Teacher's Pet (3 page)

“Oh, just a diet soda for me. Thanks.” She shifted her gaze from him to the clock on the wall. “You know, having drinks and then taking the ferry home never ends well. I get seasick and all that.”

“Gotcha.” Matthew clicked his tongue like he was cocking a gun, for some terrible reason that made him want to bury his head under the bar, and disappear into the crowd. God, he needed to get his shit together
. Roles before hoes. Roles before hoes.

Lynn didn’t look at all like a hoe. Nadia had always had a wandering eye, and shame on him for never noticing it, but Lynn looked like pure sunshine. Pure sunshine that liked to get a little dirty under the sheets, perhaps. He was thinking about her in bed again, and he had to stop. Had to stop.

He really
should
punch himself in the dick. It was screwing up his entire evening. A pair of tits and a pretty face shouldn’t derail his audition and career aspirations, even if his current state made him want to hand everything over willingly, so long as she sat on his face.

Goddammit, Matthew
.

By the time he got their drinks and pushed his way back to the table, the bar was full to the brim and his dick had thankfully decided to stop giving away his every thought. He set down her drink and leaned in to talk to her over the noise. “So where’s home?”

“Staten Island.”

Matthew let out a low whistle. “Fancy. When does your ferry leave, provided we’ve been forgotten by the infamous Director Lewis?”

She checked her phone, and disappointment colored her cheeks. Still no calls for either of them. “A few hours.”

“What did you say?” Matthew leaned in further, like he was trying to hear her over the noise. In his semi-intoxicated state, it was mostly to get close to her. The bar was just a nice cover.

“I said a few hours.” Lynn looked around. “Is there somewhere else we can go? It’s so loud in here and I’m afraid I’ll miss the call.”

She wanted to go somewhere with him, somewhere
quiet
. Maybe her kiss was genuine interest, and not awesome acting. Matthew cleared his throat and forced his body to cool down. She nailed the role, though, so maybe it was just acting and she was looking for nothing more than a quiet place to hear her phone.

Or maybe …

One look at her big eyes told him it was worth the shot. He lived around the corner, but nothing really screamed ‘creeper’ like inviting this girl to his apartment. If they were both drunk in a bar, that was one thing, but they had made out under stage lights while sober. Better to slow-play it.

“Well.” Matthew ran another hand through his hair. He liked the way she watched him when he did it. “There’s actually a really nice garden on the roof of this building. I took headshots up there once. Gorgeous views of the city but high up enough to be quiet.”

Roles before hoes
. Right, well he didn’t appear to have the role just yet, so this was only an innocent get-together, just two colleagues waiting for the big call. He wasn’t offering to take her back to his place. He wasn’t taking her out on a date. They needed a quiet place to watch their phones.

Nothing creepy about being responsible and watching for a callback, even if it likely wasn’t going to come this late in the evening. He’d had late calls before, though. So going up to the roof shouldn’t get his blood flowing. It wasn’t creepy or even sexy.

But it could be.

“Sounds perfect. Gardens soothe my nerves. You know, all the greenery and stuff. So, let’s go?”

God, she was young. Or was she nervous too?

Lynn reached for his hand. Sparks jumped between them as soon as their fingers touched, like something out of the movies.

They both paused to stare at each other. Matthew felt like he’d been shocked. Not only did they have electricity, but
she
had reached for
him
, like she wanted to touch him.

Suddenly, the kiss on stage didn’t seem so planned.

He could hope. The bourbon told him hoping for more moments like that, the ones that hooked him like a salmon tired of fighting upstream, were worth it. This young flower was within reach and it stirred a hardness within his pants. He laughed awkwardly.

“Damn static electricity.”

“Yeah, static electricity.” Lynn matched his sheepish look and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. He wanted to touch it himself.

Her blue eyes were the perfect shade of beautiful, and the way she turned pink when embarrassed had him wanting to kiss her all over again. They both stared too long and then laughed uncomfortably. Like they were in junior high or something ridiculous. But he loved it, he loved the way she filled him with this new spirit. He’d smoke it if he could. Drown in it.

