Page 3 of Her Indecent Tutor
“I thought I was prepared for this, but I didn’t expect you to be this hopeless,” Ryan murmured, as he corrected my working out, leaving the whole page covered in red ink.
I glared at him. “Listen, Ryan. I didn’t ask for you to tutor me. Professor Rodrigo basically forced me. So I don’t appreciate you being such a dick.”
I expected him to get annoyed, but he just shot me a tired look. “I didn’t ask for this either. But honestly, it’s like you’re not even trying.”
“I am trying,” I insisted. “I’m trying my hardest.”
“Right,” he said. He tapped a finger on a question in a textbook. “Do this one, it’s easy. Even preschoolers would be able to do it.”
“He is such a fucking asshole!” I said.
It was Friday night, and everyone was in front of my bathroom’s mirror, getting ready. My friends and I always got ready in my bathroom — I’d been lucky enough to get assigned to a dorm that included a private ensuite. Willow was putting on lipgloss, Phoebe was applying glittery eyeshadow, and Grace was curling her hair.
As for me, I’d only done half of my makeup because I’d spent the past ten minutes ranting about Ryan Montgomery.
We’d had a second session earlier today, which consisted of him giving me a list of questions to do while he sat there and texted on his phone. I don’t know who he was texting; I doubted he had any friends.
“He treats me like I’m stupid. And I know I did really badly in my midterm, but that’s not an excuse to treat me like I’m a child.”
“He sounds like a loser,” Phoebe agreed.
“And you know what?” I continued. “Today, before he left, he gave me homework. Homework! And I said to him, uh, I’m kinda busy. And he was like, oh, you going to another party again?” I threw my hands up in the air. “How is that any of his business?”
“He’s probably bitter that he has no social life,” Grace said.
Willow pushed a makeup bag into my hands. “He’s a dick,” she said. “But you gotta finish getting ready, Tessa, otherwise we’ll be late.”
I took the makeup bag and quickly dusted my face with blush and bronzer. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Ryan. What was he doing tonight? Probably sitting in his room alone, jerking off over trigonometrical equations. The thought made me smile.
Twenty minutes later, we were ready: makeup set with setting spray, hair styled and perfumed, jewelry on.
Tonight’s event was a house party off campus, thrown by some seniors on the hockey team. By the time we arrived, the party had well and truly started. Pop music played, the front lawn was littered with people smoking and vaping, and inside, there was a crowd of guests, helping themselves to beer.
I smiled as I made my way through the crush. No matter how many parties I went to, it never got old. I was at a college party. Not just any college party — one thrown by some of the most popular guys on campus. Me. Tessa Davenport.
It was everything my high school self wanted.
I fixed myself a cup of beer and walked around the house with my friends, saying hello to familiar faces and smiling at the boys who nodded at me. In the lounge room, a group sat on the couch, playing a video game. People danced in the dining room, the table pushed to one side. A couple made out on a staircase.
Soon I found myself swept up into a conversation with a group of friends. The night progressed quickly from there. I danced, I drank. Phoebe, Grace and I glared at Tim Carrington when we passed him — he was Willow’s ex-boyfriend and hadditched her last minute during spring break to go to Mexico. Though for some reason, Willow and Tim were on somewhat good terms. I wasn’t sure what had happened there.
It was a few hours past midnight when I found myself on the couch, a cute sophomore boy sitting next to me. He’d mentioned his name but I couldn’t remember it. Harry? Harris? Harrison?
Whatever. All that mattered was that he was cute.
“When I saw you sitting here by yourself, I knew I just had to talk to you,” he said.
I laughed. “I told you, I’m waiting for my friends.”
He raised his brow. “A boyfriend?”
“No, just some friends. They’ve gone to get drinks.”
He nodded slowly, gaze running over me. “You’re so pretty.”
No matter how many times I got the compliment, it still made me feel warm inside. “Thank you.”
“No, seriously. You’re, like, stunning.”
