Page 78 of Fundamentals of Chemistry

His words trailed off as if he was too stunned to complete the thought.

I smiled against his mouth as he kissed me again, languid and deep. “It was absolutely my pleasure,” I insisted.

“Why do you have to make it so hard to stay away from you?” he asked, without malice.

The question was obviously rhetorical, but I felt compelled to respond anyway. I had already been reckless, so I decided to keep it up and just say what was on my mind. “I don’t want to stop. I like you. I like how you make me feel.”

“What are you saying?”

I stood up tall and regarded him below me, splayed out in the chair. “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing. I want to leave the door open. I know one of us will be leaving and we can’t have a relationship, but I don’t want to waste the rest of the time that we’re here together. Maybe we could just start with a coffee? Or dinner?”

“You know that’s against the school rules,” he countered.

“Yes. But I think we could be discreet.”

“Discreet like this?” He gestured to his pants, still unzipped and unbuckled.

“Some rules are meant to be broken.” I bit my lip, fighting the smirk that tried to spread over my face.

He grasped my chin and pulled my lip out of my teeth with his thumb before pulling me down for another kiss. “You’re a bad influence.”

“The worst,” I agreed, smiling broadly.

Jack closed his eyes and wiped a hand over his face.

Chapter 24

Boundaries

Ispent the better part of Monday night and Tuesday morning mentally kicking myself for my impulsive display of gratitude. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. He seemed to enjoy having my mouth on him as much as I had enjoyed doing it, even after Alan had interrupted. As far as I was concerned, the danger of being caught had just made the whole thing even more fun.

But then, he ran away. AGAIN.

The evidence was irrefutable. I gave him a—pretty spectacular, if I do say so—blow job. Then, he zipped up his pants, grabbed his backpack, and bolted. He left me standing in an empty classroom melting into a puddle of liquid mortification.

What the hell was I thinking?

That was an easy question to answer—I wasn’t thinking. I liked Jack. I wanted to be with him. But he, very clearly, did not want to be with me.

Homecoming weekend had been a fluke. That was the only explanation that made sense. That was the only time we’d kissed, etcetera, when he hadn’t immediately run away from me like I was harboring the black plague. And even then, he still had his rules. One night. Sure, we had extended that to twenty-four hours, but only after I’d pushed.

I had no idea what made me think he would be okay with more. He admitted he liked me, but that didn’t mean he wanted any kind of relationship.

I felt so stupid. I was just as irresponsible and reckless as my dad thought I was. Jack had been very clear with his boundaries, and I had totally ignored them. That stopped now. I was going to give him the space he asked for. The space he deserved. It was the right thing to do.

My Fun Chem lecture passed in the blink of an eye as I waited for the moment that I feared the most—the moment that the bell would ring and Jack would come in for his own class.

My cheeks heated and my mouth dried out the closer the clock ticked to the end of the hour, to the time when he would come in and I would have to face him again. Luckily, he hadn’t been in the cafeteria this morning when I swung by for a bagel and coffee. I planned on trying to avoid him between classes too, but there were too many variables to control. He could be early. A student could ask me a question and hold me behind. My success was always mixed.

But I could damn well try.

The students were packed up and ready to go five minutes before the end of class. Even still, I nearly jumped out of my skin when the bell rang. I scooped up my bag and coat with lightning speed and started for the door behind the crush of teens.

I was close, nearly to the door, but before I could slip from the room, the atmosphere changed. Jack was here.

I froze. Maybe his vision was based on movement. Maybe if I held really still he wouldn’t see me.

His eyes immediately found mine, and he started coming my way. Fuck, fuck, fuck. His expression was unreadable. He wasn’t angry, but he didn’t seem happy to see me either. Just infuriatingly neutral.