Your Gravity: Part One

by L. G. Castillo

  The bell on the door handle jingled. A large group of high school students came into the coffee shop and swarmed the counter.

  “I’m gonna get my three scoops this time.”

  “Better not, Demarco. Mom said not to let you.”

  “She won’t know if you don’t rat me out, Jayla.”

  “She’ll know when you’re layin’ on da floor without your insulin.”

  “Trayvon! Come ’ere. They got that green mint shit you wanted.”

  “Stop pushing, Tanisha. They ain’t gonna run out of ice cream.”

  It was chaos as the kids hovered over the counter, pushing each other as they looked over various selections and shouted their selections at me. I tried to take their orders, but with the pushing around, I couldn’t tell who was in line first.

  “What would you like?” I asked a tall skinny guy wearing baggy pants that hung so low I could see half his red jockeys. Any sudden movement and those pants were going to fall off.

  “Hey, why you askin’ Trayvon? I was here first!” cried a petite girl with a diamond stud in her nose.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see you.”

  “Ya, no one ever does. I want the chocolate peanut butter swirl. Two scoops.”

  “She asked me first, Yo-land-duh.” Trayvon said, placing himself in front her. “Ain’t that right, Miss?”

  “Move, Trayvon.” Yolanda elbowed him.

  “You move.”

  Great. I was going to cause a fight on my very first day on the job.

  “I can serve you both.” I grabbed an ice cream scoop and slid open the dipping freezer’s glass door.

  “Trayvon, my man.” Lou came to my side and whispered as I bent down to scope some ice cream. “Sorry about that. I forgot to tell you about Cooper’s class. They come every Saturday morning.”

  Head meet glass.

  Thump!

  “Ooh, I heard that.” Yolanda and everyone else around her howled. “Don’t bleed on my ice cream.”

  I rubbed my forehead, ignoring their laughter. “Professor Cooper? As in Professor Jackson Cooper from Texas State.”

  “What you want, Trayvon?” Lou asked.

  “The usual.”

  “Yeah, Cooper,” Lou said as we worked on the getting everyone’s orders. “He teaches a math class at the local high school. A lot of these kids struggle with math and he helps them. He brings them here as a treat after every class.”

  “Coop is da bomb!” Yolanda said. “He even lets me bring Mia with me to class. He don’t mind if she cries a little.”

  “I mind,” Trayvon said. “And she cries a lot.”

  “No one asked you.” Yolanda scowled.

  “Mia’s your baby?” I asked.

  “Yeah. She’s with him right now. He’s watching her. Oh, yeah, he wants an iced coffee.”

  Scanning over the crowd of noisy kids, I spotted Cooper sitting in the corner near a stroller, talking to one of his high school students. The boy had his hair slicked back and was wearing baggy pants and a simple white shirt. They were deep in conversation. Cooper was nodding and then something miraculous happened.

  Cooper laughed.

  In all the weeks I’d been in his class, I’d never heard him laugh or smile like he was right now. His face lit up, making him look like a boy, even with the thick scruff on his face. He looked so unbelievably handsome, it took my breath away.

  In that moment, the coffee shop faded away and I found myself lying under a bright blue sky, cool green grass under me. There were people beside me, but I couldn’t see their faces. There was a high-pitched giggle followed by a deep laugh. And I was laughing too, pointing at the clouds. I tried to turn to see who I was with. I couldn’t. It was so real it felt like a memory. Feelings that I hadn’t had in a long time coursed through me. I felt safe, happy, loved, and I never wanted to leave that spot.

  “Miss? Hey, Miss! I think she hit her head too hard. Maybe we should call 911. Yo, Juanita, what’s the number for 911?”

  “911. Duh!”

  The sound of Yolanda’s voice shook me awake.

  “I’m sorry. I was just thinking about . . . something. You said an iced coffee, right?”

  As I worked on Cooper’s order, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. His smile was mesmerizing. Not once did he scowl at the kids, even though they were loud, pushing and teasing each other. He seemed to join in with their teasing. At one point, he even threw his head back, laughing so hard I could hear him.

