Borrowed Time

Chapter 197

Watching Esme try to do Chemistry was possibly the cutest thing in the entire world, because they would wrinkle their nose up and frown just a little the entire time... and it made Juliette completely useless when it came to these labs... Sure, it meant that Esme had to do more, but they were actually pretty good at it sometimes.

Plus, she got to watch their hands, their fingers, their lips... Everything. It was like a private show... Well, private as it could be in a classroom, right?

"Okay... So... We need to titrate?" Esme asked, looking at her like she had any idea what the hell was going on, but she hadn't paid attention in this class since the first week... She'd been too busy watching Esme.

Sure, she passed all the tests but without Shelby tutoring her there was no way that she would be doing as well as she was, and aside from looking at the prelab and doing that, she hadn't really like... Looked at it.

"You are asking the wrong person." She sighed, seeing Esme grimace as they looked at her, their eyes as soft as ever even as they looked pained. Oh my God, I wanna kiss you until you're breathless.

She wanted them in every way she could... And after this week was over, she was gonna take them on the most romantic date humanly possible and then she was gonna fucking destroy them.

She was a multi-talented individual.

"Am I?" They smiled at her softly, nudging her foot with theirs as they did... Her breath caught at the sight of their slightly crooked teeth, the crooked grin... Symmetry was overrated, seeing Esme's human beauty just took her goddamn breath away. "You're my lab partner, one of us has to know what's going on." That was a good point, but neither one of them did.

That was why being lab partners and romantic partners was a horrible idea.

"Neither of us do." Esme chuckled, a low sound that sent a shock right through Juliette's body, something that she expected.

Their laugh had always had a certain effect on her.

"Damn... And here they're gonna let us graduate." They sighed, shaking their head as they did, and Juliette chuckled, leaning closer to them, biting back a moan at the smell of their cologne and lotion... God, she wanted them.

Who said that? Why say that in class? Don't do that, you horny fuck!

"That's their mistake." Juliette mumbled, flitting her eyes up and down Esme's body, chewing on her lip... Their shirt was cropped just a bit, coming up enough that she could see their lower stomach when she moved - their tattoos, their happy trail.

God, she wanted to run her tongue over it... Her fingers... Anything, she just wanted to touch them.

"What's up?" They asked, and Juliette shrugged, busying herself with her papers... She wanted to make sure that she had her stuff organized, that was totally why, not to distract herself at all.

But also... She could pull out her secret weapon, right? She could make sure that she wasn't the only one suffering right now, thinking about how their touch would feel, aching for them.

"Nothing." God, control yourself. Down girl.

"Okay..." They went to reach across the table as Juliette shrugged her hoodie off, getting their attention. "I need a beaker." They paused, nearly stumbling as they looked at her, eyes widening.

They hadn't seen her get dressed, she'd had her hoodie on before they did, but she knew that wearing one of their shirts, one that cut low enough for them but not low enough to get dress coded would absolutely ruin them.