Her Teacher's Temptation

by Vos, Alexandra

  The cheeky grin slid easily onto my face around Annabel. Our common interest to embarrass Ollie was too strong. "Well, I don't know about him, but I'm having a shower first."

  Annabel whistled. "I guess at least there won't be any banging for me to hear that way."

  Ollie flamed and Luke only chuckled and disappeared whilst Annabel and I shared a grin. "I'm sorry," I apologised, patting him on the arm, but also beginning to feel the tension of the outcome of this weekend as we joked about mine and Ollie's all too complicated ‘relationship’. "I just can't help myself."

  Annabel pushed the button to call the lift that we'd migrated towards. "I don't think I forgive you."

  When we were back in the room, I tried not to show my sudden nerves as my hands automatically went to wring together. "Are you actually having a shower?" Ollie inquired, collapsing onto the bed fully clothed and snuggling into his pillow.

  I chuckled. "Nah, I'll have one in the morning."

  I found myself lying down beside Ollie, revelling in our closeness. We weren't touching, other than our elbows brushing, but somehow that was just enough for this moment.

  "I'm glad that you came," Ollie told me softly, wiping away all the guilt I'd had about the hard time from his parents with that genuine tone.

  When Ollie shifted onto his side, it was my automatic reaction to mimic his actions. "I'm glad I came too," I agreed, cheeks slightly flushed at our proximity and the genuine admission.

  There was a slight rumble in the bed as Ollie chuckled. "Just so you know, I didn't only ask you to come so that we'd find ourselves in this situation again, though it was a motivator." His hand caressed the side of my face during this statement and I was thankful my arms were covered as the goose bumps broke out on them. His dark smile gave me shivers.

  "I'm perfectly aware of your motivation, don't worry," I teased back, allowing my own fingers to wind their way into Ollie's hair, losing them in his curls.

  I was afraid that we might well have kept Annabel awake in the worst way for far longer than we'd meant to.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  It fitted just as snugly as in the shop, accentuating my curves in a more than flattering way, yet still maintaining the sophisticated look required for a wedding. Ollie’s eyes spoke volumes as they kept drifting back to my breasts and hips. I almost hoped he’d be more subtle when it came to going downstairs.

  “You look really beautiful.” Even with the compliment, I still batted his hand away when it even came close to the fancy knot my hair was in: I’d spent far too long getting it right to risk it even for Ollie.

  But this wasn’t even the best part. Ollie was wearing a suit. The full Monte: fitted trousers, shirt and tie. He could ditch the jacket as far as I was concerned so that I could get a better view of his arms. For once I was incredibly excited to get my picture taken; we’d surely have one together before the end of the night. I’d be able to find somewhere to keep it where people wouldn’t see.

  No doubt in reality it would only serve to make me miserable at the end of our liaison, but for now I would appreciate it.

  “I suppose you don’t look so bad.” My arm automatically rested on his chest as I fit myself against him perfectly, leaning upwards and wetting my lips in anticipation. “I really do miss the stubble though.” My hand traced his smooth jawline and I pouted.

  We shared an intimate look and for a moment I considered the possibility that we might just skip out on the entire ceremony and go back to bed.

  A knock on the door interrupted our moment and I was forced to back away, choosing instead to absorb myself in the contents of my bag to hide my sulky face.

  “Oh, you look so cute.” Annabel beamed after taking in my appearance. “This is so exciting, I’ve never been to a real wedding before.”

  Ollie raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Do you not count your brother’s wedding as real?”

  Annabel dismissed him easily. “I was too young to appreciate it then. This is the first proper one. And I am a little bit upset that I didn’t get asked to be a bridesmaid.”

  "How long exactly is it since you’ve seen Laura?”

  Annabel’s hand shooed off his comment. “I’m still offended.”

  Ollie rolled his eyes. “Let’s go downstairs.” Prompted to slip on my heels, I hoped there wouldn’t be too much standing up today. These were definitely intended for show rather than actual wear.

  Downstairs, everything was surprisingly calm. Ollie’s family, other than perhaps Ollie and Annabel themselves, seemed particularly organised. We’d apparently been cutting it close with our timing since everyone was ushered us through to the room of the actual wedding almost as soon as we’d entered the lobby.

  As close-ish family, Ollie and his siblings were sat three rows back, me seated with them. It was the perfect seat, as far as I was concerned; I got a perfect view of the bride and groom, yet didn’t feel exposed to the eyes of people behind me so much.

  Despite my somewhat cynical views on marriage, excitement still filled me. It was also the first time I had been to a proper wedding. Laura was stunning as she walked down the aisle, partly due to her exquisite appearance and partly because of the way she ignored everyone else to grin at her husband-to-be with absolute happiness. It was easy to feel optimistic about marriage at an actual wedding.

  It was oddly comforting watching two genuinely happy people. It wasn’t a sight I got to see very often and I almost wasn’t surprised when I felt Ollie’s large fingers curling around my own.