  And those eyes. Oh my god how those blue eyes sparkled every time he laughed.

  The baby in the stroller started crying. Without pausing or taking his eyes off of the kid he was talking to, he reached into the stroller and lifted the chubby baby. He kissed her forehead and bounced the cute baby on his knee.

  The cup slipped out of my hand as my ovaries exploded.

  “Man, Lou. You sure this chick knows what she’s doing?” Trayvon asked.

  “Sorry.” I frantically cleaned up the mess.

  I didn’t like this, not one bit. What happened to the snarling Cooper I ran into the first day of class? I couldn’t handle this Cooper at all. I had a hard enough time trying to forget how annoyingly sexy he was.

  Great. Now he had the baby against his chest and was patting her back. I was never going to get that picture out of my head.

  I handed the iced coffee to Yolanda and watched as she made her way back to Cooper. When she reached him, she said something to him laughing and pointed back to where I was standing.

  I froze when Cooper’s eyes locked with mine. He was looking at me. Oh my god! He was actually looking at me!

  His face was a mask for a moment as we stared at each other. Then his lips curled into a sexy smile.

  I held onto the counter, praying that I wouldn’t pass out. He gave me a slight nod before he turned his attention back to Yolanda.

  Look away from the hot professor. Look away.

  My eyes refused to move away from Cooper and the baby snuggled against his chest.

  There was no use denying it. I was attracted to the man. And there was nothing I could do about it. I was a freshman in his class, and he was an award-winning professor. I might as well have been attracted to the man on the moon.

  Yeah, I was screwed.

  Chapter Ten

  Crap! Late again! And this time I couldn’t blame Greg. Well, technically, I could. I didn’t realize how much I relied on him to wake me up in the morning for Cooper’s class. The only reason I didn’t sleep the morning away was because of Penny’s relentless pecking on my window, looking for Greg.

  I rushed through the crowds of students, my uncombed hair flying everywhere. I didn’t even have a chance to brush my teeth. I probably still had bed wrinkles on my cheeks.

  True to his word, Greg had had enough of the early Monday morning class and decided his social life was much more important than actually learning something and he’d dropped the class. That was his excuse. I think he just hated the fact that I was making better grades then him. If he actually paid attention in class and stopped the playing around with Travis, he wouldn’t have had a “C” average.

  “Excuse me. Sorry.” I elbowed my way through a group of parents with their kids touring campus. A few of them mumbled in angry tones as I rushed past them.

  Just as I was getting close to the building, a squirrel ran across my path and stopped in front of me. Yelping, I stumbled and slammed into a soft wall. Papers went flying everywhere. The soft wall turned and, between a white cloud of papers, I gazed into pools of blue.

  Cooper. My breath caught as I drowned in those beautiful eyes of his.

  Then I felt it. The pull, his gravity tugging me into him. Leaning, I inhaled, taking in the delicious scent of his cologne. My heart fluttered as his dark lashes lowered and studied my lips. I was afraid to breath, afraid to move.

  Slowly, his hand reached up to my cheek and his lips parted.

  Oh my god! Was I dreaming again?

  “Nicole.”
His fingertips brushed over my jawline.

  It wasn’t a dream. It was real.

  Damn it! I should’ve brushed my teeth.

  I licked my lips, remembering the exquisite taste of his mouth in my dreams and wondered if it would be the same. Not caring that we were in the middle of the quad, I moved in closer, my lips a breath away from his.

  There was buzzing sound and he froze. His eyes fluttered as if he was waking from a dream. He jerked back, schooling his face into a mask.

  He pulled a Blackberry from his pocket, clicking a few buttons as he spoke. “Ms. Ashford, I see that we’re running late again.”

  What the hell? First the man ignores me for almost the entire semester. Then he’s about to kiss me. Did he do this to all his female students? What game was he playing? It was hard to believe this was the same kind man at Jitters who bought an entire class ice cream and kissed babies.

  “You’re late too.” I snapped.

