Perfect Summer (13 page)

Astor
Fairway had made it to class.

I
waved to Astor where I was sitting and he waved back. He made his way to the
front of the steps to go up to my seat in the back, but a bunch of girls
(mostly from Drew’s harem) flew up and surrounded him, demanding autographs and
pictures.

It
was like that time when Astor and I went to Disneyland and an entire crowd
surrounded him, thanks to Drew.

Drew?
I looked over to where he was sitting, and he was now alone. All the girls who
had surrounded him were now crowded around Astor. Could he had put them up to
it?

I
was staring hard at Drew’s back when he turned around and looked straight at
me.

“He’s
even more gorgeous in person,” Trish said drily next to me.

Was
that a smile on his face?

Gorgeous
or not, I put aside my insecurity, got up, and walked down to where Astor was… signing
autographs and taking pictures with some of the girls.

Drew
got up, too, walking towards me.

I
shot daggers at him to stay where he was. He was not going to do this to poor
Astor again.

“Excuse
me,” I barged through the crowd forcefully. “But the Professor wants everyone
in their seats now or we can’t start the class on time.  Everyone back to your
seats.  And you…” I pointed at Astor, “Come with me.”

I
fisted Astor’s t-shirt in front, and pulled him behind me headed up to my seat
in the back row. I didn’t realize how I looked holding onto his shirt, and
pulling him behind me like he was a hot prisoner of mine, but when I heard
whistles coming from the guys in class, I realized I probably look like some
kind of BDSM dominatrix in some wild erotica film leading my lover to some
playroom dungeon for wild unbridled sex. I glanced down. I was wearing short
white cut-off jeans, a man’s white wife beater tank top (must be Nat’s), and my
black lace bra underneath. My hair was down, a little messy and wild from
trying to air dry it this morning because I was running late and had grabbed
Nat’s shirt to put on this morning.

I
looked to my side and I looked down, it seemed all eyes were on Astor and me.
Including Drew, who had that intense hungry look he gave me all weekend long. I
smiled. If Drew wanted to put the sexy on, I can too.

I
lifted my head higher, push out my chest, and walked confidently up the steps
to my seat next to Trish and patted the empty one next to me for Astor.

Astor
sat down and leaned in to whisper a quick “thanks” in my ear, which tickled me,
causing me to laugh out loud.

That
made Drew turn around to look at me again, his face clearly angry.

I
leaned into Astor and whispered, “Of all the classes to audit, you had to
choose this one.”

Astor
whispered back, “What’s wrong with this one?”

“Nothing,”
I said. “Just that this is a very tough class. There’s even a mandatory study
group we have to take to make sure we understand the lecture, apparently.”

Astor
grinned. “Sounds like a challenge.”

I
smiled back, “It is.”

Astor
cozied up next to me, “Of course whether this class is tough or not, I have
another reason to be here.”

He
reached for my hand, entwined his fingers through them, and raised it to his
lips to kiss my fingertips.

Trish
next to me, arched her eyebrows, and darted her eyes to the front of the room.

I
followed in her direction, just in time to see Drew stomping up the steps toward
us, his face trained towards me unrelentlessly.

“Summer,”
Drew said, looking at me intently as though he didn’t even see Astor next to
me, nor Trish to my left. “I need to talk to you.”

“Class
is about to start, Drew,” I said. “I don’t want to miss another week’s class
like last week.”

“You
can get notes, a bunch of the girls gave me theirs for last week’s class. I can
share them with you.”

“Astor’s
auditing the class tonight,” I said.

“It’s
urgent,” Drew said. “I just need to talk to you for a few minutes, then we’ll
be back in class.”

“Is
that alright with you, Astor?” I asked.

Astor
looked slightly annoyed. “As long as he’s a gentleman to you.”

I
looked at Drew and said to Astor, “Drew is many things, but he’s never been
ungentlemanly.”

“Good,”
Astor said, “Because I really want to enjoy this lecture tonight. A friend of
mine is guest lecturing, and I don’t want to miss it on account of someone
being an a-hole to a good friend of mine.” He looked from me to Drew.

