The Love Hack

Chapter 22

"Slow down," Tom said breathlessly in between kisses. "I won't be able to... keep my promise." Despite his words, Tom reciprocated her urgency and twisted his tongue against hers.

Lexi had never done drugs in her life, but Tom's lips on hers were calling that status into question. The firm, yet soft lips she was sucking on were her new drug of choice and she had no intention of giving them up anytime soon. "Tom, I want you," Lexi whispered after a brief pause. Her fingers snaked their way to the back of his head and she scrunched his short hair through them. He let out a quiet moan as they both deepened the kiss.

After a moment, he gently pushed Lexi away from him, keeping his hands firmly on the sides of her neck. Both stared at each other, breathing hard. "Christ, you don't realize how much I want you." He slowly trailed his hands down, grazing Lexi's breasts, and settling them on her waist. Her ovaries nearly leaped out in the process. "I just made the promise, though. I can't break it in the first minute."

A part of Lexi's brain told her he was right. Not only had he promised her, she had made a promise to herself. Yet, at that moment, there was an even louder voice that was screaming for his touch in every way possible. She grabbed his hand and led him to one of the luxury recliner chairs. Her heart beat wildly as she prompted him to sit down in front of her. He did so, still breathing rapidly and with curiosity in his expression. Lexi had no clue what the mechanics of what she was about to attempt involved, but it was the first thought that came to her. She dropped to her knees, brushed her hair to the side, and reached for his belt.

Tom's eyes grew wide and he quickly caught her hand before she was able to undo any of the belt buckle. "Fuck. As tempting as that is, I'm not going to let you do that right now! Especially not here!" He quickly leaned forward and with ease, pulled her up to sit on his lap. Lexi let out a small yelp as he did so and settled herself on him. "If you want me to stay true to my word, you have to make it easier on me. Can you do that for me, Hannah?"

Lexi's smile faltered as soon as her fake name landed on her ears. The weight settling itself on her chest seemed to physically press against her heart and wake her up from the daze she was in. She was opening herself up to a man who didn't even know her real name. A man who was risking his job for a student who wasn't technically a student. He was risking everything to be with her, and for what? For a liar and a coward.

"Hey," Tom said softly, bringing his hand up to her cheek. "Why are you sad? Don't be sad."

"You could get fired, Tom."

Tom sighed and pulled Lexi forward to lean against him. He reclined the seat up and they settled next to each other with Lexi's ear against his chest and his arm cradled over her. The erratic beats of his heart were all Lexi could hear and she thought about how she wanted to hear that sound more often.

"I've thought a lot about it. And we've already crossed so many lines that it wouldn't make a difference at this point. I do need my job so if we want to try this out, we'd need to be discreet just for a semester. I tried waiting. Believe me. But I can't just sit by and watch you date other people. The best I could do was get a TA to grade for me so I try not to show any bias towards you and the other students."

Lexi shifted her head and looked up at him. He was staring up at the ceiling and the sharp angles of his jaw and cheekbones drew her gaze. "I'll wait, Tom. I won't date anyone. I just don't want you to get fired if a whiff ever got out. We'll start seeing each other once the semester is over." Even as the words left her mouth, her arms clung tighter around the man beside her. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep to that herself even if she tried.

He looked down at her and smiled. "Can I take you on a date next weekend?"

Lexi smiled softly. "That's the opposite of discreet. And we need to wait until the semester is done." Or until I'm able to solve the case. "This is too risky," Lexi said but made no effort to move from her position.

Tom nodded with a hint of disappointment on his face. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, sending a pleasant hum through her. "The trailers may be done any second now. As much as I hate to say this, Wes may be wondering where you are."

Lexi scrunched her nose. "Shoot. Let me text him so he doesn't end up calling a nine-one-one rescue party."

She pulled out her phone from her back pocket and saw that Wes had already texted about a minute ago asking if everything was alright. Her heart pricked slightly thinking about him waiting for her in the theater. She quickly began typing a response.

Tom shifted to try to peer over her screen. "Tell him you have really bad diarrhea."

Lexi giggled and continued to type out the message, letting Wes know she was needing some more time in the restroom and she would hopefully join him soon.

"Did you tell him?"

"Tell him what?" Lexi tucked her phone back into her pocket.

"That you have bad diarrhea and probably got Covid too."

Lexi laughed and settled her head back against Tom's chest. "No. I just let him know I'm freshening myself up for his advances."

Tom sat up abruptly with eyes wide. When it seemed to dawn on him that she was kidding, he smirked. "You think you're funny?" He began playfully tickling her and she tried shielding herself from the onslaught.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell him later," she said breathlessly and in between laughs.

"Good girl." Tom pulled her back to his chest and settled them back in the comfortable position on the recliner. He sighed. "Even if you told me those things, I'd still probably try to make a move on you." He paused before continuing. "Anyways, we should probably go." He made no effort to move even an inch. "Or maybe we could skip it and do something else together?"

"We can't, Tom. We shouldn't be doing this right now." Their eyes met each other and after a moment Tom sighed again and nodded, seemingly a large weight of thoughts running through his mind. Lexi wanted to talk through it but knew it would only be a continual reminder of the lies she was telling him. "Plus, if we miss this movie, we don't want to be inundated with spoilers online, right?" she asked in a more playful tone.

Tom laughed. "You're right. I practically had to drag Greg to come with me. I got lucky when the tickets went live and managed to get two of the best seats."

"I waited for ages and the site crashed. I didn't get anything."

"I hate it when that happens. How'd you manage to get tickets for tonight?"

Lexi shrugged. She had asked Wes how he was able to get them but he simply told her to not worry about it. "No clue. Wes may have connections or something. He had asked what I liked to do and then somehow got the tickets."

"Damn. I have to hand it to him. That's impressive."

Lexi giggled. "If you sat in these seats you'd be singing a different tune. They're just awful."

Tom smiled and Lexi could tell that he was pleased Wes hadn't swept her off her feet. He set the recliner down and they both adjusted themselves before heading out of the vacant theater. They decided that she would go in first and distract Wes while Tom made his way in.

Before she was able to walk in, Tom pulled her back. "If he tries anything funny, just switch with Greg."

"Like that won't be suspicious. I can handle myself, don't worry." Lexi made her way back to her seat and was relieved to see that the movie had only just started to showcase the introductory Marvel logo. Wes smiled warmly upon seeing her and asked if she was doing okay.

"Yes, so sorry about that. I guess what I ate wasn't sitting super well." She paused before adding, "It could be diarrhea so hopefully I won't have to make more trips."

Wes furrowed his brows. "Oh, damn. Sorry about that."

"Thanks. I'll just keep sipping my water bottle to stay hydrated." Lexi settled back into her seat and glanced over at Tom who was able to find his seat without drawing attention. She let out a breath and the movie roared to life.

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