  His eyes flicked to mine.

  Oh, shit! Maybe I shouldn’t be yelling at my professor in the middle of campus.

  “I’m the instructor. The class can’t go on without me and can surely go on without you.”

  “Well . . . I . . . it’s unprofessional to be late.”

  Shut up. Shut up. Where was all this bravery coming from?

  He pursed his lips, which made him look even sexier. It was so annoying. And distracting. I wanted to stay pissed at him.

  “That’s a matter of opinion.” He bent down to retrieve the papers scattered across the ground.

  “I’ll help you.”

  “Your time would be better served by getting yourself into the classroom and preparing for today’s lecture. Or are you waiting for your boyfriend?”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend, and that’s not any of your business.”

  His shoulders stiffened, a hand paused over one of the papers as he took in the information. He was quiet for a moment, and then continued. “Will Mr. Miller not be joining us today?”

  “He withdrew from class.”

  “I see.” He stood up and shoved the papers into his briefcase. “Nonetheless, class begins in five minutes. See to it that you’re not late.”

  Stunned, I watched the back of his incredibly broad shoulders march away and disappear into the building.

  Now that was the bastard I wanted to see.

  Feeling better about hating Cooper again, I dashed into the auditorium and settled into my seat. Cooper placed the stack of papers neatly on the lectern as he took his place. Scanning the auditorium, he waited for the class to quiet down. And of course, he avoided looking at my section of the room.

  I folded my arms across my chest and huffed. Good. Things were back to normal. He didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him.

  So, why couldn’t I take my eyes off him? It was really annoying. Why couldn’t I be like Travis and doodle funny cat pictures all over my notebook?

  And why was steam coming out of my ears watching Gianna sink her manicured claws into Cooper in front of the entire class. Good grief did that girl ever wear clothes. She had on heels so high it looked like she was walking on her tiptoes. The mini skirt she was wearing barely covered her ass. And her tank top was so low if she made any sudden movements, everything was going to pop out. Fake boobs and all.

  Cooper nodded, shifting through his papers as she talked to him, smiling and touching him. At one point he stopped and said something to her that made her squeal. She literally bounced to her seat. And when I say bounced, I mean everything.

  When she sat, she gave me a smug look.

  We’re not in competition, sister. You can have him.

  “So where’s the Gregster?” Travis sat in Greg’s empty seat.

  “He decided to drop the class.”

  “Oh really? I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it. I have to give him a call.” Travis leaned over and placed an arm on my desk. “So are you and Greg an item?”

  He asked the question so loud, half the class heard it, including Cooper. He glared at Travis, his jaw tensing.

  “No, we’re just friends.”

  “Cool. Maybe we can hang out sometime.” He smiled, flashing his dimples.

  I thought about what Greg said about Travis liking me. He wasn’t really my type, but it could be fun. “Sure. Sounds like fun.”

  There was a loud bang. I jumped in my seat and turned to face the front of the class.

  “Now that I have everyone’s attention, shall we begin or should we continue with the mating rituals that seem to be plaguing class today?”

  “Jerk,” Travis muttered. “Old Coop is a pain in the ass.”

  “Shh!” Gianna turned in her seat scowling. “Just because he won’t give you an extension on your assignment doesn’t mean he’s a jerk.”

  “Says you,” Travis said. “You’re just defending him because he likes your other talents.”

  “Not that you’ll ever know.” She huffed, turning back around.

  “Talents?” I whispered.

  “She meets with him every week to, you know.” He made a lewd hand gesture, forming his hand into an “O” and then pushing his tongue against the inside on his cheek.

  “Is my lecture interrupting you, Mr. Brandon?”

  I glared at Cooper. I knew it! That would explain why he was so nice to her.

  “Nope, I’m done.”

  “And you, Ms. Ashford?” His eyes met mine. This time I held my own and didn’t move an inch. I was not letting that man get to me. “Are the ramblings of Mr. Brandon more entertaining and educational than my lecture?”