“So, um, how do we get up there?” Lynn broke their silence.

He forced himself to stop staring and secured his hand around hers. “This way.”

I
f he was honest
, this was Matthew’s favorite place in all of New York City. Sure, there were terraces and rooftop gardens everywhere, but this one had the best views of the Theater District, full of lights and sound and the energy of the theater spilling out over the streets and filling up all the dark spaces. A person could get lost there, amble past the brilliant flashbulbs and the show posters, and soak up the vibrant life all evening. They wouldn’t even have to go inside—they could just stand in the middle of the road with all the taxis and theater patrons and feel at home.

Theater was soul balm and it shaped his life in unimaginable ways. Without it, he’d still be the chubby kid in the back of the bus, cracking awkward ‘your mom’ one-liners and pretending fat jokes never fazed him. He wouldn’t be surrounded by the most amazing theater district in the entire world, five bourbons in, inches away from a gorgeous girl with a spirit of heaven and fire.

A haiku:

She clung to the railing and peered down, open-mouthed and thrilled. Her mouth was perfectly round and pouty, and his dick kept leaping in his pants at even a mere glance at it. He sat down on a bench behind her so he couldn’t embarrass himself too badly.

Skinny jeans were always a bad idea, especially for someone as well-endowed as he was, but they were part of his standard audition uniform. Sometimes, being big-dicked was just enough to give him a leg up over the competition, so to speak.

Lynn gazing across his beloved city reminded him of Juliet staring out her window, her long hair flowing in the breeze. It made him smile—his Juliet, perfect and angelic, framed in light and flushed with innocence.

Did Romeo’s Juliet kiss like Lynn?

Were her tits as immaculate, the girlish curve of her hips as welcoming?

The real Juliet was thirteen. Lynn was older than that at least, but still held the effervescent quality of youth. Was he a pervert for being so attracted to her? He wasn’t quite thirty yet, so he wasn’t that much older than her.

And she did kiss him first.

No, he couldn’t justify this. Juliet was still too young for him. He set his glass down on the bench and walked away from it. He could forever live in the memory of their smokin’ hot kiss, fantasize about her sweet mouth around his cock while in the shower or in bed, or watching television on his couch, and let that be that.

Their chemistry was incredible, truly. But the night air reminded him of his ticking clock, the impending doom of the end of summer and the rest of his savings. He needed his wits about him when the callback finally came in, and letting his cock move the focus to this beautiful, unattainable girl was making that impossible.

“Sometimes, I’m disappointed you can’t really see the stars out here.” Matthew spread his arms across a stretch of railing and leaned against it. “Back home, we could see every constellation in the sky and count shooting stars for wishes. All the big city lights hide them.”

“The city lights are just as incredible.” Lynn looked up into the black-grey sky, where only the moon and a few lone stars floated above. “And you can reach them here. That’s the thing about stars, you can never touch them.”

“Sure you can. You just have to know where to look.”

Lynn looked at him with a skeptical smirk. “Is that right? Where, Mr. Smarty Pants?”

Matthew grinned back and held out his hand. “Let me show you.”

She hesitated for just a moment, but finally took his hand. He led her through a pair of ivy-covered lattices and rows of bushes dotted with bright flowers, where Lynn named all of them, including their genus, and discussed their origins. He loved this brainy side to her. She was full of amazing depth and sophistication, all of which added to the mindfuck.

“This is the best part of the whole garden.”

Lynn gasped. Elephant ears and other exotics he couldn’t name surrounded a bubbling fountain. Out of the middle rose a ballerina on pointe, arms reaching outward. Matthew always pictured her reaching for a lover, dancing just out of sight. He wished they’d put her other half in another fountain nearby but never found one.

“She’s beautiful,” Lynn breathed. “Absolutely amazing.”

“I always thought she was a depressive beauty.” He touched her outstretched hands gently. “Like she was missing someone, looking for them, but no one was there.”

“I don’t see that at all.”

