Unhinge Me (2 page)

Slowly, he reached his hand up toward her face. Instinctively, she leaned in closer to him. But instead of touching her like she was expecting, he just reached back and took a stray leaf out of her hair. Suddenly, Caleb blinked and backed away, nearly making Alex fall flat on her face, but she caught herself.

Feeling like she’d been splashed by cold water, she stood there confused while Caleb turned and disappeared into the woods. She couldn’t figure out what was going on with him. A relationship was the last thing on Alex’s mind right now, but something about this guy was different. The problem was, he was acting so weird. The chemistry between them was almost electric, yet one minute he looked like he was going to caress her and the next he was running away into the woods.

Caleb finally came back, holding a giant stick.

“Here.” He thrust it at her. Alex just looked at him.

“It’s a walking stick!” he told her. He put it up to her to show her that she could lean on it. She tried, and it helped, but it wasn’t enough. She was still going to need Caleb to get back. Secretly that made her happy. She had to admit she was enjoying his company.

Caleb smiled slightly and took her arm back in his. His failed attempt at putting space between them was slightly frustrating, but part of him was glad it didn’t work. Maybe for just one minute he could forget that he was a professor and she was a student.

They spent the next hour walking back. The lake they had been jogging around was big, and they had to move slowly. Alex finally started to open up, and the two spent the time talking and laughing. By the time they finally did reach the parking lot, it felt like they had known each other for months. Laughing at one of his jokes, Alex didn’t even notice they had arrived until another student walked by. It was another female student and, as she passed, she slowed to look them over curiously. Then a flirty smile appeared.

“Hi Professor Hunt!” she cooed. Alex stopped and looked over at him.

“Professor?” she said in shock. Caleb looked down, ashamed that he hadn’t told her.

Alex felt stupid. She had finally made a connection with someone, and it was someone she couldn’t even have. There was no way she would take the chance of having an affair with a teacher. She had the feeling Caleb felt the same way, which meant he knew they had no chance the whole time. Disappointed, and even a little angry at him for not telling her, Alex dropped her hand from his arm. Caleb looked up at her and knew what she was thinking. He wanted to explain, but every thought he came up with sounded like an excuse, so he didn’t say anything.

Alex looked around and found a male student nearby. She shouted for him to wait up. Looking back at Caleb, she frowned. She didn’t know what to say, so she simply turned and walked away.

Caleb watched her leave. That morning had been the best time he’d had in a long time, and in seconds it was gone. He hated it, but he knew it was probably a good thing. Slowly, he turned and jogged toward home, frowning at the thought of never seeing her again.

Two years later…

Caleb flipped up the collar on his coat to deflect the brisk January breeze and tucked down into his scarf. It was a cold walk through the large Georgian campus, but it was a beautiful morning, even in the chill, and he loved the exercise. The college was the largest in the country, and the stunning grounds never ceased to impress him. The gorgeous English Gothic architecture also made him feel like he was back home in England.

He couldn’t help still missing England. He had only been in America for a little over three years now, but it felt like a lifetime since he’d jumped over the pond. His family agreed, and his mother was at her wit’s end when she had called during Christmas.

“But your family needs you here,” she had tried to tell him.

“I know that, Mother. If it were that easy, of course I would come,” he had assured.

She tried to understand what Caleb was going through, but couldn’t. All she cared about was having her son home and nothing else mattered. Caleb just couldn’t do it, though. Like it or not, his life was here now and they both just needed to accept it.

He walked up the stone steps to the huge arts and literature building, saying hello to a few students along the way. He avoided the students as often as possible. Being only twenty-eight, it felt a little weird to be a professor when most of his students were only a few years younger than him.

It was especially awkward when a female student was attracted to him, and that happened more than he cared to admit. He didn’t get it. He didn’t think he was completely unfortunate looking, but he didn’t think he was a big deal either. Other women told him he was too modest. Back home he got a good amount of female attention but assumed a lot of that was his money. Since no one here knew about any of that, he just assumed it was the accent.

His classroom echoed as he walked in and set his things down. Sighing, he started setting things up for the first day of the new semester. He always looked forward to the new students and starting over each semester, but things were starting to feel repetitive.

“What’s the frown for, Brit?” came a raspy voice, waking Caleb from his revelry. It was Professor Paul Edmonton, the teacher from across the hall. He was a nice enough guy and made a point of being friendly to Caleb when he’d first arrived at the school, but Caleb made sure to maintain a professional distance from his peers. It was also clear that Paul had much more of an affinity for the female students than Caleb did and that turned Caleb off.

“Morning, Paul. How’s it going? No frown, just getting ready for the new semester, that’s all,” Caleb lied.

“Oh,” said Paul in a big voice. “Looking forward to some new female students, are ya? he over-exaggeratedly winked.

