Free Lessons From the Professor by Shyla Colt

walls since
Jackson
until now. There
had to be a reason why
Sidney
put her at ease.   Sutton wasn’t maudlin
enough to start spouting about soul mates and kismet, but she recognized a
kindred spirit. It was clear to see they’d both been hurt before.   The real challenge was overcoming the past in
order to have a future.
     
     

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    “Fuck!”  
Sidney
fought back the
urge to pound his fist on the steering wheel as he drove away from the house.
He knew he’d been a complete git , but her hesitation
had set off warning bells inside his head. She was so new to all of this; of
course she’d be nervous.   If he was half
the man he thought he was he’d go back and apologize.   But
really how did he know she wouldn’t flake on him later? His gut churned in
as he thought back to the day that had thrown his entire world off balance.
    ****
    “Is he gone?”
    Sutton looked up from the couch and nodded as her sister
entered the room clad in a shorts and tank set.
    “Good. You want to tell me what’s up with the older man, and
that piece around your neck?”
    “
Jackson
was almost eleven years older than me.”
    “Yeah, eleven not twenty.”
    “
Sidney
is only eighteen years older, and I don’t appreciate your comments.”
    “Look, Sutton, I know it’s been a long time since you had a
man in your bed, but that’s no reason to settle.”
    “Are you sure you want to have this conversation?” Sutton
asked. She was tired of biting her tongue when it came to Carissa. Her days of
playing nursemaid were long gone.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “You heard me. Do you really want to talk about settling in
life? You’re twenty-one, still live at home with Mom, go to school part time,
and flit from job to job. Your relationships read like a Tyler Perry movie, and
yet you want to judge me?”
    Carissa’s jaw dropped as her hazel eyes rounded.
    “I can’t believe you said that! You’ve always resented me!
You had to take care of me your entire life after Dad died, and it kills you
that I’m so different from you and Mom.”
    “No, what kills me
is that you’re so irresponsible and ungrateful.”
    “No one asked you to do a damn thing, Sutton!”
    “You’re right, I did what needed to be done, and all I ever
wanted in return was to see each of you go on to be successful.”
    “Bullshit!”
“I don’t know where you get these warped views, Carissa!”
    “It’s in everything you do, the way you talk to me, the
disappointment in your eyes when I screw up yet again. Just because you don’t
say something out loud, doesn’t mean it’s not coming across loud and clear.”
    “I won’t apologize for
wishing you’d grow up and make better decisions. “
“ See !”
    “You’re acting like a damn child, Carissa!”
    “I don’t have to take this—”
    “Actually, I think this is a long time coming. It’s time you
got your head on straight and realize you’re not a child anymore. Mom and I
aren’t always going to be there to bail you out.”
    “Whatever, Sutton. I wonder
what Mom would think of you and your kinky new lifestyle with your latest beau.
I bet you wouldn’t be the golden child then.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “That collar you have wrapped around your neck isn’t just
some Goth accessory.”
    Her heart pounded in her chest as her mouth went dry. She
was not ready to have this conversation.
    “Funny how quiet you’ve become all of a
sudden. Afraid I’ll tell Mom?”
    “Tell her what, Carissa? That you think the man I date ties
me up in a dungeon and beats me with a whip?”
    “Don’t make it sound so far-fetched.”
    “I refuse to do this with you.”   Sutton stood from the couch and headed to her
room.
    “I finally have dirt on the lily-white Sutton!”
    Sutton slammed the door to her room behind her, shutting out
Carissa’s taunts as she eased down on to the side of her bed. How had things
spiraled out of control so