Matthew looked over at his brilliant Juliet. She crossed her arms around her thin frame and cocked her head to the side, studious.

“She looks like she’s ready to fly. She’s ready to break the shackles around her ankles and soar off into the sky. The way she holds the pose is so strong and elegant, like she could take off at any second.”

Matthew joined her, to see it from her angle, and cocked his head in symmetry with Lynn’s. Their shoulders brushed one another and, unless he was dreaming, he felt her lean into him.

Perhaps she was just cold up on the roof, subjected to the winds and chilly night air.

She wasn’t into some old man with scruff and a coif. Juliets loved young men and he was old enough to be Romeo’s father.

“I kinda see it.”

She laughed and placed her hands around his face to tilt his head. “Here. Look.”

A haiku:

Lynn was right; from another angle—and if he squinted a bit—she almost looked ready to propel into the night sky with no looking back. “I like her searching for a lover instead.”

“It is romantic,” she agreed. “But so is her cutting the ties to the baggage weighing her down and setting herself free.”

“Setting herself free. I like that. I like it a lot.”

Matthew was rewarded with a smile that promised his heart to her without reservation. He couldn’t help but smile back, and wanted more than anything in the world to reach out and grab her, like he did in their audition. He wanted to envelop her in his arms and listen to her all night, let their skin and their lips entwine and connect.

If he could smack himself and not look like an idiot, he would. He needed to get his shit together before Lynn decided he was insane.

“So.” She caught him staring and flushed. “Where did you get your headshots taken?”

Matthew led her around the garden, creating ridiculous poses to hear her laugh. Truth was, he didn’t remember where because they were taken a year ago and he’d had a lot to drink since then, but playing around on the rooftop with her was more fun than he’d had in a while. She appeared to genuinely think he was funny. That was nice. Nadia had always seemed to think he was an idiot.

“How would you pose me? Where would you put me?”

Was it his imagination or did she have a hint of mischief in those perfect lips? Matthew swallowed down his arousal and led her through the rows of plants and bushes until they arrived back at the fountain. He plucked a hibiscus bloom from one of the bushes, a gorgeous set of white petals tipped with brilliant streaks of red and orange, and tucked it in her hair.

“Trust me,” he grinned.

She laughed and nodded. Carefully, he posed her like the ballerina in the fountain, giving her the feeling of flying off the roof.

Lynn was an excellent model, allowing him to position her as he wanted, staying perfectly still. He moved around her to position her waist, because the willing way she bent in his hands was making the bulge in his jeans so tight it hurt. Much more and he might explode.

“Like this?”

“You’re perfect,” Matthew breathed. “I mean, you know, a perfect replica of the ballerina.”

Fuck.

She nodded playfully. “Right. So, this is how you’d have me pose for my headshots?”

“I think you emphasize a lot of her strength and freedom. What director wouldn’t want that in an actor?”

She dropped to the flats of her feet. “I guess I should have had you take my headshots before the audition today.”

Lynn pulled her phone out of her small purse and frowned. Unable to help himself, Matthew pulled his phone from his pocket to check, too. Only a few text messages from a buddy, asking how the audition was going. He swiped to clear them from his notification screen and shoved it back in his pocket.

“There were a lot of us. Maybe they broke for dinner.”

“Except they were in such a hurry to move forward.” Lynn rolled her eyes. “Maybe it’s for the best I didn’t get called back.”

He put an arm around her, aiming for consoling, but enjoyed the feeling of her tucked in so close to him. “There will be so many auditions waiting for you. This was, what, your second one? I’ve had two in one day. And then two the next, and the next.”

“Liar.”

“Possibly.” That made her laugh. “But my point is, there are so many opportunities out there.”

“And too many of us, remember?”

He could have slapped himself across the face for imparting cynicism on this sweet young thing.

“Look, that was the bourbon and innate depression from not yet receiving a call talking. You’ll learn it quickly. You had me captivated from the moment you stepped into Fiona’s character, Lynn. You really did. That sort of talent can’t go wasted.