“No,” Caleb said shortly. “Just looking forward to the fresh start it brings,” Caleb smiled.

“You’re still invited to the club this weekend if you want, you know. I always ask and you always say no. You’re too young to never be going out.” It almost sounded like an accusation.

Caleb wasn’t fazed. He was used to Professor Edmonton’s inquiries.

Ever since he’d first arrived at the school, Paul had been trying to get him to go to the gentlemen’s club most of the professors frequented. It was very old school. They would just sit around in wood paneled, smoke filled rooms, playing cards or chess. Conversation was usually limited to politics or trying to outwit one another to see who was smarter. It was not exactly Caleb’s scene.

“Yeah, but you know me. Just give me a good book and I’m happy.”

Paul just nodded and waved on his way out the door. What Caleb had said wasn’t necessarily true, but he didn’t feel the need to go into detail. Caleb still went out, it just wasn’t anywhere near the campus. He had a little pub a couple towns over, not too far away but far enough that he never saw anyone he knew there. He went there often and had become very good friends with the owner and his wife. They were good people and didn’t ask a lot of questions, which was perfect for him.

He started unpacking his bag to finish getting ready as the students who liked to get there early started filing in. Once everyone had arrived and was sitting, Caleb shut the door and walked over to stand in front of the class. He finally looked up at all the new faces, and there she was. Alex. Like a magnet, he was drawn immediately to her face. It seemed like forever since that day in the woods when he’d met her, but he’d thought about her almost every single day since.

Time froze and his heart leapt into his throat. He tried to read her eyes and could see she was just as surprised to see him as he was to see her. His throat went dry, so he cleared it and looked down to try to look less obvious. If she was surprised, then she wasn’t there on purpose.
Get it together
, he yelled at himself inside his head. He looked back up at all the waiting faces and smiled. He tried to avoid looking at her as he welcomed them to the class, but as he went to introduce himself, he couldn’t help but look in her direction. As soon as he caught her eyes, he was glued to them. Instead of telling the class to call him “Mr. Hunt” like he usually did, he looked directly into her eyes and softly said, “Please, call me Caleb.”

The other girls in the class whispered to each other.
Shit
, he thought to himself. That was not the way to keep the professionalism.

Alex’s cheeks flamed. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. When she’d looked up and realized Caleb was the professor, she’d panicked. She cursed herself for not bothering to pay attention to who the teacher was for the class. She considered leaving right then and changing the class, but this was her last semester and she didn’t want to mess it up.

The class seemed to last forever. Alex kept her head down as much as she could and, when it was over, she gathered her things quickly. She heard Caleb quietly call out to her as she started to leave and she looked up to meet his eyes. She paused, tempted by the look on his face, but she couldn’t bring herself to go to him. Regretfully, she ignored him and left.

The rest of semester wasn’t much different. After trying to talk to her a few times, to no avail, Caleb gave up, knowing it was probably best that way. She was a senior, and her gap year made her older than his other students, but she was still a student nonetheless, and that made her untouchable. He tried to settle for admiring her from afar. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Now that he’d seen her hair out of a ponytail, he saw it was long and naturally wavy. He couldn’t tell in the florescent lights of the classroom, and it was too cloudy the first time they’d met, but he could swear it had auburn streaks through it. It looked so soft, Caleb had to resist reaching out to touch it when he got too close.

However, having her in his class only made him more attracted to her. Being a professor of poetry and literature was not easy, and most students who took his class did so from obligation and not because they were actually interested in it. He knew it could be boring, and sometimes even bored himself with some of the required teachings, but, for the most part, he actually enjoyed teaching poetry. He could tell from her papers that she shared the love of poetry with him, and most Thursdays it felt like she was the only one in class.

There was just something about Alexandria, something that pulled him toward her. It had been a long semester so far, and avoiding her was getting harder and harder. He knew it was stupid and ridiculous, but he still looked forward to the days she was in class. He felt like a fifteen-year-old boy with his first crush.

Alex sat in one of the back stadium seats of the big classroom. She had to admit, Caleb’s poetry class was one of her favorites. She tried to tell herself that it is only her love of poems that made her enjoy the class so much. Poetry had always been important to her. Her father used to read it to her all the time as a child. Instead of Dr. Seuss, he’d read her old Walt Whitman poems for bedtime stories. His love of poetry rubbed off on her, and when she saw this class, she knew she had to take it. But if she was being honest, the real reason why she was really enjoying the class so much was probably Caleb. She had been so upset with him for not telling her he was a teacher that day two years ago. But as time went on, she thought less about that and more about their connection. There was still a part of her that didn’t trust herself around him, and the last thing she wanted was to do something to jeopardize graduation. So, she tried to ignore him and just get through it. It wasn’t easy, though. She caught herself sneaking looks at him often, and caught him doing the same.