Chapter 6 Chapter 006
Tito’s POV
Chloe kept nudging me under the desk, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t fucking breathe.
My eyes remained locked on him, Professor Kendrick.
My mom’s new lover.
The man who “saved” us and just made us move in with him.
The man with the strange control-ridden aura that as much as I feared, made me curious.
And no, not in a good way.
His suit was tailored too perfectly. His broad shoulders were too distracting. His eyes were too sharp, too controlled with how he looked at everyone.
The glasses sat a bit too comfortable on the rim of his nose, and I hated the ease at which he was casually teaching like he hadn’t just flipped my world upside down three times in less than twenty four hours.
I was having a full on crash out.
“Tito!” Chloe whispered harshly, dragging my mind out of the depths of doubts that had began to flood my head.
I slowly turned my gaze to her, and realized she was staring straight at him. But somehow, he wasn’t standing in front of the class anymore. He was right at my desk.
“Why is your textbook not open?” His voice commanded quietness as it boomed across the large classroom.
Heat crawled up my neck as everyone’s eyes landed on me.
But something in me knew it wasn’t the mocking stares that caused my nerves, to fry, it was the intensity of his gaze.
So many questions swirled in my head all at once, and I couldn’t stop myself from blurting, “Who are you?”
If the class was quiet before, it was graveyard silent now.
I caught a small twitch of his lips, but his expression stayed the same. Cold. Distant. Dominating.
“Turn your textbook to page 16,” he said with emphasis, ignoring my question like it was an unintelligible cluster of words and he was too high class to pay attention.
I clenched my fists under my desk, but turned the page anyway. I wanted to yell at him, scream in his face and tell him to stay the fuck away from I and my mom, but even I wasn’t ready for the humiliation it would cause both of us.
I didn’t like these people already. So yes, I did the rational thing.
He stared at me for a little while longer, making me shrink back even more, before turning back to the class and continuing the lecture.
I buried myself in the literature text, ignoring his voice, the snickers and the whispers that went unnoticed by him until the lecture as over.
He casually packed his stuff, before turning to write an assignment on the board.
“Due by tomorrow morning. You all will individually submit it to my desk for attendance. Understood?”
The class affirmed in unison.
After he had left, and my nerves finally calmed down, Chloe planted herself in front of my desk.
“What was that?”
I jumped, startled by the eagerness in her tone. My head was still too foggy, too disturbed by the events of the day. I wasn’t ready at all.
“Nothing.”
She scoffed and pulled my glass case out of my hands. “Tito.”
“Chloe,” I shot back, making an effort to take my casing out of her hands. I needed to wipe my glasses. I may or may not have fogged them with how hard I was breathing. My heart was pounding too fast.
But how could I help myself?
First he was this dark mysterious man who could bring down four men in less than twenty seconds.
Then he was this humanitarian who just took an “interest” in us after my mom and I were attacked.
Then he became her lover and was able to bring her out of her self induced alcoholism.
And now, he’s my school professor.
Why did this feel like a plot straight out of a movie?
My hand stretched out and I grabbed my casing out of Chloe’s hands before she could react. She yelped, then put herself together before she leaned down and whispered.
“Sure, he can be distracting. He’s Professor Cole after all. But wasn’t that too much?”
My ears perked up. “What do you mean after all?”
“You’re not the first one who’s been distracted by him on their first day. The man is a work of art that’s a little too perfect,” she said, raising her eyebrows dreamily.
I felt my stomach churn. “You can’t possibly be serious.”
“Oh but I am. Have you seen him in the professor’s lounge? Gosh. He’s probably the perfect description of daddy.”
“Chloe!” I hissed, swatting at her arm. “That’s inappropriate. Besides, he’s not even all that. He just seems weird to me.”
And heavily manipulative. There was so much he was hiding, yet so little for me to find out.
“You’ll see the vision eventually. I think you were just intimidated by his very defined chest,” she giggled and got off the table before I could scoff her any more.
I sighed, and took out the cleaner for my glasses. I wiped them clean, trying so hard not to remember that night.
I had hugged him.
It was out of excitement and happiness, but I hadn’t cared. And he had hugged me back.
Somehow, his scent had calmed me, even though I wasn’t prepared for the scared moment when he hugged me back. My wolf had whimpered, not out of fear, but…content.
I shook my head.
There was no way on earth I was having these thoughts now, right when I was still stuck in the mystery of how all this was even happening.
“It’s lunch time! Let’s go Tito, the boys have a way of hogging all the good potatoes,” Chloe called out, distracting me momentarily from the swarm of possibilities that were forming in my mind.
I sighed and grabbed my bag, following her as she happily skipped out of the class.
Out in the hall, I saw him, Professor Kendrick, talking to a blonde haired woman just in front of the teacher’s lounge. Chloe was pulling me forward, but somehow my eyes remained locked on him.
The sweater he had on moved with his muscles, and his glasses shifted ever so slightly down the bridge of his nose. I watched as he slowly brought his fingers up, pushing them back in place.
I swallowed.
The blonde haired woman had a strange dreamy expression on her face that made disgust bubble up in me.
Didn’t they know he was married already?
The woman tried to casually place her arm on his, but he shifted politely, his expression turning to steel. Her face reddened instantly, and a snort escaped my lips.
But then, he looked up.
And his eyes landed on me, all the way across the hall.