“Don’t be like me, counting down the days until the money runs out and you’re left picking up a teaching job in order to pay off the student loans acquired to be a more qualified actor.

“Don’t be like us, because we’re all assholes and bitter about having to shell out a kidney every month to a school that didn’t give a shit if we were there or not. And then we met directors who didn’t give a shit if we were there or not.

“Too many of me, too many fuckers who wasted too many years in school instead of on the stage. But you, you’re starting this out
right.
You’re young and fresh and directors love that shit. They love you.”

Lynn waved him off, embarrassed. “You were that whole scene. I was just trying to keep up with you! As soon as we started running lines, I knew I was in way over my head. Like I said, it’s probably for the best I didn’t get it.”

“The night is still young, miss.” Matthew nudged her gently. She didn’t move away from him after he did.

“They may call. And directors like Hans Lewis are perfect for young actresses. He really teaches you the business. Don’t give up hope just yet. You’re too pretty to be sad.”

“What about you? Aren’t you too pretty to be sad?”

“Me?” He feigned shock. “I am devastatingly handsome, but I’m not sad. I’m the veteran here, waiting for the call and consoling my audition partner. I’m the freaking Saint of Lost Actresses.”

“Me? Lost? Impossible. I have cats, if you remember.”

She stuck out her tongue in a very naughty way and disappeared behind a set of hedges. Matthew took the opportunity to adjust himself and exhale very slowly. This girl, this gorgeous Juliet, was going to be the death of him.

Their flirty banter was getting under his skin and all he wanted to do was strip her to nothing and worship her perfectly tight body with his tongue.

It was so easy to picture, her laying spread eagle on his sheets, halo of hair pooled around her, resting on her elbows. He could see the shadows under her breasts and hear the desperate gasp of hunger as he came near her. He could almost smell her womanly scent, so desperate for his touch.

This time he did slap himself, on the forehead.

A haiku:

Goddamn, he was going to lose his shit up here. What was he, twelve? It was time to act like the grown-ass man he was instead of the prepubescent boy inside who wanted to feel her wetness around his erect cock.

“Did you just slap yourself?”

Matthew jumped slightly, but played it off as a stretch. Kind of. “It’s part of my reality check.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him and her eyes ran across his body, head to toe. It was almost like she had lasers that pierced his skin as she went.

“Are you checking me out, madam?”

“You may want to, um, adjust?” She giggled slightly and disappeared behind the bushes again. He heard her laugh cross the roof.

“Shit.” He unzipped his pants and tried to push his cock down a pant leg, but it was painfully hard. Just touching it made his knees buckle slightly and the urge to just jerk off behind the bushes to end his misery was so tempting. Oh, so tempting. But what if she caught him? What if she decided he was a disgusting creeper and never spoke to him again? He couldn’t handle it.

The thought settled him enough to allow him to shove it somewhat out of the way. He zipped his pants back up and found her again by the bench, leaning down to look at the busy life below them.

“I think it was me.”

“You?” Matthew felt a twinge of panic and glanced down at his pants. Fucking dick. Goddammit.

“I ruined the scene. I was having a really hard time concentrating.” Lynn leaned across the railing and bowed her head.

“You weren’t the only one,” he murmured.

“I just couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss.”

His heart stopped. Neither one of them had broached the subject of the kiss until this very moment, and he was so grateful she did it first. The space in his jeans shrunk again.

“To be honest, I’m still thinking about it.” His voice came out huskier than planned.

“It was a really good kiss.”

“The best audition kiss I’ve ever had.” Matthew walked slowly up behind her, keeping a few paces back, though he itched to touch her again. Let her make all the moves, all the decisions. He was going to be right there waiting.

A collision of horns echoed below, distracting her for a moment. Then she said softly, “The kind that makes me want to kiss you again.”

Lynn turned around and didn’t look surprised to see him so close. Instead, she looked hungry with desire. Matthew kept himself absolutely still as he watched her. Her gaze crossed his upper body as she chewed on those beautiful lips. Nervously, but desperately, she placed her hands on his chest and took another step towards him.