Professor Bryant

Chapter Three:

            I squeezed my eyes shut like I was in some sort of nightmare, and at any minute, I would wake up. When I opened my eyes, Justin was staring at me with a broad smile on his face, showing off his perfectly straight teeth.

            “Team projects aren’t your thing, huh?”

            “Not really.”

            “No need to worry about it. I’m sure we will nail it.” He held out his hand to me, but I stared at it awkwardly. I knew that he wanted me to shake his hand, but why? From the stories that I heard, that isn’t a very Justin thing to do. “I’m Justin Summers. Nice to meet you.”

            One thing that I immediately noticed about Justin was that he was a smooth talker. I would have to be careful around him because I could honestly listen to him talk all day long. Justin wasn’t bad on the eyes either. God, Riley! What are you doing? Stop thinking about guys like that! I’m not sure what was swarming around in my head lately. I had just gotten out of a horrible relationship three months ago with Chad. Chad was just like Justin, such a smooth talker. Needless to say, our relationship did end on the best of terms.

            Justin was still holding out his hand and smiling at me. It was impressive that he never let that smile falter one bit, even when he thought that I might not say anything back to him.

            “Sorry. I’m Riley Bell,” I said while shaking his hand.

            He took a seat in the now empty chair beside me. The closer he got, the more I could smell his overpowering cologne. It smelt great, but Justin really needed to know that there was such a thing as too much.

            “So, what are your thoughts on our little project? When you think of psychology, what does it mean?” He raised his left eyebrow while he leaned into me. I giggled. Justin did seem to have a way with the ladies. I was pretty sure that some of the girls in the class were bummed that I got paired up with him instead of them.

            “Well, psychology is all about the mind and body, right? Why don’t we start there? For example, a person’s body language can tell you what they are thinking and especially how they are feeling.”

            I didn’t even see that Professor Bryant had walked over to us, listening to our conversation. “Good observation, Riley. I may have been wrong about you after all.”

            Professor Bryant walked away, and the instant he did, I realized I had been holding my breath. Holy cow, that was intense. I know I just met him yesterday, but he had never been that close to me. Just having him standing beside me like that was electrifying. 

            Justin squinted his eyes at me in a suspicious way. “What was that about?”

            “Nothing. You remember that he asked to have a word with me after class yesterday?” Justin nodded his head. “Yeah, well, apparently from my introduction speech, he practically told me that he didn’t think I belonged in this class.”

            Justin’s little chuckle made me want to smile instantly. “That makes sense considering that usually Junior’s or Seniors take this class. You are a Sophomore, right?”

            “How did you….”

            “You will come to find out that I’m not as stupid as I may look. I like to do a little digging with all the interesting, beautiful women that I share classes with.”

            I had to roll my eyes at that. There it was. At some point, all guys had this cocky attitude with them that either you loved or you hated. Some didn’t flaunt it as much, while others loved the fact that they were cocky. I couldn’t tell which one Justin was just yet. He seemed more down to earth than I originally wanted to give him credit for with all the rumors that I have heard about him.

            “Yes, a matter of fact, I am a Sophomore. I just turned nineteen over the break before classes started.”

            “Cool. I just turned twenty over the break. When is your birthday?”

            Justin seemed a lot more interested in getting to know more about me than the actual project. Typically, I would have said some snarky comment under my breath and asked him nicely to focus on the project, but something about talking to him was just so easy and natural that made me want to talk more.

            “I am a May baby,” I smiled with a twist of my neck. “May babies are the best.”

            “Oh yeah? I would have to disagree and say that June babies rock hardcore. It’s okay. You couldn’t help the month you were born in,” he joked.

            Professor Bryant clapped his hands, getting everyone to focus on him back in front of the room. “I heard some interesting conversations happening around the room. Some seemed to be impressive. However, some conversations are better left for outside of the classroom. This isn’t a class to mingle in. If you want to know more about each other’s personal lives, wait until after class for that.” He cut his eyes at me again, and my face instantly turned bright red.

            Class was coming to an end after Professor Bryant went over a few more things regarding our team projects. I was packing up my things when Justin walked over to my desk again. “So, are you coming to the party this weekend at Mikey’s?”

            “My friend invited me. I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to go at first because parties are too much for me to handle,” I laughed awkwardly, but Justin laughed right along with me, making me feel better. “But she talked me into going with her."