Drew’s
jaw twitched then, and before he can say anything, I got up, took his hand, and
led him out of the auditorium to where we were last week, outside in the
morning air and against the walls of the school building.

“What
do you want?” I asked, leaning against the wall and crossing my arms.

Drew’s
eyes narrowed at me, and he growled angrily at me. “Do you have to ask?” Before
I could answer, Drew pushed me up against the wall with his body, until I was
held suspended by him against the wall. “Do you have to make this so difficult
for me? Torture me like this, make me so insane with jealousy, I can’t even
think straight. First Nat and now Astor. At least with Nat, I know where I
stand, but Astor…you can’t go back to him again just because he promised to
remain here and not travel as much for his films.”

“That’s
none of your business, Drew,” I said.

“It
is
my business,” he said. “It’s my business to keep you safe, to watch
over you, but I’m finding it harder and harder because all I want to do when I
think of you is to get close to you, not stay away.”

He
brought his lips so close to mine, and hovered there for the longest time, as
though torn.

“I
promised myself I would stay away from you, emotionally and physically,” Drew
said.

He
inched closer.

“I
promised myself I wouldn’t fall for you again once I shut down any feelings I
have for you.”

Closer
still.

“I’ve
tried and tried to stay away from you, to feign indifference, even surrounding
myself with the hottest girls on campus, but I’m so fucked in love with you I’m
beyond repair.”

“Drew,”
I whispered. “I don’t want you to be repaired.”

“But
I do, Summer,” he said softly. “How am I going to be able to stand a whole
lifetime of wanting my brother’s girl and not be able to have her?”

“Drew,”
I bit my lips. “I’m not married to Nat. We’re not even officially a couple, but
we are close and getting closer. It’s the truth, and I don’t want to mislead
you or hurt you in anyway.” I patted his hand. “Astor is a very good friend. He
wants more, too, but I don’t know if what we have can sustain a lifetime of
love.”

“What
about me?” Drew asked. “Would there, was there ever a chance for me?”

I
looked down and bit my lips. “I don’t know. That depends on you, Drew.”

*****

            Drew
and I walked back to the classroom, taking our seats, right when the guest
lecturer came in.

            If
I didn’t have my hands full trying to sort out my feelings for three very hot
and attractive men, I would have gone gaga over the strikingly handsome
professor who strode in.

            He
was tall, muscular but lean, lightly tanned, had high cheekbones, a chiseled
face, beautiful blue eyes, and wavy black hair. In his late twenties, and
dressed like he walked out of a GQ magazine in black slacks and a silky black
shirt.

            The
entire room fell silent as some of the more well-read students recognized who
just walked into the room.

            “Hi,”
he began, “I’m Professor Sebastian Sorensen, and I’m here today because your
regular professor Dr. Standish had to give a lecture in England.” He smiled,
which showed dimples along with a cleft in his chin that made the girls in
front give a collective sigh.

            “What’s
with the parade of hot men today?” Trish muttered.

            I
smiled back at her. “Seems like they travel in packs.”

            Astor
nudged me and whispered. “Sorensen is brilliant. He’s won best musical
composition at the Oscars, the Academy, and even Tony’s. He’s only in his late
twenties, too, and have produced some amazing films and plays.
Rock Hard,
Love Hard
was one he produced and wrote the music for. It was a hit in
Vegas, and there were more…”

            Astor
sank back into his seat, and listened intently to every word Professor Sorensen
was lecturing. I sank back into mine, relaxing into the fascinating lecture
about music composition in dramatic plays and musicals.

            For
the next forty minutes, Professor Sorensen commanded the room masterfully,
regaling the class with stories about some of his music, and stories about his
Hollywood experiences working on the music side of filmmaking. He talked about
his experience getting started, and how he first started his career as a choir
boy in a boarding school in Europe, and how when he discovered music, it opened
a world of new experiences and opportunities for him.

            Time
flew quickly, and finally the lecture concluded, earning the professor a
standing ovation.

