Page 16 of Brighter Shades of Light
With just a look, he had done something to me. His gaze was like a sparkplug, firing my synapses the way an electrical spark fired the gasoline in an internal combustion engine. His green eyes ignited a deep desire within me, kick starting my heart.
It seemed to beat differently now.
Chapter 5
Sebastian
Cody seemed different this morning, not only because he was in his uniform. It was the manner in which he carried himself whilewearingsaid uniform. He sat up straighter, held his head higher. He created his own energy field, drawing in those around him.
Drawing me in.
Just as the thought entered my mind, he looked at me and our gazes locked. Beautiful eyes set into a perfectly-symmetrical face, a straight nose that led to a thin upper lip and a full bottom one, and a sharp jawline. The oddest of sensations struck then, and I felt as though tiny bolts of electricity were traveling through my veins and heating me from the inside out.
I looked away.
My lecture notes were laid out on the podium, and I read over them. However, the information was not being retained. I saw the words, yet my brain didn’t absorb them. Even with him out of sight, I saw Cody. More specifically, I felt him. Not a physical touch. It went deeper.
He intrigued me.
There was more, too. The same feeling that hit me the night I met Emily surfaced again with Cody. An indescribable responsiveness that attracted me to another person. No rhyme or reason to it. It was different with him, though I couldn’t say why or how.
With Emily, the feeling had been weak at most. I oftentimes wondered if I had settled by marrying her. At the time, I was thirty-three and had never been married. People constantly asked when I was going to settle down and start a family. My mother had guilt-tripped me, saying she was getting old and wanted to see her only son’s wedding before she passed.
Emily had been the logical choice, a woman with a good head on her shoulders and a stable career; someone kind and gentle. Simple.
Unlike Emily, though, absolutely nothing would come of my attraction for Cody. It was not only unprofessional, but inappropriate, as well. He was a twenty-one-year-old student, and I was his thirty-seven-year-old professor. Him being male didn’t matter. Gender was of no consequence to me.
I had experienced feelings for a man once before, stronger than I’d ever felt with anyone else, including Emily.
The clock hit nine, and I started the lecture.
“Good morning, class.” I regarded the students in the first row before looking behind them at the others, carefully avoiding one particular seat. “We have much to cover today, so I’m going to jump right into it if there aren’t any questions.”
I paused, giving them time to ask a question if they had one. When no one raised their hand, I continued, “Very well. I’ll begin. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. Can anyone tell me what that means? Perhaps give an example?”
Cody raised his hand, and my chest fluttered in response.
“Yes, Mr. Miller?”
“As the law states, energy can only be transferred,” Cody answered. “Turning on a light is an example. When you flip the switch, it seems like you’re creating the energy, when in reality, the electrical energy is being converted from elsewhere.”
“Excellent.” I moved on to the next slide in the presentation that gave a breakdown of the first law and how it worked.
The rest of class went as planned. I explained the first law more in depth, discussing energy, work, and heat, followed by evaluating properties of matter. When I reached the end of the PowerPoint, I was pleased to see I’d actually finished ahead of schedule.
“Please read over the next chapter about the second law of thermodynamics before Friday’s lecture,” I said as students began packing up. “And enjoy the rest of your day.”
Cody slipped his backpack over both shoulders, instead of draping it over one like I’d seen him do before. I wondered if it was a regulation for the program when in their uniforms. I also wondered why I’d noticed.
A clear sign I was more perceptive of him than I needed to be.
“Dr. Vale?” He stepped toward me, bringing his energy field with him. “I know I probably sound like a broken record by this point, but let me say sorry again for Monday. I bumped into you pretty hard. I hope you’re okay and I didn’t bruise you or anything.”
“I’m fine.” I touched my chest at the memory. “Please don’t worry about it. As I said, accidents happen.”
“Okay. Good.” Cody smiled, once again appearing both boyish and manly. Such an interesting combination. “I enjoyed the lecture today. Learned a lot, I think.”
“Mm. That’s nice.”
