her my jacket because the hallway had become colder when we stepped out of the room. I told her she could return it the next time we saw each other, basically hinting that I wanted us to see each other again as soon as possible. It might have been a bit cheesy, but she obviously liked it and that was all that mattered.

Honestly, when I walked into Javier’s club, the last thing that had been on my mind was having s*x with a stranger and thinking about starting to date again, but then Dalia happened.

The first thing I noticed when I saw her were her eyes. Enormous dark brown orbs that seemed to see through me while pulling me into their depths. Her golden brown skin had looked so soft and supple, and she wore minimal makeup save for a lip gloss, which drew my attention to her perfect lips. She was drop dead beautiful, witty, and touching her had made me feel like I was on fire.

I barely knew her but one thing was certain… I wanted to see her again. And I was definitely going to call her after checking up on mum.

I let out a harsh breath and was about to resume scrolling through my call history when my phone began to ring with a call from my sister, Taylor. I immediately answered it. “Hey, Tay-”

“Noah, we already left the hospital,” she cut me off and I drew my brows together while I slowed the car down.

“Huh?”

“Sorry, mum just told me that she called you. The accident wasn’t serious. Shane just needs a couple of stitches-”

“Don’t tell him that. Tell him to meet us at Shane’s place,” mum said in a volume that she thought was a whisper and I set my mouth in a hard line.

“What about mum?”

“What about her?” Taylor replied and I paused.

“...Didn’t she get into an accident with him?”

“No?” She sounded a bit confused, like she was wondering why I thought that, and a muscle in my jaw twitched at the fact that mum lied just to get me and Shane in the same place.

“What the f**k?” I muttered, tightening my grip on the steering wheel as I felt a flash of irritation. Mum had been trying to set up a meeting between me and Shane the past few weeks and I understood her wanting us to reconcile because having your kids hate each other’s guts must be difficult, but she was starting to piss me off.

“Did she tell you–”

I ended the call before I scanned my surroundings, looking for somewhere to park, and when my eyes landed on a convenience store, I pulled into the parking lot. I then took a deep breath, trying to tamp down my frustration, while rubbing my forehead before the sound of my phone ringing filled the car again. I gritted my teeth, expecting it to be Taylor or mum, but saw that it was Caden instead

“Did you just ditch me at the club?” he said after I answered the call and it took me a couple of seconds to realize that I hadn’t told him I was leaving.

“s**t. Sorry, something came up.”

“Oh. Is everything alright?” he asked and I sat up, clicking my tongue as my mum came to mind.

“Yeah. Anyway, I’m on my way back to the club,” I said and he responded with an ‘okay’ while I began to wonder if Dalia was still there.

“Your girl’s leaving.”

“...Dalia?” That was the only person I figured he could be referring to because apart from his sister and Javier’s girlfriend, Dalia was the only other woman I knew in the club.

“That’s her name?”

Damn. I no longer felt like returning to the club now.

“Noah?”

“I’m going home.”

“What? I’m- What? You just said you’re on your way back.”

“Changed my mind.”

“Oh, you suck.” He hung up while I snorted and moments later, a message came in from him.

Caden: Asshole!

I shook my head sideways before my eyes zeroed in on Dalia’s contact in my call history again and my thumb hovered over it. Should I text her? Was it too soon to do so? I mean, I only left the club a couple of minutes ago… Ah, f**k it.

Me: Sorry I had to leave.

A little bit of anxiety set in after I hit send and I cleared my throat, rubbing my forehead as I waited for her to answer. The moment I saw she was typing a response, I instantly sat upright and a small laugh escaped me because I couldn’t remember the last time I reacted this way to a woman.

Dalia: Wow. You sure do like apologizing

Me: It’s a habit

Me: Not that I constantly do things I need to apologize for

I quickly added that so she wouldn’t think I was some sort of asshole that always offended people.

Dalia: Was just about to ask if you did

I could almost picture her smiling at her phone when she typed that and I couldn’t help but smile too, clearing my throat again as images of her writhing and moaning under me and how she had felt in my hands filled my head. God, I wanted to see her again.

Me: Would you like to hang out soon? We could get lunch

Dalia: I’d love that

That brought another smile to my face.

Dalia: When?

Me: How does Monday afternoon sound?

Dalia: You really want to see your jacket again, huh?

I let out a laugh.

Me: Yes. Yes, I do

Dalia: Damn. I had already started to think of it as mine

Me: Is that so?

I really wanted to see her again.

Dalia: Well, I’m sure we can come to an agreement of some sort on Monday. See you then, Noah.

****

DALIA

Monday morning, my whole body buzzed with anxiety at the thought of seeing Noah again as I glanced at the clock in the lecture hall before returning my attention to the huge, open textbook on the table in front of me. He and I had texted each other several times over the weekend and we eventually settled on meeting at a cafe not far from my apartment at 11am. It was 9:55am right now and I was panicking. Crap.