            His face lit up, and his smile was even bigger than the first time I saw it. “Great. I have something to look forward to.”

            Justin walked out after that, giving me another one of those heart-stopping winks. He was very flirtatious, but I didn’t seem to mind the attention that he was giving me. In my relationship with Chad, he always made everything all about him. Chad would never give me any attention and would have rather that I boosted his ego instead.

            I picked up my bag and drooped it over my shoulder, heading to the exit when Professor Bryant spoke to me again.

            “Party, huh?”

            Geez! What was I thinking talking about the party in front of a professor? Justin and I were underage, and Professor Bryant didn’t strike me as an ignorant guy. He knew that there would be alcohol there. Please, oh please, don’t let me be the reason that a party gets shut down before it even starts. That would literally ruin the rest of my Sophomore year.

            “Um,” I started stuttering a little, which I did a lot when I was extremely nervous. “Yeah. I guess so.”

            “You don’t strike me as the partying kind of girl.”

            “I’m not.”

            “Then why are you going?”

            Why was he asking me about this? Wasn’t there some sort of rule against a professor meddling in my business? If not, there should be.

            “Because I am a sucker for pouting faces and my best friend just so happens to know that too.”

            His lips curled slightly. What I wouldn’t give to have my lips against his right now. Oh, wow. What was I thinking? Focus, Riley!

            “Have a good time and try to be responsible, Riley.”

            The way he said my name sent goosebumps all over my body. If he could get this sort of reaction out of me, imagine him saying more than just my name like that. Great! Now I was thinking about all the things he could be saying to me in my head. I blushed an even deeper shade of red this time.

            I nodded to keep from opening my big mouth and saying something embarrassing. I quickly walked past his desk and out the door. Nora was waiting right against the wall, just like she said she would. Once she saw me, she saw it as her opportunity and peeked her head inside, waving at him.

            “God. You didn’t tell me that he was that hot. Hot doesn’t even seem like an appropriate term for him. More like sexy as hell.”

            I elbowed her in the side because we weren’t out of his range to hear us. As if I knew, I heard him chuckle. Nice one, Nora. He heard everything she said, but I’m sure that couldn’t have been his first-time hearing something like that.

            Nora turned to me and grinned when we finally got further away from his class. “So, who was that guy that you were talking to?”

            “Justin? Oh, he is my partner for our team projects together when we have them. He asked me if I was going to the party this weekend.”

            Nora pressed her lips together, closed her eyes, and put her hands in a praying position while looking up toward the ceiling, but with her eyes closed. “Thank god!”

            “What does that mean?” I asked with sort of a bitchy undertone.

            “Nothing. It’s just that I want you to have fun this semester. After the whole Chad fiasco, I just think that it will do you some good to hang out with a guy that totally has the hots for you.”

            Justin didn’t have the hots for me. At least, I didn’t think that he did. He was just trying to be nice now that we were partners in psychology together. He probably felt sorry for me, which is why he asked me. I wouldn’t read too much into it. Instead of responding to Nora, I shook my head a little and started walking to my next class. It was best if I didn’t always entertain her. 

            Nora didn’t like my confidence level. After Chad, it was at the lowest it’s ever been, and I’ve never really regained it after him. Chad was one of those guys that were a big flirt but made you feel like you were the only girl in the room. He had a way with his words and an even bigger way of responding to you with his body. The problem was that Chad didn’t want just me. He wanted to be with me and have other women at his beck and call. That was the reason we called it off, to begin with. Well, according to Chad, we were never a thing to start with. I caught Chad sexting a girl while we were out on a date. It ended with me taking his phone away, looking through it, and realizing what an i***t I had been to be with him. Chad was the first guy I ever had s*x with, and the parting words he left me made me never want to engage in s*x again.

            I turned my head slightly to see Nora taking off to her class but looking back at me with her not-so-subtle smirk. If it were up to her, she would be playing matchmaker with every guy that ever took a second glance at me. Nora could be a little much at times, but I knew she only wanted me to be happy. She was there for everything during and after Chad, and without her, I’m not sure what I would have become. She helped pick me back up and dust me off. Everyone needed a friend in their life like I had Nora.

            Putting my conversation aside, I headed into my next class. I was actually looking forward to the party this weekend. Nora was right. It was time that I let loose a little and have some fun because if I didn’t break out of this shell now, I probably never would.