The Professor

Chapter Thirty-Six

"He moved you to a different section?" Collin asks loudly. I can hear the shock and disbelief in his voice.

I nod my head as I sip from the white mug my latte is in, and set it on the table.

"Why did he do that?" 

I take a deep breath and elaborated on the excuse Professor Underwood gave me earlier.

"I went to him last week and requested to be switched to the other because of the workload."

Collin nods his head but I can tell by his eyes that he doesn't understand. 

"We're still going to see each other though," I interject with a smile. "I'm really looking forward to this weekend."

Collin replaces his confusion with a smile and I take this moment to really observe him. I further investigate his blue eyes and the way his boyish smile displays the cutest dimples on his cheeks.

"I'm really looking forward to it too," he says.

Our eyes lock each other's and for the first time between us, I feel the pull in my stomach, somehow connecting me to him. There's something about the feel of this moment with Collin looking at me that produces thousands of butterflies in my stomach. He makes me excited and oddly, I feel comfortable around him. 

There's a figure of someone by our table now and we break away to look at the figure at the same time they decide to talk. 

"Aren't you two just adorable," I hear Jessica's voice say at the same time I recognize it's her. There's a trace of sarcasm and jealousy in her voice and I flash my eyes to Collin to see if he picked up on it too. Besides her voice, she's smiling proudly at us, a fake smile.

"I told Claire I was coming here to work on some homework. You can join us if you have some stuff to work on too," Collin offers.

"There's plenty of room to pull up a third chair," I add in with my own sarcastic smile, intentionally using the word "third" just to bother her.

Jessica looks at me and there's a silent war between the two of us with our eyes. We fight each other for a few quiet seconds but the standoff feels like minutes until Collin puts an end to it.

"Jessica, you can have my seat. I can do my work at my house."

"No, no, no, you sit," she says in a sweeter tone, waving her hand at him to stay put. "I just came to grab a coffee," she turns her head back to me. "See you later tonight," she says flatly. 

"Bye," I say sweetly with a overdramatic smile.

She walks away and once I look back to Collin, we break out in uncontrollable laughter.

"What the hell was that?" He asks, still reeling in amusement.

I try to calm down to answer my question.

"I told you I thought she was jealous."

"I believe it now," he says, coming down from laughter. "That was the night you dodged my kiss."

I stop laughing, remembering that moment. That was a moment where Dean was in forefront of my mind, but that's no more. It's not that I didn't want to Collin then, because I did, I was just completely interested in someone else but he will never know that.

I shrug my shoulders and look down at my coffee mug to avoid awkward eye contact.

"I was nervous," I lie. At least the excuse sounds good.

"I was too," he says, stealing my attention again.

"Why were you nervous?"

Now it's his turn to shrug his shoulders.

Collin rubs his chin and laughs, his eyes finding mine again and a confident smile spreads on his lips. That's what makes Collin so attractive me: his confidence. It's not cocky or arrogant, it's just the way he is and there's something about it that it just so damn hot.

I find myself slowly feeling him taking my soul as if he's reaching for it and stealing small pieces of it.

"You make me nervous," he finally says. "I think you're beautiful and smart... it's intimidating."

I smile at his words and can feel myself blushing. I look down briefly at my hands and then back up to him. He's smiling softly at me and watching me intently.

"Do you still want to kiss me?" I ask low enough for only him to hear.

He nods his head.

"Very. But not here. Call me a hopeless romantic if you want, but I like first times to be at a special moment. It makes for a good memory."

He doesn't feel real. How is it possible for guys this good looking to be into literature like I am and still know how to do the right things when it comes to women? 

I shake my head at him.

"What? You think i'm weird?" he asks me.

I scoff.

"Far from that," I tell him.

His hand reaches out onto the table and grabs ahold of mine. I look down at our intertwined hands and then look up to him.

"Good," he says, smiling.

I smile back at him, still blushing.

"Good."