  It made me want to tear up and I had to blink furiously to prevent water from spilling over. I couldn’t even really explain, but the mixture of seeing happy people, being a cynical loser and holding hands with the person I could never be with was just a little bit overwhelming. I would feel particularly foolish if I cried in front of Ollie now after the talks we’d had about marriage in the past, though.

  Only a few tears actually escaped when Laura and her now husband, Derek, kissed each other, but I knew I wasn’t alone in the room so it didn’t make me feel too embarrassed. I was fairly sure I’d managed to hide them from Ollie, too.

  Photos came next and Ollie's hand left mine and I was forced to wear a polite smile rather than the slightly teary grin that had been plastered all over my face. I hadn't really bothered to look up the order things went in; I was just trailing Ollie around like a lost puppy.

  The photos were boring, honestly. Standing around, watching people I mostly didn’t know get their picture taken was a novelty at first, but after forty minutes it dragged on. But, Ollie and I did get our picture. I just really hoped it turned out nicely now.

  And then it was time for dinner in the great hall. The room, which had been hidden from us throughout the visit, extended what seemed like forever. Although I hadn't really realised it, even in the ceremony, there were a lot of people here. I suspected quite a few had come only for the day though, which was why I hadn't seen many of them around the hotel before.

  Sitting on our table, which was me and Ollie's immediate family, I fought back the urge to babble about how adorable the napkins were, folded like little tulips and the name cards with their fancy writing. Whilst I knew that living the high life wasn't really for me, experiencing it this once certainly was enough to make me reconsider – as if it was really that simple to just choose the high life.

  The only problem now would be attempting not to antagonise his parents too much... or to slip up and give away either how old I was, or that I was Ollie’s student.

  "So, Oliver, how is your job going? We really haven't talked about it that much," his dad started up the conversation whilst I studied the sheet explaining what we'd be eating today. I was sure Ollie caught the smirk I couldn't hold back at his full name, though.

  "It's fine." Ollie shifted in his seat and glanced at me only once, for a fraction of a second. "Most of the kids are surprisingly nice. I guess that's because I'm just teaching sixth form."

  "So you're glad you came h
ome then?" It was a leading question, of course the answer had to be yes when his mother looked at him expectantly like that.

  "Yes, it's good to be living in Sheffield again." I wasn't entirely sure whether Ollie's teeth were actually gritted or not, maybe I was just putting my annoyance at his parents onto him. It wasn't fair really, he still loved them, but I was a bitter person. Anything that even remotely opposed Ollie and myself was likely to be put into my bad books.

  "It's just a shame you both decided to go so far away from home for university." It was almost a telling off as she stared at both Annabel and Ollie for a few minutes each. "Luke and Maddie clearly knew what they were doing." It was the first time I'd been spoken to without some genuine irritation from his mother. "How are you liking university dear?"

  My mind went blank for a moment, before realising that I was supposed to be nineteen. Of course I was at university. Ollie had probably even explained this to me at some point when I wasn't listening. "Oh, it's fine, thanks." I attempted a polite, but not stupidly awkward, smile. "More difficult than I was expecting."

  "Annabel said the same thing," she assured me with a chuckle. I already knew that, which was the only reason I’d thought to say it in the first place. "Whereabouts are you living?"

  "Oh, erm. I'm just still living at home." My hands unravelled the napkin, though I did my best not to stare downwards. "My mum likes me to help around the house with my little sister and I don't think she'd have really wanted me to move away." The implication she was a single parent didn’t really fit with their family values, but it was too late by this point. It was also the truth, kind of, and I knew that my little fantasy about going to Newcastle was unrealistic and unfair.

  His father nodded to me admirably. "How good of you. If only these two had realised we'd have liked to see them more often too." Whilst I was somewhat relieved that they really didn't seem to hate me, doing it at the expense of Ollie and Annabel wasn't exactly the way I wanted it to happen.

  Charlotte made the perfect interruption then, when she began to babble and all attention was turned to calming her down so she didn’t have to be taken outside.

  The rest of the dinner made one thing clear, Ollie had been completely right when he said his parents wouldn't be obviously unpleasant to me. I was pretty sure that the first day they'd been cold only due to the surprise of me actually being here. I found my annoyance at them dissipating as we all chatted easily.

  And I never slipped up about my situation. My actress career was looking more and more promising.

  The speeches were even more boring than the photos. It was probably just because I didn’t know the people being talked about, everyone else seemed to be laughing in the right places.

  Ollie and I played noughts and crosses on one of the napkins. I won by a landslide.

  And we'd also drank an awful lot by this point. I wasn't normally a wine drinker, but the champagne we'd kept being topped up with was incredibly good and obviously incredibly expensive.

  Now came the dancing, which was the thing I'd been looking forward to most. Especially considering my head was fuzzy enough that I wouldn't be at all self-conscious.

