All Chapters of Forbidden Lecture: My Professor's Secret Craving: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

By Friday afternoon, Aria’s nerves had reduced, but not all of them. Classes, shifts at the café, gala preps, a late-night call with her mum—it all blurred together into a busy week that kept her from thinking too hard about Sofia’s words.Tyler helped too.Every day, he texted something. Memes. A photo of his lunch. An unprompted “Did you drink water today?” that had made her friends call him “A keeper.”She stepped off the bus and into the warm, salted air of the beach. The sun was almost setting, turning the water into bands of gold.Aria adjusted the strap of her tote bag and looked around.Tyler was with a group, gathered near a cluster of rocks—a blanket spread out, a cooler half-buried in the sand, bags and shoes in a messy pile.He stood in the middle of them, his colorful T-shirt already streaked with sand, dark shorts hanging low on his hips, head tipped back, laughing at something one of the guys had said.There was an ease to him here that Aria didn’t always see on campus,

Monday came with that washed-out light that made everything on campus look a little pale, including Aria, since she'd been dreading how she was going to stand on her resolve.As usual, she headed to Jason's office with her laptop hugged to her chest for their morning T.A. meeting. She slowed down when she almost reached the door.She could hear both Ethan and Jason laughing. She adjusted her grip on her laptop, took a deep breath, and knocked.“Come in,” Jason called.“Good morning, Professor,” she said as she stepped inside, forcing her face to look neutral.Jason looked up at her, smiling and her breath hitched. She immediately dropped her gaze to the floor and moved to the seat beside Ethan.“Hey hey, good morning,” Ethan said, flashing her a quick grin. “You look like you didn't sleep all weekend.”If only you knew, Ethan.She laughed nervously. “I just haven't had my morning coffee. That's all.”She could feel Jason's eyes on her.“Let's get started,” he said, clearing his throa

“First, it started as a rumor,” Sofia said. “Then, it got messy. People chose sides before anyone knew the full story. The girl was the one who got eaten alive by it. Online, in class, everywhere. As for him, all he got was a stern talking to and a new posting. The end.”Aria’s stomach dipped, the nausea coiling low in her gut.“Maybe I'm wrong about the two of you,” Sofia said. “Or maybe I'm right. That’s your business. But I just know what it looks like when something is brewing, and the people inside it think they’re invisible.”She let that sit for a second, then tilted her head. “And you, love,” she said, “are very not invisible.”Aria’s throat felt tight. “I’m not—” she started, then stopped.There was no point pretending with someone who’d already said out loud what she’d spent every day trying to hide, but she wasn’t going to open up now. Especially not to a stranger.“As I said before,” Aria said carefully. “There’s nothing going on between us.”“Sure,” she said. “If that’s t

Jason hadn’t expected a reply to his email so quickly. He had only sent it the previous afternoon, and now, mid-morning, his phone buzzed on his desk.From: Dean HargroveCould you stop by my office today, 11:30?He checked the time. 11:08 A.M“Of course,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone, stood up, and grabbed his blazer.The walk to the Dean’s office felt longer than usual. His heart thudded in his chest with each step he took. He knocked on the door twice.“Come in,” Hargrove called.The Dean sat in one of the red couches in his office, his glasses low on his nose as he scrolled on his phone. He looked up with a faint, puzzled smile.“Jason,” he said. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”“No problem,” Jason said. He sat when Hargrove gestured to the chair beside him.“I got your email,” Hargrove said, wasting no time in diving into the matter. “About reassigning Ms. Jenkins.”“Right.”“Would you like to tell me what this is really about?” he asked. Jason forced a smal

“Yo!” Mia called as Aria got back to the cafe. “Why were you screaming like some psycho?”“Uh… nothing,” she said, feeling embarrassed. “I—uh—he forgot something.”The rest of her shift passed in a blur of orders and cleanup. Aria moved through it, feeling simultaneously too full and hollow.By the time it was almost closing time, her feet ached, and her mind buzzed with exhaustion.She quickly pulled out her phone and texted Tyler.