Free Your Gravity: Part One by L. G. Castillo Page A

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.
    “Ouch! What was that for?”
    Shit! I’m not dreaming.
    “Sorry. I’ll be right back.”
    Incredible blue eyes pierced into me, making the butterflies in my stomach flutter. I wished he’d stop doing that.
    The moment he took hold of my arm and pulled me away from the crowd of students around the table, electrical currents raged through my body, making my heart slam into overtime. Stupid body. It didn’t want to listen to me. Why couldn’t I feel like that when Travis smiled at me?
    As we headed to a quiet corner in the auditorium, the image of him holding the baby against his chest infiltrated my mind. I didn’t want to remember that he could be sweet and kind when he wanted to be. His fingers burned into my arm, and all I could think of was that I wanted more of him. And for a moment, I wondered what it would be like to be wrapped in his muscular arms.
    When we stopped, I gazed up at him, remembering the dream and the feel of his scuff rubbing against my chin, throat, and breasts. Wiggling, I tried to shake off the growing sensation deep in the pit of my stomach.
    “Need to visit the ladies room, Ms. Ashford?”
    My eyes narrowed. He seemed amused. What was it about him that made me want to slap him and grab him by the shirt collar and press my lips against his at the same time? It was so infuriating.
    “No,” I snapped. “What did you want to see me about?”
    “This.” He waved my midterm exam. “Your grade is unacceptable for a student of your caliber.”
    Aww, crap. I failed the exam. I should’ve studied harder. My parents were right. I was doomed to be a failure. I wondered if it was too late to drop—
    I did a double take. Wait. Did he just compliment me?
    “What did you say?”
    “You made an eighty-nine on the midterm.” He held out the exam. “Although it was one of the highest grades in the class, I expected more from you.”
    Holy shit! I made one of the highest grades in the class. Damn! I’m not as dumb as I thought I was if other people had a hard time with it too.
    “I, oh, wow.”
    “I hardly think this is a grade to be impressed with, Ms. Ashford. Based on your performance on your previous assignments, I anticipated better. I thought maybe your job at Jitters has taken away from your study time, but now I see that other pursuits,” his eyes flicked to Travis,