Off Limits: A College Romance Novel Read online

  "Sorry, you said Natalie, right? I'm TJ."

  "Right," Natalie answered with a nod and a somewhat lazy smile while they began to walk together. Despite her rather inebriated state, she had finally begun to take notice of how particularly handsome her knew companion was. Perhaps his being thirty might have meant something to her had she not been drinking that night, but at the moment, such a thing was completely negligible to her. "I'm eighteen. Bet you feel like a total babysitter right now," she laughed.

  TJ slowed. She wasn't only in college, but a freshman. There was suddenly quite a bit of uncertainty in his step and he glanced over his shoulder before looking back to her. Studying her now, he saw how truly young she really was. She wasn't a senior... wasn't even a junior. This girl was just as young as the students he taught! -and at that very school!

  "...what's your major?" God help him if she said creative writing.

  "History," she stated with an unnecessary sense of pride in her response along with an accomplished grin before she promptly picked up her step, hurrying a bit to keep up with his pace. "Stop walking so fast," she laughed accusingly and reached for his arm to tug back on the sleeve of his coat gently.

  He could just see the column in some trash magazine with a photo of the two at the top announcing a professor's inappropriate behavior and some drunken freshman. He weakly smiled and slowed in his pace, swallowing as he forced his eyes to the ground when he felt them trailing down her body where she walked beside him.

  He had always considered himself rather good at politely ignoring young girl's crushes on him when he taught, but this wasn't a student of his... and it wasn't as if she had a crush on him. This was quite different.

  "I think I'm starting to get cold," Natalie announced casually, though with a bit of a shiver as she slid her hands into the pockets of the thin jacket she wore. "Going out tonight was a really shitty idea now that I think about it," she sighed heavily, allowing her breath to leave her in a white cloud as her head fell back tiredly on her shoulders.

  "Bit of a sailor's mouth on you, huh?" TJ offered, finally giving into an actual conversation as he continued to speak with his eyes on the ground and his peripheral vision on her pocketed hands. "First time living away from your family, I suppose... You go out every weekend, I bet." And truthfully, a girl like her probably wouldn't even go broke in the first semester as most students did. With her looks, she wouldn't have to buy herself a thing.

  "Mostly," she answered with an amused smile over his assumptive remark as she lifted her head from her shoulders and stared aside at him. "But I've never seen you at that bar."

  TJ dug his own hands into his pockets into small fists, smirking to himself as he shook his head at his own response before he uttered it. "I'll be there again," he said with certainty, but inside he wanted to stop making a fool of himself. You can't be serious...

  Natalie's smile widened a bit but soon enough, she had to ask, a hint of a teasing tone in her otherwise relaxed voice, "Yeah? With your girlfriend..?"

  Groaning mentally, TJ offered a short shake of his head. He hadn't thought it worth correcting before, but now that they were sharing more than a ten minute cab ride...

  "No girlfriend," he offered, glancing over to her with his brows raised and his stare serious though calm. He knew he would be questioned on it due to what she'd said earlier, but the bottom line was that Ashlee Kane was not his girlfriend.

  "Huh," Natalie commented in amused acceptance as she turned forward with a smile she didn't bother to try controlling.

  Similarly, TJ turned forward with a roll of his eyes, not even bothering to conceal the disbelief he had in himself for even just the thoughts he was having. His smile was wide and he leaned his head aside as he continued to stare forward, speaking with a sigh. "...You know, you don't know a thing about me. You really shouldn't trust strangers. - and you told me where you live."

  "And..?" she prompted with a quiet laugh as she watched the side of his face with a calm stare. If she had been sober, she would most definitely have realized how inappropriate her obvious flirting was.

  He pulled back with a laugh at her behavior and inhaled through his teeth before shivering just slightly due to the cold. Clearing his throat, he shook his head before smiling over at her briefly. "And nothing," he offered finally, hoping it would appease her. "Hey-" he said shortly, having to quickly reach out to catch her elbow sharply to keep her from attempting to cross the street without the light. A large city bus passed them doing a steady thirty beside the curb where she had attempted to step and he sighed heavily.

  Though it took a few delayed moments for her to react, she soon realized what had nearly just happened and she let out a startled breath as she looked to him in dazed surprise. "Wow." Yet then, she began to laugh, "... that would have made going out tonight an even shittier idea." Could her humorous outlook really be blamed that evening? "Good thing I had you around to save me," she added in a lower voice and with an ever-present smile before she turned to step off the curb after properly looking both ways.

  Gritting his teeth over the stubborn, drunken, and clumsy girl, TJ followed since it seemed there was little else he could do. After almost getting herself killed, he had to accompany her home and see to her safety.

  "So, TJ, what is it you do for a living?" she asked suddenly, clasping her frozen hands behind her back as they again began to walk side-by-side.