            “Thank
you for being such an attentive and inquisitive group,” he said. “You’ll have
your delightful professor Standish back next week, but if you want to get ahold
of me, you can follow me on Twitter at @BeMyProtege  so everyone, this
concludes the lecture, if you weren’t sure.” He smiled a charming little secret
smile that had all the girls sighing.

            Afterwards
the swarm of girls in front swept into try to talk to the sexy professor, while
I watch Drew’s harem at it once again.

            “You’d
think these girls don’t ever get any attention from guys, the way they’re
acting so desperately.”

            “More
like they’re looking for the best guy, while ignoring the guys they think
aren’t good enough for them,” Trish said.

            “So,
first Drew, then Astor, and now darkly handsome Professor Sorensen,” I said.

            Trish
looked seriously at me. “The crème of the crop. Not only handsome good looks,
but wealthy and famous, as well.”

            I
looked over at Astor, who had stood up, and had extended his hand to help me
up. “Come meet Sorensen, Summer. You’ll find him fascinating.”

            “Sure,
but first…” I asked Trish if she’s heard about the study group’s first meeting
yet. I had to attend and try to catch up on missing a couple of lectures
already.

            “I
don’t have the location where they will be at this week, but here’s the url to
their blog. They seem to post the time and location of the group’s meeting last
minute on there so check that out first for the next meeting.”

            “Thanks
Trish,” I said. “You’ve been so helpful…maybe we can catch a bite to eat for
lunch after class next week or something.”

            Trish
blushed and shrugged. “Sure, Summer. Thanks!”

            Astor
held my hand going down the steps to Sorensen who was still surrounded by the
girls, some of them more bold than the other.

            Sorensen
was trying to be polite, as one girl after another, kept asking him personal
questions instead of anything that related to his work.

            I
looked at Astor, and he nodded. It was Operation Save the Hottie time.

            I
got ready to barge through the crowd like I had with Astor, but found they
weren’t as easy to de-band as before.

            I
couldn’t make my way through to Sorensen, the crowd was relentless in trying to
get to talk to him, but I wasn’t going to give up.

            “Planning
to launch a strike?” Astor asked.

            “You
could say that.” I was about to head through the crowd again, when out came a
large muscular body who literally plow through the crowd with his body to stand
before Sorensen.

            Sorensen
saw Drew approach him, and smiled widely. “Hey Drew,” Sorensen said. “Nice to
see you’re in college now.” He looked around him. “Where’s Nat?”

            “He’s
in San Francisco,” Drew said.

            “I’ll
be visiting up north in a couple of days,” Sorensen said. “I’ll stop by the
family home to say ‘hi’”

            “Mom’ll
love that,” Drew said. “And so would Rachel.”

            “Then
I’ll book the flight tonight,” Sorensen said. “I’ may have to visit Donovan
Dynamics for a customized security system. Had a break-in recently. Knew I
shouldn’t trust my mother’s designer to handle my place’s security.”

            “They’ll
know what to do,” Drew said.

            “I’m
hoping so,” Sorensen said.

            Drew
stepped to the side then when Sorensen spotted Astor.

            “Hello
Fairway,” he said, “ready to shoot the new film?”

            “Very,”
Astor said. “And I’m glad that the producers chose your song for the opening.”

            “Fade
will be a spectacular production,” Sorensen said. “I really got into the story
and was glad I can use a bit of flair to compose the score for the rest of the
film.”

            “Can’t
wait to see it,” I said, beaming.

            “Me
too!” Sorensen cheerfully exclaimed, smiling a grin that was breathtaking. It
sent a thrill through me, and I momentarily forgot I was already involved in a
very complicated relationship. I shook my head.

             I
would have gone on with the questions and getting to know him better, when
someone bumped me from behind, causing me to nearly fall forward into Sorensen.
Astor caught me just in time, and used both arms to steady me.

            A
student in a non-descript grey sweatshirt, walking shorts, and a cap that
covered most of his face muttered “sorry,” but kept walking on.