Page 70 of The Naughty Professor
The crowd had gone quiet now.
I took a shaky breath.“But you know what?Fear’s exhausting.And hiding — it doesn’t protect you.It just keeps you small.”
My throat tightened.“So yeah.I made a serum that turned me into Jax.The kind of man I thought I wanted to be — bold, loud, unashamed.But maybe… maybe what I really needed was to stop apologizing for being myself.”
Silence and looks of confusion stared back at me.
Thorne hadn’t looked away.His glass sat forgotten, his eyes locked on me like he was trying to work out an equation he’d never seen before.
Before I could talk myself out of it, my feet were moving.I stepped off the stage and stood in front of him.
“I’ve had a crush on you, Thorne, since the day we met,” I blurted.My voice cracked.“Four years ago.I was too scared to say anything then, and apparently, the only way I could ever tell you was while half-naked and possibly violating several university ethics codes.”
Someone coughed.
I ran a hand through my hair, laughing shakily.“This is the real me.I’m not some crazy, sexy dancer, or even particularly coordinated.”I gestured toward my glitter-coated chest.“I’m just a geeky chemistry professor who doesn’t know how to flirt without a formula.”
A ripple of nervous laughter rolled through the audience.
I swallowed.“Can we go on a date?You know—no personas, no masks, no glitter.Just us.Me and you?”
For a heartbeat, no one breathed.Then Thorne stood up slowly, deliberately, as if the world might break if he moved too fast.His expression softened.
“Felix,” he said, voice low but carrying.“Come here.”
He opened his arms.
The crowd gasped as I stepped forward and into his arms.We didn’t speak for a long moment, just looked at each other, and I saw the faintest smile curve his lips before he leaned in and kissed me.
The crowd erupted.Whistles, applause, and someone yelled, “ABOUT DAMN TIME!”
And then—
A shriek of feedback split the air.
A woman’s voice yelled out: “Oh, honey, I live for a dramatic confession, but enough with the foreplay—let’s give the audience a show!”
I turned just in time to see her.
She came strutting down the stage like a raging storm in stilettos: black hair cascading in glossy waves, eyes rimmed in liquid smoke, wearing nothing but a bedazzled bra, matching panties, and a pink feather boa that swirled behind her like a comet tail.
Juniper?
Her skin shimmered under the lights.She looked half-angel, half-succubus, and ready to seduce the crowd.
She snatched the microphone from my hand with a manicured flourish.“Name’s Lux, boys and girls,” she said, tossing her hair.“And clearly, this party needs a woman’s touch.”
The crowd roared.
Lux winked at the DJ booth.“Hit it, sweetheart!”
The music exploded back to life, bass thrumming through the floor.Thorne’s arms were still around me as Lux took center stage, and the crowd screamed like the night had just begun again.
Thorne looked at me with confusion in his eyes.“Do you know her?”
I sighed.“It’s… complicated.”
Epilogue
