Chapter 42: So Much for Self-Control

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: So Much for Self-Control

With Nicole’s help, we eventually managed to make decent progress on Professor Thompson’s material. What had taken me the better part of an hour to explain to Jackson became considerably easier once Nicole started helping, and she somehow managed to do it without making him feel stupid for not getting it in the first place.

At one point, Jackson leaned back in his chair after finally working through a particularly troublesome problem and stared at the page as though it had personally offended him.

"Honestly, I wish you were the one teaching this course, Professor Collins."

Nicole smiled. "I’m sure Professor Thompson would be delighted to hear that."

I laughed a little. "I’m sure he’d just find a way to make us suffer for it during his next lecture."

Jackson chuckled too, but then shook his head. "I’m serious, though. You explain things so much better."

"I’ll take that as a compliment," Nicole replied, looking amused.

After that, Jackson seemed considerably less concerned about addressing her like a professor every other sentence. He still slipped up occasionally, catching himself halfway through a thought and straightening in his chair, but Nicole never made him feel awkward about it. By the time we finally called it a night, we’d made more progress than either of us had expected, and Jackson had stopped looking at the textbook like it was an unsolvable problem designed specifically to ruin his life.

He checked his phone while putting his things away, then frowned at the time. "Well, I should probably get going."

I glanced at the clock. "Got somewhere to be?"

"Home." He shoved his notebook into his bag and gave me a look, standing up. "Before Evelyn starts wondering why I’m still out this late."

"She still does that?"

"Nope. But if I tell her I was at your place studying, and then she finds out your girlfriend was here cooking dinner for us, I’m gonna have a lot of explaining to do."

The room went quiet.

Jackson seemed to realize what he’d just said a second too late. Nicole pressed her lips together, trying to hold back a smile, but the corners of her mouth kept lifting until the effort became completely pointless. She lowered her gaze, pretending to be interested in something on the table, which would have been more convincing if she hadn’t looked so pleased with herself.

Jackson glanced at her, then at me, then back at her again.

"I mean..." He cleared his throat. "I meant—"

"I’ll walk you to the door," I said, standing up.

"Yeah. Door," Jackson said quickly, latching onto the escape route. "I was just about to say that."

Nicole let out a small laugh, and Jackson closed his eyes briefly as though hoping the floor might open up and save him from the conversation he’d somehow walked himself into.

I gave him a light push toward the door. "Come on, man."

"Yeah." He followed me to the door, and I opened it for him. Before I could usher him out, he turned back to Nicole.

"Thank you for dinner, Professor Collins. And for helping out with the material. Seriously, I appreciate it."

"You’re welcome, Jackson. I’m glad I could help," Nicole replied.

He hesitated before adding, "And, uh, I meant what I said about your teaching. You’re really good at explaining things."

Nicole’s smile warmed a little. "Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say."

Jackson nodded, then seemed to remember something else he probably should have left alone. "And, uh, about the girlfriend thing I said earlier—"

I pushed him out the door before he could finish.

"Goodnight, Jackson."

"Hey!" he protested from the other side.

I ignored him and closed the door.

When I turned around, Nicole had already moved from the dining table to the couch.

She practically plopped down onto the cushions, settled herself comfortably against the backrest, and crossed her legs, looking so at ease that anyone walking in might have assumed she lived here. Her pink hoodie had ridden up slightly at the waist as she shifted, and her black skirt and thigh-high boots made her look considerably less like the professor who had been helping us with math a few minutes ago.

She looked at me with a satisfied little smile.

"Finally," she said.

My eyes dipped briefly to her thighs before returning to her face. In my defense, she was sitting there in a skirt that short, and I was still a guy with a pulse. I walked over to the couch and sat beside her, already knowing she’d caught me looking.

Nicole suddenly reached for the hem of her hoodie.

I watched her fingers curl around the hem, then looked back at her face as she began to pull it upward.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Taking my hoodie off," she replied, looking at me as though that should have been obvious.

I blinked, briefly reconsidering whether I’d heard her correctly.

