Page 69 of The Naughty Professor
The crowd kept cheering, thinking it was all part of the act.I stood frozen under the lights, heart hammering, every nerve ending screaming in embarrassment.
The swagger drained out of me like air from a balloon.My muscles softened, my stance folded in.My confident smirk vanished, replaced by sheer horror.
And just like that, the room warped around me.Cheers turned into a dull roar, and the sweat cooling on my skin felt wrong.Heavy.Shameful.
Oh fuck.
I was Felix Sterling, professor of chemistry, and chronic overthinker.And I was standing almost-naked on a stage in front of a bunch of strangers.And oh shit, my students and co-workers too.
I tried to move, but my limbs felt foreign — like I’d been dropped into someone else’s skin.I could see the crowd’s faces now, not as Jax’s adoring fans, but as individual eyes — curious, confused, pitying.
I snuck a glance at Thorne, and his expression shifted from amusement to concern.
“Felix?”he mouthed.
I turned away and wanted to run.Every cell in my body screamed, hide.Slip out the back.Pretend that none of this happened.But I’d been doing that my entire life.Avoiding conflict, avoiding attention, avoiding being seen.
Because being seen meant being judged.
Being seen meant being hurt.
But something else stirred inside me — something that hadn’t been there before.A spark left behind by Jax.
For the first time, I was tired of being afraid.
I’d spent years apologizing for existing — in my classroom, with my family, and in my own damn skin.I was always polite, careful, and, damn it, invisible.
But not tonight.
Tonight, I was standing in a gold thong under a spotlight, and there was no place to hide.
I took a deep breath.My hands were shaking, but I raised one toward the DJ booth.The guy blinked at me, confused.I mimed cutting the music.
The bass faded, and the silence that followed was deafening.
Hundreds of eyes locked on me.My knees trembled, and my heart pounded.But I didn’t look away from them.
“Uh… hi,” I said, my voice cracking through the microphone.
A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd.Not cruel — just expectant.
“I, uh…” I cleared my throat.“This isn’t exactly how I planned to… conduct myself.”A weak chuckle escaped me.“Conduct.Chemistry joke.”
More laughter, and a few groans.
Okay.Okay, I could do this.
I straightened my spine, feeling the chill of the air against my bare skin.“You were expecting Jax — and, well, so was I.But I think… he’s gone for good.”
A murmur spread through the crowd.
“I’m Felix,” I said.“Dr.Felix Sterling.The boring one.The guy who grades your midterms and never dances, or has much to say.”
The absurdity hit me mid-sentence.“And apparently,” I added, “I’m also the guy who should never be left alone with a chemistry set and low self-esteem.”
I felt something loosen inside me — that tight, constant knot of fear.For once, I wasn’t performing or pretending.I was just… me.
“Here’s the thing,” I said, scanning the crowd.“I’ve spent most of my life afraid.Afraid of failure.Of rejection.Of being seen too much, or not enough.And somewhere along the way, I started thinking fear was safer than freedom.”