It wasn’t like this was the first time I was going on a date but it had been a while since I dated someone and I was worried that I would say something incredibly stupid when we met or he’d end up not liking me. Basically, I was worried because I liked him.

I groaned in frustration, letting my head fall to the textbook, because I couldn’t stop thinking of Noah, and despite the fact that I was panicking about meeting up with him, I couldn’t wait to do so.

As I fiddled with the zipper of his jacket which I was wearing, my lips curved into a smile at the thought of seeing him and hearing his voice again.

I then pictured him holding me down… pinning me under his hard weight while he pounded into me ferociously. Oh, hell. I instantly pressed my thighs together to ease the ache I felt down there as intense heat rushed to my throat and face from the memory of his hands and mouth on me and his c**k in me, and I tried and failed to dismiss my escalating arousal. I wanted him again, there was no denying that.

“Dalia,” a voice suddenly called out next to me and I lifted my head, glancing at my right to see Weston standing there, placing his bag on the table. His brows were slightly furrowed as he stared at me and I swallowed as I stopped pressing my thighs together. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I muttered, sitting upright, and closed my textbook while he sat down next to me.

“Where did you get that from?” He gestured at the textbook and I pushed it towards him.

“Kristen just gave it back to me. Put it in your bag. I’ll collect it when we get back to the apartment.”

“No way. I’m not looking to break my back.” He moved his bag away from me, thinking I was going to grab it, and I frowned. The book was damn heavy but it wasn’t as heavy as he made it sound.

“Come on, It’s not that heavy. And it can’t even fit in my bag.”

He snorted and pushed the book back towards me. “Sucks to be you then.”

My phone buzzed as I sneered at him and I checked it to see a message on the family group chat from my cousin, Nova, letting us know that she was already at the airport, before I realized Tamika was standing on my left with a cup of coffee in her hand. Her brows were slightly furrowed in confusion and she looked a little bit lost as she slowly surveyed her surroundings.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” I said while Weston asked her, “What’s wrong?”

She returned her attention to us and I raised my brows. “What the hell are we doing in the second row of Calculus?” she asked and I snorted before checking the time again. 9:57.

“Actually, this is Analysis three,” Weston corrected as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and Tamika’s eyes darted to him.

“What the f**k is that?”

“MX three-zero-three-five?”

“I don’t– Is it compulsory?”

“Yes,” I answered.

“Ugh.” Her gaze then fell to the textbook on the table and she tipped her head to the side. “Why did you bring that to class?” she asked and I pushed it towards her when I realized that it could fit in her bag.

“Please put it in your bag. I’ll collect it when we get back to the apartment.”

“No,” she replied without hesitation while taking her seat and I pouted, picking my phone up from the table. I unlocked it and as I stared at the screen, I began to wonder what Noah was doing. Was he also looking forward to seeing me again?

Stop it, I told myself and shook my head sideways, You’re thinking about him way too much.

“Here,” Weston said, holding a bottle of juice out to me, and I gave him a goofy smile as I collected it. I then pushed my textbook towards him and he tsked before grabbing it and shoving it into his bag, making my smile grow wider.

“You’re so sweet.”

“Holy f**k. That’s the professor?” Tamika blurted out, her eyes widening slightly, as I opened the juice bottle and I glanced at the front of the hall to see a man writing on the board. I couldn’t see his face since he was facing away from us but it was obvious that he was young. “I’m never going to be late for Calculus.”

“Analysis three,” Weston corrected and she gave him a dismissive wave while my phone buzzed.

Norma: OMFG! DALIA!!!

“Sure, sure. Sign me up for the next class.”

Me: What’s wrong?

“It’s a compulsory course.”

“Shut up, Weston.”

Norma: I just saw Noah!

The message came in as I drank from the bottle and my brows immediately snapped together. On campus? A tapping noise then came from the front of the hall, making me lift my eyes from the phone just as the professor turned to face the class and I instantly did a spit take when our eyes met.

Holyshit. Holyshit. Holyshit, Noah?! my mind chanted while Noah froze, shock washing over his face, and when I saw that the person sitting in the first row seat in front of me was also staring at me in shock, it took me a couple of seconds to realize that I had actually sprayed them.

“Oh my God!” Oh my God!! “Nathan, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I placed my hand on his shoulder, feeling like I had been doused with freezing cold water, as I kept apologizing while Weston asked me, “What the hell was that about?”

“It’s okay, Dalia,” Nathan said and I shook my head sideways because it wasn’t. This was totally not okay.

“It’s not. I’m so sorry.” Memories of Noah and I in the club flooded my mind and my eyes darted back to him to see that he had already schooled his expression and looked away from me.

“Why are you sitting in the front row though? You’re always at the back,” Tamika said.

“So this is my fault?” Nathan replied, raising a brow, and I was about to apologize again when Noah finally spoke.

“Can we keep it down, please.” His eyes were back on me again and I immediately snapped my mouth shut while my heart kept trying to beat out of my chest. He then glanced at the other people in class and back at me before he cleared his throat. “Good morning. I’m Professor Anderson.”

Oh, f**k.