Read Online Taught: A City's Secrets Novella by B. B. Hamel - Free Book Online Page A

him out of my mind; the way he rode his bike with confidence, the hidden garden, his cocky grin, the way he kissed me and drove my body insane, everything was too much. If I wasn’t completely crushing on him before, I definitely was after that night. I wasn’t sure why I was so hesitant at first, but I found myself melting into him more and more.
    “Yeah, but come on. You didn’t just kiss.”
    “He wants to take things slow.”
    “Are you fucking kidding me?” she said, eyes wide. “He’s perfect, dude. Lock him down.”
    “He’s worried about his job.”
    “Yeah, that’s an issue.” Lane looked pensive.
    I moved across the kitchen and poured myself a glass of orange juice.
    “Could he get in trouble for dating you?” Lane asked.
    I gave her a look. “Nobody said anything about dating.”
    “Are you kidding me?” She rolled her eyes.
    “I don’t have time, and plus, he probably would get in trouble.”
    “But you’re not his student.”
    I drank some of my juice, and exaggerated a shrug. “I don’t know how it works, Lane. He’s worried, that’s all.”
    “Listen to me, and listen good. That’s a hot rocker professor you have lusting after you. Don’t let that shit go to waste.”
    Typical Lane. She was fun and my best friend, but a little short sighted. In her mind, this was the perfect opportunity for me. If I liked him, then obviously I should date him. But things weren’t that simple to me. I couldn’t bring another distraction into my life. I had pressures she didn’t understand, especially coming from my parents. They would be wrecked if I didn’t get into a good med school, and forget about not getting into one at all. I’d probably be cast out of the family if I got rejected across the board.
    “We’ll see,” I said, trying to change the subject. She gave me another big eye roll.
    I walked out into the living room and sat on the couch, legs folded under me, and pulled my laptop off the coffee table and onto my knees. I booted it up, typed in my password, and navigated to Facebook.
    I scrolled through my feed for a while, clicking randomly on pictures, not really caring about what I saw. Facebook had become more of a habit than anything else. Suddenly, the little red notification for a new friend request popped up. I opened the tab and stared at the name: Jim Sleeter. His picture made it clear that it was my Jim, or at least the Jim from last night. Professor rocker Jim.
    Oh wow. I couldn’t believe he had stalked me down already.
    Flattered, I clicked accept, not thinking anything would come of it. I looked through his profile pictures, pretty average stuff, and scrolled down through his wall. It was a pretty typical Facebook page, boring and generic, with the occasional funny picture of him or maybe a funny comment somewhere. I knew mine was more or less the same.
    As I finished my stalk-session, a window popped up in the bottom right hand corner.
    Jim: hey
    I stared at the window for a second, my heart racing. My first reaction was to call for Lane and obsess over what exactly he meant, or why he messaged me at all, but I resisted those impulses. It was silly to obsess over one word. Plus, I was my own person with my own feelings, and I didn’t need to act like a teenager with a crush, even if I felt that way.
    Me: hey what’s up?
    Jim: not much. I had fun last night.
    Me: yeah, me too. You guys were awesome.
    Jim: haha thanks, but I meant after the show.
    Me: I know you did :)
    Jim: what are you up to today?
    Me: not much I think. probably just hanging around the house. you?
    Jim: not sure. George said something about a record label guy, but he didn’t go into detail.
    Me: woah, what?
    Jim: I’m not getting excited, George is usually wrong.
    Me: that could be huge right? do you know what label?
    Jim: he didn’t say. George is a little tough to deal with sometimes.
    Me: ah that’s frustrating.
    Jim: yeah, but he’s coming over. I should find out more soon.
    Me: I’m