The intensity of his gaze makes my breath hitch, my heart pounds and flutters in my chest and warmth floods me. I'm an enigma to him? Perhaps that might be the best thing I've heard from him so far.

My brain can only register him; how his dark blue eyes are fixed on me, the way he's looking at me, his gaze jumping from my eyes to my lips and then back up again. The world around us melts away for me, it's just him and I. His eyes, his scent, his lips that I wish I could feel on mine, his arms that I only want them to be wrapped around me, his hands that I want them to touch my skin.

How can he do this? With just one look he sets me on the sweetest fire ever.

I want him. I want him bad.

And he's my professor. I force the thought into my head and chant it repeatedly until it breaks the haze set in my mind that refuses to let me consider the rational aspect and the damage I'll cause if I just close the gap between us and crash my lips on his.

As impossible as it feels, I mask the effect he has on me and smirk. "What can I say, I'm quite the mystery."

Whatever emotion that burnt behind his dark blue eyes flickers off and his lips twitch upwards.

Sighing, he turns and walks to his desk, running his hand through his hair. Just from his posture, the way his back isn't stiff anymore, and how he casually pulls his seat back before flumping down on it, I can tell his anger and irritation are long gone.

"I have to say though, I'm really curious, first that fight yesterday and then today... what did you do, Stewart?" he squints at me and I grin.

The way he observes me is similar to the time he asked if I had applied to MIT. The same intrigue glimmers in his eyes, but brighter and stronger. Perhaps he does find me interesting.

I grin. "Well, maybe if you ask me nicely, with my first name, I might consider letting you in on my little scheme."

My comment earns me a deep chuckle, the heart-warming sound once again leaves me mesmerized. "What is it with you and forcing everyone to call you with your first name?"

I shrug, barely keeping myself from skipping to the chair I always sit on, right across from him. "Stewart is too formal," I say as I drop my bag next to my feet and lean back into my seat, making myself comfortable. "And I already have a pretty name, so why not hear it more often."

He leans back into his seat, his gaze never leaving me. "I'm being professional."

I arch an eyebrow. "But you're asking a question that's quite personal."

"Yesterday I had to end my class early because of that fight you somehow managed to start." He gives me a pointed look and I plaster my most innocent looking smile making him roll his eyes. "And I'm pretty sure no one listened to a single word I said after the second that guy showed up with the flowers. So, it is actually quite professional."

I wave my hand dismissively and prop my elbow on the tiny empty spot on his desk and move towards him. "And what makes you think I caused that fight, professor?"

"I might not be as outgoing and adventurous as you are, but believe me, I'm not dumb or blind, Stewart." He holds my gaze from over the frame of his glasses, raising both eyebrows.

I shift on my seat and angle towards him, the armrest pressing into my back. "Since you know a good deal of what's happening... let's say I took my type of revenge from my ex and my former friends."

He plants his elbows on the armrests of his chair and tangles his fingers as he tilts his head with confusion. "Revenge?" An emotion I can't recognize glimmers in his eyes. "Well, since I have about an hour before my next class starts, go on, this sounds interesting."

I laugh and playfully glare at him. "Are you trying to fill up your today's portion of daily drama with my life's events?" I feign offense.

He smiles. "I'd go with week actually."

"Oh my God," I gasp and giggle as his smile widens. I tuck the stray strands of hair behind my ear and straighten up. "But you have to promise you won't judge," I tell him seriously.

"I can assure you I won't," he softly says and something in his tone makes hundreds of knots tie and untie in my chest.

"Ever since we were kids, Alex, my ex, had this awful habit of never letting anything go. Like if he had a toy and he no longer wanted it, still no one was allowed to touch it. It didn't matter if it was broken, or if he'd never look at it again, it had to remain as his possession. Kids usually grow out of these sorts of habits, but Alex didn't. You can expand this behavior to every little thing in his life. Living or inanimate. Including me."

Wright stares at me with surprise and disbelief. "That's just..."

"Stupid, I know." I complete for him, fiddling with my fingers.

"Anyway, just because I dated him for a while, it simply means, no one else is allowed to get close to me. Not to mention, I was Alex's trophy girlfriend, the one way out of his league, every guy wanted yet he got to have me by his side. A fuel to his already gigantic pride. He was forced to leave me, even now, I know if I become as rich as I was before, he'll be running back to me." I huff, resting my head on the wall.

"You do realize how toxic he is, right?" Concern furrows his smooth brow.

"I always knew... but the richer you are, the less you'll think about these things. Image becomes more important. That's how the rich society works. Pretty from the outside, rotten and ugly from the inside."

