Persuasive

Damon’s [POV]
I’ve done my fair share of sneaking around in my seventeen years, but trying to be alone with Dani is a challenge. I need her, and I want to be with her as much as possible. I don’t know how long our time together will last. George has been quiet lately, and that can’t be a good sign.
One day, between classes, we sneak inside an empty classroom. The second we’re inside, I flatten her against the wall, putting one of my hands at the back of her neck, the other one encircling her waist as my tongue plunges inside her mouth. I pull back only when we’re both breathless.
“Damon,” she murmurs as I suckle down her collarbone, my hands roaming on her hips. I can barely refrain from slipping them under her shirt to feel her sweet skin.
“What are you doing to me?” I hear footsteps in the distance, the sound bringing me back to reality.
“We should go,” Dani says.
“We should,” I agree, “but I don’t want us to go.” I lean into her again. My need to taste her grows urgent, so I tug with my teeth at her lower lip and then outline her lips with the tip of my tongue. The light brush completely ravages both of us. She starts shuddering in my arms, her hips bucking forward.
“I didn’t know this would feel… like this. The more I get, the more I want.” She looks at me for guidance, a sign that this is how it’s supposed to be.
“Same for me,” I claim her mouth with ferocity, my nails digging into her waist. “Dani, fuck, we have to stop.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying.” She chuckles, but I don’t think she expected me to stop, because a disappointed surprise grips her when I back away.
We wait a few seconds, listening to any sound that there’s anyone outside the classroom. It’s dead silent. The break ended about five minutes ago. Confident that everyone must be in class, we step outside. We almost bump into Mr. Bowman, deep lines denting his forehead, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” he asks in an irritated tone.
I don’t miss a beat. “Ah, we do, the same place as you: your boring-ass class. This is more fun. I think you agree since you’d rather spy on us than teach. When did voyeurism become an approved hobby for a teacher? If you’re hoping to improve your skills, I’d love to give you tips sometime. Bring your notepad; I’m sure you’ll need to take copious notes.”
Dani’s [POV]
“I don’t get the logic. We’re being given detention because we’ve been busted kissing, but the punishment is putting us together in an empty room? Which genius came up with that?” Damon asks.
We got detention after our stunt yesterday, of course. When I got home, my parents lectured me for an hour. My father was a bit too calm; I’m afraid he was plotting something. He has instructed Paul to trail behind me during every single break and lunch. I have this horrible sense of foreboding that more is to come. At any rate, this is the first I’ve been alone with Damon today. We’re in one of the school’s study rooms. It has three long rows of tables and one leather couch, on which we’re both sprawled lazily.
“The teacher’s room is next door, Damon. A teacher passes by every ten minutes, and that’s a glass window. They can see what’s going on inside.”
“And that would stop us because…?”
“We don’t want to get into even more trouble?” I suggest, unable to contain the sarcasm.
“I’d say we’re being rewarded. If it weren’t for this detention, I wouldn’t get to be alone with you at all today,” he says. My heart constricts and I fidget in my spot uncomfortably. How long before Damon realizes I’m too much trouble and moves on? There is no shortage of girls who’d love to fall into his lap. They’d have no problems meeting with him after school, going on dates, or even spending the night with him.
“Let’s not get into more trouble,” I say. I don’t know how to explain my suspicion that my father is preparing a nasty surprise for us without appearing paranoid or scaring him off. At that precise moment, the music teacher glances into the room, her eyes lingering on us for a few seconds.
I sigh. “I can use this time to prepare my speech for Rhetoric & Public Speaking class.”
“That’s not until Thursday,” Damon points out.
“Yeah, I know, but I’m a mess when I have to speak in front of the class. I have to rehearse the speech tens of times, so I don’t look like a complete idiot.”
Damon scans me. “It’s true; you tend to lose yourself a bit when you have to speak in front of the class.”
“You noticed, huh?”
“Kind of hard to miss it. What makes you so nervous?”