"I have another top underneath, Nate."

"Oh."

That was all I could manage because, first, I had every reason to suspect Nicole was doing this on purpose. I knew her well enough by now to recognize that innocent expression as a potential warning sign, and I wasn’t entirely convinced she hadn’t caught my earlier glance and decided to have a little fun at my expense. Second, she had just called me Nate, and somehow that wasn’t helping my ability to form a coherent response.

Nicole, clearly in no hurry to make things easier for me, slowly pulled the hoodie upward until it revealed the fitted black top underneath, then paused to free one arm. The innocent look on her face remained firmly in place as she worked the fabric over her elbow.

I watched her for a few seconds, growing more certain by the moment that she was doing this deliberately. She had caught me looking earlier, she knew exactly how to get under my skin, and now she was taking her sweet little time removing a hoodie that should not have required this much effort.

Apparently, I was expected to just sit there and watch.

I sighed, leaned over, and helped her pull the hoodie free.

"There," I said.

Nicole burst into a giggle, clutching the discarded hoodie against her lap as she looked at me.

I gave her a flat look. "Something funny?"

She shook her head, still smiling far too brightly to be convincing.

She watched me for another moment, still clutching her hoodie against her lap, before a mischievous smile spread across her face. Then she scooted closer, closing the small gap between us, and leaned toward me until I had no choice but to look directly into her eyes.

They were bright and shining with the kind of happiness that usually meant she was about to make things difficult for me.

"You know you’re allowed to look, right?" she finally said.

I froze.

There were probably several reasonable ways to respond to that. I could have laughed it off, pretended I had no idea what she meant, or reminded her that she was the one who had practically staged the whole thing. Unfortunately, my brain seemed to have decided that none of those options were available to me.

Nicole’s smile grew as she watched me struggle to produce a response. She looked far too pleased with herself, and the fact that she was close enough for me to notice every little change in her expression wasn’t helping.

"You’re trying to make me do something I’m trying not to," I finally managed.

Her eyebrows lifted slightly, but the playful sparkle in her eyes never faded. If anything, she looked even happier.

"I wonder what that is," she said, her voice full of innocent curiosity.

Before I could come up with a response, Nicole leaned closer. Her eyes flicked briefly to my lips as she moved into my space, stopping just inches away from my face. I could feel her breath against my skin, and for a moment, I genuinely forgot what I’d been about to say.

Then, just when I thought she was going to kiss me, she turned her head toward my ear and whispered, "We won’t have sex until you give the go-ahead,"

I went completely still.

She drew back just enough to look me in the eyes, her face wearing an expression so sweet and sincere that it almost managed to distract me from what she’d just said.

"Promise," she added.

I stared at her, trying to reconcile the reassuring words with the mischievous smile tugging at her lips.

"Nicole, you—"

She kissed me before I could finish.

There was nothing tentative about it. Nicole leaned into me, pressing herself close as she caught my lips with an enthusiasm that made it immediately clear she’d been thinking about doing this for a while. I barely had time to register how close she’d gotten before she tilted her head and kissed me again, one hand settling against my cheek while the other caught lightly at the front of my shirt.

I shifted toward her without thinking, my arm slipping around her waist as I drew her closer. Whatever sensible thought I’d been trying to hold on to disappeared somewhere between her first kiss and the next, and I found myself kissing her back with considerably less restraint than I’d intended to show.

Nicole made a small, pleased sound against my lips, which did absolutely nothing to help me regain my composure. If anything, it encouraged her. She kissed me again, smiling into it as though she’d finally gotten the answer she’d been waiting for.

When she finally pulled back, she didn’t move very far. Her face remained close to mine, her eyes shining with unmistakable satisfaction as she studied my expression.

I looked at her for a moment, still trying to remember how breathing worked.

She smiled.

"You planned that, didn’t you?" I managed between breaths.

"Of course I did," she said, looking thoroughly delighted with herself.

I let out a disbelieving laugh. "You’re unbelievable."

Nicole smiled before leaning in to kiss me again, and I kissed her back without a second thought.