I wanted to be wet and sweaty with him, but he somehow managed to keep us fully clothed and only engaging in mouth-to-mouth activities. After a particularly fun evening on his couch, where my shirt ended up on the floor while I straddled his lap and his hands rested on my ass, I had to go home and pull out one of my favorite Andrew Wood DVDs. My beloved hummingbird came out to play as well. Half of me was beyond disappointed that he had such a tight rein on his control, somehow managing to stop us when we started getting a little too intense.

The other half of me, the one that wasn't a whore who craved Tristan's cock on an hourly basis, got excited about the fact that he was taking his time with me. I'd been worried in the past that I would be meaningless to him, that being with me would be just like being with any other female, porn or no porn. Was it wrong that I wanted to be special? I didn't think so. Every thing he did when we were together cemented the idea that I was important to him. I couldn't expect anything less from him though, even as strictly friends he'd always treated me much better than any other man in my life besides Josh.

The week before school started, I was in my classroom setting up my walls when my cell's alert went off. Digging into my drawer for my purse, I pulled out my phone to see Magellan's name across the front.

Which number is your classroom?

I typed out my response in a second. 10B. Why?

:) Was the only response I got a minute later.

I shrugged and left my phone on the desk while I finished grabbing the poster I'd been hanging on the wall when the text came in. I'd just turned around to tape it to the bland cream wall when the door to the classroom opened.

"Stop!" the deep voice that I'd grown too fond of called out.

"Jesus!" I squeaked, spinning around on my heel to face the source of the voice. "You scared the shit out of me. What are you doing here?" I asked Tristan, dropping the poster and roll of tape onto my desk.

He grinned at me before shuffling three cylinder-shaped boxes under his arm onto the closest desk to the door. In his dress pants and button down shirt, he strode two long steps over to me and wrapped his arms around my upper back before squeezing me to him. "I came to see my favorite teacher," he chuckled. "Ms. West, your next door neighbor."

I laughed and ducked my head instinctively for the spot right underneath his chin where I could breathe in his clean scent, and then wrapped my arms around his ribs. "Oh, you came to see Ms. West? I'll make sure to tell her girlfriend you came by," I said against the dark blue material of his shirt. Ana West was the only employee at Tucker who recognized Zoey off the bat the first time she came to visit me. Apparently her girlfriend was also very familiar with Zoey's work. Needless to say, they were big fans.

"I guess that's why she told me we can't see each other anymore, damn it," he muttered, squeezing me tightly against him one more time before pulling away. Green eyes raked over my jeans and cardigan quickly before he leaned forward to plant a warm, lingering kiss on my lips.

I made some kind of weird moaning noise when he kissed my bottom lip. "You should visit me more often."

"I will." Tristan pulled away smiling and pointed at the boxes he'd brought in. "I took too long eating, and then trying to find your room so I can only stay a few minutes, but I brought you something. Or things, I guess."

He handed me one of the large cardboard cylinders that were lying on the desk. I didn't say anything as I tore off the tape at the top, and then used my fingernails to pull off the end. Flipping the box over, a rolled up poster slipped out and I unfolded it to see a large poster of Albert Einstein and a quirky quote beneath his picture.