He nods as if he has personal experience. Although with that condo, and his expensive car, I highly doubt he won't be aware of this truth already.

"Well, I decided to take advantage of this point and use it against him. Nathan has been Alex's friend since forever, his sidekick, the underdog. On top of that, my friend Olivia who was perfectly aware Alex and Everly were cheating behind my back has had the biggest crush on Nathan since forever."

I grin mischievously and lay my forearms on his crowded desk, leaning towards him. "So, I just accidentally texted Olivia, saying I had an amazing night and thanked Nathan for it." I straighten myself, holding his confused gaze as I go on. "And Liv is the biggest gossip you can possibly come across, so of course she won't be able to not tell this juicy information to Everly, and it was only a matter of hours until Alex found out. And let's face it, no bride-to-be likes to see her soon-to-be husband getting all worked up over his ex. They're marrying in a few days, and I'm pretty sure I did a good amount of damage."

I fall back into my seat. "Pretty smart, right." I hold my head up, still grinning.

Wright squints at me. "It doesn't make sense," he mumbles, rubbing his chin and I laugh. "So... yesterday, the rich ex showed up?" I nod and he frowns. "And the flower guy?"

I giggle. "It was Nathan." All humor dissipates from me as Alex's words from yesterday play in my head. "You shouldn't have interfered yesterday."

He freezes, his brows furrowing further, opening and closing his mouth a few times before he says. "I have so many questions, but none of them have anything to do with why I shouldn't have done that? I did what was right, anyo-"

I shake my head and straighten myself, interrupting him. "If I were you, frankly I'd be packing my stuff. With all due respect Professor, you handed over the son of a billion-dollar corporation owner to security guards to lock him up. He can simply have you removed from this university with a phone call and a generous donation that won't be a dime in their sea of money."

Instead of looking horrified or worried, he appears amused and smiles at me. Did he hear what I said! "You don't need to worry about that. No one can-"

I interject, "They can, and they will. If you think you can go unscathed from sending Alex behind the bars, you're wrong."

"I'd like to see them try," he calmly says, the smile on his lips, unnervingly relaxed as he holds my gaze.

My mouth hangs open. "I get it you're rich but you really-" I start but he shakes his head and cuts me off.

"You really should stop worrying about it. I can take care of myself and my job quite well, Stewart."

"Okay," I mumble with unease. "If you say so." I fiddle with my fingers and lift a shoulder. "Don't look at me if you got fired."

He chuckles. "I won't. But, back to my questions, why did the flower guy show up... with flowers? To thank you for using his name to get back at them?"

A corner of my mouth lifts up before slowly a smile forms on my face. "Nathan can be dramatic at times. He was a little pissed I used him, but he can't say much since I didn't force him into anything." I shrug.

"You... wait what?" he frowns with confusion, leaning forward, his lips slightly parted as he seems to be putting the pieces together.

I laugh. "Oh, you thought the text I sent to Liv was fake? No no." I shake my head and giggle. "Now that would have been lame. It was an absolute win-win case. I had a night full of fun activities and got to push the others' buttons too. Imagine if it was a lie, they would have asked from Nathan and my plan would have failed."

He nods with disbelief. "Right," he mumbles and leans back into his chair, blinking a few times as his lips remain parted. He opens and closes his mouth a few times before finally saying, "Wow."

I grin. "I know, I'm a genius! Right?" Watching him closely, I note how his features change, as if he's conflicted and trying to figure something out. Various emotions flicker in his eyes, changing his expression and affecting his features, and pass by at a rapid speed, but the most prominent one is surprise and something I can't quite put my finger on.

After a long moment, he hesitantly speaks, "I thought... you and Young are..." his voice trails down, his gaze searches my face.

I try to hide the sudden flare of irritation at the mention of Brian's surname. I force a smile and wave my hand. "Oh, we're just friends."

He arches an eyebrow as if he can't believe me. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"If you're thinking about the time you saw us in the café while your poor sister was crying, then I have to say, we were just studying together."

He scoffs. "Right," he drawls, tapping the tips of his index fingers together.

I frown at his tone. Why is he saying it like he doesn't believe me? What's going on?

∞ ∞ ∞

So... tell me your thoughts on this chapter =)

I'm sorry for the typos and all in this chapter, I wrote about 4-5 chapters today (I'm finally ahead of the updating schedule xD) but I'm super exhausted and it's too late for my brain to catch any sort of error or typo XD so yeah, hopefully, I'll edit it once the book is wrapped up.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts.

Next chapter will be up tomorrow.

Till then, stay safe lots of love, happy reading <33