  He was definitely not about to tell her he taught at the very university she attended (his ego wouldn't allow for her laughter) and so he looked over at her and then ahead the single block they had left. "I write," he supplied. It wasn't a lie in any form; teacher by day and writer by night as well as weekend and holiday, TJ Miller was a published author (though as it stood merely in magazines and newspapers).

  It was an unexpected answer to hear and she slowed a bit, looking over at him with interest. "Oh, yeah? Write what? Books? Or for the newspaper or something?" He certainly seemed to at least know what he was doing with his life, as opposed to the numerous idiots she'd been entertaining at the bar that evening and many prior evenings as well.

  "Both. But mostly magazines," he admitted as he watched her. Most people didn't have the kind of reaction she did and it was a nice change. "Here, sorry," he said as he stupidly realized his hand had been curled in his pocket around a pair of gloves. There wasn't much of a walk left, but it would be nice to offer them.

  Natalie's eyes followed his arm down to his hand where he offered her a pair of gloves and silently (though obviously grateful), she accepted them and began to ease them onto her hands. "Little big," she pointed out with a laugh, yet before she could say much more, her eyes caught sight of something white floating just past TJ's shoulder and a brief glance above to the overhead street lights greeted her with the returning sight of snow. "Look," she pointed out. Though almost every New Yorker was sick of snow by then, Natalie had yet to get her fill. "I love that it snows so much here in the winter. I mean, in West Virginia it snows too, but it's like this one big storm a year and we rarely get over three inches... Here it just keeps coming."

  Hearing that she was from so far made TJ listen a little more closely to her speak. The faintest trace of an accent was audible in some of the words she spoke and he smiled at that fact. "I'd prefar once a month," he replied honestly. "Bad weather in the city makes it hard," he shrugged. The worse the weather, the worse the traffic and when it was congested, it was harder to get around.

  "...Which building are you in?" he asked, motioning down the street as they came to a stop at the corner. There were only two buildings housing students for that particular college, but the street they stood on rested between the two.

  "You know there's two dorm buildings?" she laughed, though nodded for them to head to the right to get to the building she lived in - the building with apartments rather than doubles and singles.

  He supposed it was the simplest of things and she might not catch it in her drunken state, but she might be eve
n smarter than he thought. Saying nothing about it, rather following her to the building's entrance, TJ held his tongue.

  Natalie slowed as they reached the entryway to the tall apartment building and turned to face him with a laugh, beginning to pull off his gloves at the fingertips to return them to him. "You've safely escorted me back to my building," she joked, reaching out to hand him the gloves she'd borrowed for the past block.

  TJ stepped closer, reaching out to take them with a nod of thanks. "That I have," he replied with a smile. She was probably a rather nice girl when sober (she was pleasant when drunk, even). "You've got your student ID and everything..?"

  She hadn't brought a purse out that evening, or barely any money for that matter, and she reached into the back pocket of her jeans to fish out her ID, holding it up as her answer. "All set. Thanks for the four block cab ride too," she joked before leaning up without warning to kiss his cheek in thanks despite her amused laughter.

  TJ grew still before laughing as he accepted the kiss on the cheek and instincitvely reached out to gently brush her covered shoulder with his hand as he nodded. "Sure... you'll sleep that off, no problem?"

  "I don't get hangovers. Lucky me, right?" she answered, rolling her eyes as she turned, yet failed to realize just how close to the entrance doors she'd been standing in the first place. As she walked directly into the doors, she stumbled back and began to laugh harder than before as she lifted a hand to the corner of her forehead - right where she'd bumped it.

  "Oh my- Damn, are you all right?" he asked in disbelief, quickly moving forward to steady her by her arm as he took hold of her and turned her to face him. Squinting lightly, he eyed her forehead before sighing and (albeit with a quickening pulse), he reached for the door that was open since her card was waved over the sensor and he opened it and ushered her inside.

  "What? You don't find this funny?" she asked through her lingering laughter, rubbing at the corner of her forehead with the heel of her palm with a brief wince. "Ow... I must've really nailed my head on that door." On the plus side, they would both soon be a great deal warmer from the heated foyer of the apartment building and she sighed as she wandered over to the elevator to press the call button.

  The building lobby wasn't particularly warm with the door being opened and closed so frequently, but the lack of wind was enough to let his shoulders drop. As he stood close to the elevator with her, he felt increasingly awkward. There was somone at the front desk, a student no doubt, but their attention was on a laptop and since those that came and went had an ID, they didn't seem to care to look up. Though it eased his mind, he didn't feel comfortable at all. He knew he should have excused himself, but she had just hit her head. "...You have ice or something?" he asked awkwardly.

  Natalie turned to lean back against the wall beside the elevator doors tiredly, her hand still gently rubbing at the corner of her forehead. "I feel like this would hurt a lot more if I hadn't been drinking..." she groaned, ignoring his question though it wasn't purposeful.

  "All right, let me see," he sighed and stepped forward, close to her as he reached up to gently take her wrist and lower it from her forehead. He tilted his head, staring down at her as he surveyed what he saw to be a small bump forming. "You'll live," he whispered gently with a growing smile.