  Narrowed blue eyes glowered, so different from the ones I’d seen only a few minutes ago. Maybe whatever I saw earlier was a hallucination, or maybe he had a nicer twin brother who also happened to be a chemistry teacher, because this dude was an asshole. Whatever thoughts I may have had about him actually being kind and sweet flew out the window.

  “No, sir.” I gritted my teeth, surprised that I was annoyed. And I wasn’t sure what was more annoying—having Cooper embarrass me in front of the class again or knowing that Gianna was living my wet dream.

  Chapter Eleven

  I was a total masochist. There, I’d said it. I’ve heard that admitting your problem was the first step to recovery. There was no doubt I got off on pain, because over the last couple of classes I couldn’t take my mind of Cooper, and I was actually worried about him.

  Ever since he’d barked at Travis, he hadn’t brought his class back to Jitters. The only time I saw him was in class. And he looked so different from the stunning, well-dressed professor I’d first run into. His scruff was unkempt and thick, hiding his beautiful chiseled jaw. His clothes were wrinkled, as if he didn’t care. His hair looked like he didn’t even bother to put a comb through it. Though that just-rolled-out-of-bed look made him look even sexier. But what worried me the most was the haunted look in his eyes.

  I chewed on my pencil, watching him pace the length of the auditorium as he went over his lecture. Even his voice had lost its spark.

  Other students picked up the changes in Cooper and the gossip was fierce.

  “He’s drinking again,” Gianna said to Red.

  “How do you know?”

  “I could taste it on his breath.”

  My hand itched to slap that smug smile off her face. I’d resort to drinking too if that tongue had been in my mouth. Who knew where that thing had been?

  “He did the same thing last year around this time of the month,” she continued.

  Red giggled. “You make it sound like he’s having PMS.”

  Gianna laughed. “No, seriously. He lost someone close to him around this time of the year. I think it was his fiancée.”

  “Oh, wow. Yeah, I heard about that. Did he tell you anything about her?”

  “We don’t exactly do a lot of talking when we’re together.”

  In another minute, I was going to hurl my breakfast. Tofu scramble in all its glory all over Gianna’s
skin-tight silk let-me-show-you-my-nips blouse.

  “Midterms can be picked up at the front, next to a box of tissues set aside for those of you who may need it. And I anticipate many of you who will.” Cooper’s gruff voice echoed in the auditorium as he plopped them on the table.

  Boy, the man was making it hard to feel sorry for him.

  Gianna was the first up front. She looked down at her paper and frowned. With hands folded over her chest, she clicked her shoe on the floor, waiting to get Cooper’s attention. He was busy explaining a grade to a crying student. Despite his curt announcement, he was surprisingly patient as he explained the grade. He was so concerned about the student he didn’t appear to notice Gianna waiting for him. Better yet, maybe he was intentionally ignoring her.

  I smiled as she left in a huff. Something told me that they weren’t together—if they were even seeing each other at all.

  “So I ran into the Gregster yesterday,” Travis said as we approached the table. “He tells me you have a birthday coming up.”

  “Uh, yeah.” Cooper’s eyes flicked to mine. I quickly looked to the stacks of midterms. They were placed in alphabetical order by last names. I picked up the A-D stack, expecting my midterm to be on the very top. It wasn’t there.

  “Why don’t I take you out to celebrate this weekend? Club Vortex is having an 80s night. I hear it can get pretty wild.”

  I gazed into Travis’s hopeful eyes. Weekend evenings were usually exhausting for me after working a full day at Jitters. Soaking in a tub with a good book sounded more exciting to me than going out with Travis. Turning twenty-one wasn’t a big deal for me. It was just another year without my parents’ acknowledgement. Another reminder that instead of nearing the end of my college education, I was way behind and barely starting it. Besides, I was a lightweight when it came to drinking and didn’t do much of it.

  “Well, uh...”

  “Ms. Ashford, may I have a word with you?”

  I blinked, shocked that Cooper was calling me. It was almost the exact same words he’d used in my dream! I reached out to Travis’s arm and pinched him.