“I don’t know. I’m self-conscious that I’ll say something stupid or that my body language is awkward, and everyone will laugh at me.”
“Ah,
this is where not giving a damn about what everyone else thinks about you comes in handy.” He smirks, clearly referring to himself. “Why don’t you practice in front of me?”
My eyes widen at the horrifying proposal, and I try to put him in the spotlight again. “I’ve seen you; you’re good at it, no need to brag. You can pull an entire speech out of your ass, can’t you? You’re just like James. Parker tells me he would show up to class in high school without homework or any idea what was going on, but he was so overconfident the teachers believed he knew the lesson backward.”
“Who’s Parker?”
“My cousin. He and James went to school together. Parker lives in-”
Damon holds up a hand with a tsk-tsk. “You’re trying to distract me from the fact that I asked you to rehearse in front of me.”
“That’s not gonna happen, Damon. I’ll read it until I memorize it while we’re here, and when I’m home, I’ll rehearse it in front of the mirror.”
“You’re not going to get over your fear of public speaking if you only practice alone.”
“Well, that’s my way of confronting my fear.”
“That’s running away from it, not confronting it,” he says.
I ponder his words. In the recesses of my mind, I realize he’s right, but I’m still not about to make a fool of myself in front of him.
“You’re going to rehearse this now. Go over there and start talking.” He watches me with a determined glare.
“Well, you’re bossy.”
“Oh, you have no idea how bossy I can be.” There’s a sizzling energy in his voice that sends ripples through me. “Come on.”
I pick up the tablet with my essay and go to the front of the room. My palms clam with sweat the second I start reading from my tablet, and I pull at the silver bracelet on my left wrist. I keep my gaze on the tablet, only raising it occasionally to eye the door and even the window, wondering if I can escape.
I don’t look at Damon at all until he interrupts me, saying, “You can’t ignore the audience, Dani. I know you already know that speech by heart; you don’t have to glue your eyes to your tablet. Look at me.”
I draw a deep breath, raising my eyes ever so slightly. I pull at the bracelet on my wrist harder, wincing when the silver cuts into my skin.
“You’re doing great. Go on,” he beckons.
Encouraged by his words, I start speaking again, making frequent eye contact. I expect him to start smirking at some point, or laugh at my ideas, but he doesn’t. My stomach loosens, as do the muscles in my limbs. I’m smiling by the time I finish.
“Now, that wasn’t so bad.” Damon grins.
“It was much better than usual. But it’s just you and me here. As soon as there are more people, my tongue will turn to stone, and I’ll get all sweaty.”
“So pretend it’s just you and me.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“You’re right.” He sinks further down the couch, his grin growing even wider. “We have to make you think you’re alone with me.”
“How do we do that?”
“I know! Give me your panties.”
I do a double-take, heat creeping up my face. “No, I won’t.”
“I can be persuasive.”
“I’m not walking like that in front of the class.”
Damon strides to me with such determination, that I’m convinced he’ll strip me naked. But when he reaches me, he merely pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“Okay, but you’ll wear the red scarf I gave you. And get that bracelet off; you’ll cut yourself.”
“That’s a fair deal,” I murmur, watching him remove the bracelet.
“You have a way with words.”
“Yeah, written words. Speaking them is the tricky part. Thanks for doing this. I needed it. You can read my mind.”
He traces a circle on my wrist with his finger, making my heart swoop. He looks intently at my hand, his brow furrowed as if he’s trying to figure out what to say next. “I can’t. But just like you can feel when I need a swim to cool off… I can tell what you need, Dani.” My insides turn to jelly. “Right now, you need more confidence.” He’s right, of course. I mean, I know my strengths, but sometimes I do feel like I’m my worst enemy when it comes to championing myself.
“You are a smart, beautiful woman,” he says.
“I’m not a woman yet.” Swallowing hard, I fidget with my hands. Damon’s eye glint and the intensity of his stare spears me, fire traveling through my veins.
“I’ll enjoy making you one. And you’ll like it so much, you’ll become addicted to it.”