  "I don't know..." she mumbled in amusement as she squinted up at him playfully. "I might have a concussion."

  He reached up and took her cheeks in hand, squishing her face with a laugh since he simply couldn't help himself. "Looks fine to me."

  She pouted despite his hand and narrowed her eyes rather than squint. "Mhm."

  He lessened the hold he had and instead let his thumbs brush her cold cheeks. "You'll be fine," he assured her before letting his hands fall and he slipped them into his pockets as he looked to the elevator door which opened with a harsh ding.

  A lazy smile once again appeared on her lips, reminding them both of her drunken state, and with a low laugh, she nodded and pushed herself away from the wall as the doors to the elevator opened. "Night," she told him as she stepped into the elevator and turned to hit the button for the fifteenth floor.

  With a weak smile, TJ stood there awkwardly as the doors began to close and he half nodded in response. His lips parted to say something and his features crinkled just slightly as he smiled and shot a hand out suddenly, causing the doors to cease and open once more. Now with the elevator waiting for another passenger, TJ laughed low in his throat as he took a slow step forward to join her and kept a hand out behind him to keep the doors from closing all the way. "...But if you did have a concussion..." he began, his smile turning to a light grin. "I think I'd feel better if I left you in the care of your roommates."

  Momentary surprise crossed Natalie's features as she watched his hand shoot out between the doors but as he stepped inside the elevator with her, she leaned her shoulder against the wall with a quiet laugh. Her alcohol-soaked mind wasn't about to remind her of his age or of how inappropriate such a gap between them would be and so she simply stood there, her smile widening slowly with a shrug of acceptance.

  Nodding in surprise, TJ turned slowly and seeing which button was illuminated from her selection, he pressed it again to cause the doors to slide closed. Backing up, TJ leaned against the wall beside her with his hands against the metal bar behind him as the elevator began its ascent. They had a few dozen floors to climb, but TJ knew courage was seldom and fleeting. His arm brushed hers and he simply waited for a reaction, curious if she was merely a drunken flirt or she found herself as strangely attracted to him as he found himself to her.

  Natalie's eyes lifted as she felt his arm brush her own and with the same smile, she bit her lip and shifted her attention to the digital readout to watch as the number continued to climb with each new floor. Her night was turning in a rather unexpected direction but could her interest in him be helped? He hadn't once tried to grope her or said one rude remark since they'd met and to top it all off, he was very attractive. "My head's pounding a little," she commented casually.

  "Yeah?" he questioned, grateful for the reason to turn to look at her as he not only glanced, but turned his entire body to face her. Leaning with a hand against the bar at his hip, he reached out casually to the side of her face to place a knuckle beneath her chin and turn her face to his. Of course this motion should have been followed with an observation of her forehead, but all too quickly his attention shifted over her features and soon, her lips.

  It was a strange feeling to be attracted to this young girl as he was to women closer to his own age. Never before had TJ had such a strong desire to take things further than mere conversation with an attractive student. He knew his boundaries, but this girl wasn't his student (technically) and she hadn't at all said a thing about his age.

  He gave up on arguing it, on lamenting over all the many things that told him to stop and opted to focus on the single thing that caused him to end up with her at all. She's adorable and you want to kiss her. No sooner had he thought it had he leaned down and lightly pressed their lips together.

  Natalie only realized that she'd been hoping for a kiss from him until nearly a full two seconds after the soft presence of his lips against her own finally registered to her sluggish consciousness. Her eyes slowly closed as she relaxed back against the wall of the elevator with a content sigh from her nose and blindly reached out to hook her fingers into the pockets of his coat.

  The light presence of her thin fingers hooking onto the pockets of his coat registered to him and soothed his unease. Perhaps a kiss wasn't so out-of-the-question as he had thought. Afterall they'd had a nice evening walk, despite her tired and drunken state, and the conversation had been entertaining enough. Though part of him nagged that she was drunk, he didn't think any harm could come from a kiss.

  The elevator was still climbing and so was his courage. Inching closer still, the hand he had on the bar behind him slid until it was just behind her lower back and it came lightly against the th
in jacket she wore, his other hand still positioned gently beneath her chin as his lips brushed hers again gently, daring to coax her lips apart as he kissed the young girl.

  Natalie felt as if she was in a haze - alcohol-induced, but nevertheless a pleasant one - and without hesitation, she slowly drew her arms back until her elbows came against the elevator wall, in turn drawing TJ closer by his pockets until a mere inch or two separated their bodies. Though they new bits of information about one another, they were still practically strangers... but Natalie couldn't bring herself to care. She parted her lips against his, withdrawing altogether for a teasing moment of hushed laughter and then leaned further into the kiss than she had been before.

  Though disbelief was present over how the night had turned out, TJ was more concerned with using the fleeting minute or so worth of time he had left with her in a memorable way. How could he think he would ever see her again?