  Ollie and I waited until the dance floor was quite flooded before joining in, easily slipping into each other's hold and swaying to the music.

  "I'm used to it involving significantly more grinding than this," I teased gently, meeting Ollie's eyes and flashing him a smile.

  "I'm not going to complain if I get to be this close to you." The reply was instant and I flushed, allowing us to move slightly closer together. The noise was loud enough I doubted anyone would overhear us.

  We danced in silence, anyway, for a few minutes, simply enjoying being close to each other. Ollie's thumbs traced unconscious circles into my hips and I found my eyes drifting to his lips multiple times.

  “Have you ever looked up the actual law on student teacher relationships?” He questioned abruptly.

  “Of course I have.” I’d done it several times.

  “Me too.” The statement made the heat rise to my cheeks unnecessarily. It should have been obvious he would, but hearing the words had me smiling like a fool. “What did you think?”

  I considered telling him the truth; I really should when it was something this serious. “It made me realise that it's selfish for me to ever make the first move.” I tightened my grip on him considerably, sending my eyes downcast. “There are no consequences for me, but you could go to prison.”

  Ollie’s lips pressed my forehead gently. “You're right,” he acknowledged. “And that's why after today I can't keep seeing you. I'm not going to see you again.” My eyes stung and remained averted. “At least not until you're eighteen.”

  Snapping my vision to judge his expression, there was a tiny smile twisting at the corner of his lips. “But you could get fired still.”

  “I know.”

  Hand clamped around the lapel of his jacket, I worried he’d be able to hear how fast my heart was racing even over the music. “But Ollie…” I wanted it so badly. So, so badly. I wanted to go home after school and cuddle on the sofa watching films. I wanted to wake up in the morning and end up being late because neither of us had the resistance to not give in to morning sex. I wanted to ring him up and pour my heart out about my problems without the need to feel guilty.

  But it was unrealistic. It was never going to happen. That wasn't the way things could ever be.

  “I'm not worth your job.” The words were painful to say. “If you lost your job you'd hate me. And I don't ever want that to happen.”

  “How likely is it that we’d even get caught though?” Ollie’s determined eyes were almost enough to make me give in and kiss him right here, but I had to be strong. I knew I was right. Ollie probably knew I was right too, only he’d given up trying to fight our annoying predicament anymore. “I just want to be with you Maddie.”

  Unable to contend with looking at Ollie’s resolute face any longer, I rested my forehead against his chest. It made the dancing harder than I’d anticipated, but it was necessary if I was going to stand my ground. “I want that more than anything too.” My hands continued to fiddle restlessly with his jacket. “Well, more than anything other than you not wasting your Oxford education. And it will happen, we will get caught if we decide to be together. I just know it. We’ve already got a potential scare on our hands with Mike.”

  “You can’t possibly know that.” Ollie’s voice now in my hair, my eyes stung painfully. “Maddie…”

  “It’s fine,” I dismissed, “it’s the way it has to be. I can’t put you in that position, I care about you too much.”

  We left the dance floor shortly after that, deciding to go and find our table and hoping no one was there to notice the change in mood. Unfortunately, we were greeted by Annabel; at least there wasn’t anything we could give away she didn’t already know.

  I kept my eyes somewhat averted, though my hand itched to lace itself through Ollie’s and drag him upstairs so we could hide away for a while. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but Ollie cared enough that he was willing to risk his career for me. That meant he cared a lot. I was probably going to hate myself forever for turning him down.

  “You look like you had a nice dance.” Annabel teased when we sat down.

  Neither of us said anything, other than to meet eyes then glance away. That was probably enough of a sign for Annabel to know it hadn’t been as ‘nice’ as she’d thought.

  “You okay?” She inquired almost immediately, eyebrows knitted together as her gaze flicked between Ollie and me.

  “Yeah, of course.” My smile was the fakest it had ever been. I just hoped Annabel either didn’t know me well enough to notice, or got the gist that I didn’t want to talk about it. “Just sad to be going home, I guess.” That was true enough – this was the last time it was realistic for me to talk to Ollie outside of the classroom. There wasn’t a chance he’d be able to wait until the end of the year for me. Neither of us had
even bothered to mention it. There was still more than six months of school yet.

  Annabel raised a doubting eyebrow before choosing to nod and stare out over the dance floor instead. “So what time are you guys leaving? I’m not getting the train until tomorrow morning.”

  “Probably quite soon after they’ve cut the cake and stuff,” Ollie explained, his voice bland and eyes dominated by the napkin that was being folded in his hands.

  “Oh, well, I think I’m going to go and see where Charlotte is. I’ll leave you two to it.”

  Though the room was loud, silence hung between me and Ollie and I stared as his hands worked at folding the napkin into shapes. Feeling somewhat brave, I reached out and steadied it, linking his fingers through my own. “Thank you for bringing me here. I’ve enjoyed it more than anything I’ve done for a long time.”