by Q. B. Tyler
I moan and turn in his arms, bummed that this isn’t going to result in round-whatever when I notice he’s fully dressed in last night’s clothes. “Morning, beautiful.”
I press the back of my hand to my mouth to stifle a yawn. “You’re leaving? What time is it?”
“As much as I want to stay in this bed with your warm body that was rubbing up against me this morning, I gotta go. I have to take Chace to the airport in a few hours.” He points at my coffee table. “I made some coffee.”
Don’t tell him you love him, Sky.
“Thank you. For…the coffee and, you know, the great sex.”
He laughs and pulls out his phone. “Well, I would like to see you again…for more great sex.” He hands me his phone. “Can I have your number?”
I take his phone and add my number while he reaches for mine to add his. “You know if you find yourself bored later, you could always…come back?” I get out of bed and grab my robe off the back of the door, but not before hearing him groan as his eyes trail my naked body.
I look back at him and his eyes are still trained on my breasts even though I’ve now covered up. He gets off the bed and makes his way towards me. “As much as I would love that, I actually have to get ready for tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“First day.” He smiles as I follow him towards the door.
“You know, I don’t think I even know what you do.” I giggle and he presses a kiss to my lips.
“No, I don’t think we got to that. I took a teaching job at CGU.”
“Oh?!” There’s a tremor in my voice and I hear a slight squeak that I hope he misses. “What uh… what class or field…” I trip over my words, my body in full on panic mode that I might run into this man on campus after I’d lied about essentially everything.
“Jesus. One sec. What Chace?” he growls. “Yes, I’m coming. Hold your horses.” He hangs up and looks down at me.
“Oh…I can take you home? I have my car.”
“No, Chace drove my car. He’s downstairs, but thank you. Listen, I can bore you with all the details about work tomorrow over dinner?” He cups my cheeks with both hands and leans in to kiss me softly. “I had fun.”
“Me too.” I bite my lip as I think about how Aidan is going to blow a gasket when he finds out I’m a student at CGU.
Maybe I don’t have to tell him? I mean it’s a big school. He may never even know. There’s thirty thousand of us. What are the chances we’ll run into each other?
Even as I think the thoughts, I don’t believe them.
Life might go on…
But she could be a real bitch.
I jog down the stairs of Skyler’s building, the nerves of the night and this morning still running haywire. It took everything out of me not to tell Chace just to fucking Uber to the airport so I could stay holed up in Skyler’s bed with her all day, her sexy body pressed against—I huff in annoyance at the fact that I have to take this asshole to the airport.
Well, he is the reason you met Skyler.
Chace is parked out front, with every window down, blasting music out of my Wrangler. I approach the car and he’s grinning from ear to ear. “Can you turn that shit down? It’s early. And it’s Sunday.”
He turns the music down with a dramatic eye roll. “Awww, is Aidy boy cranky that he had to pull himself out of the hot Italian?”
“What did I tell you about calling her that?” I growl as I settle into the passenger seat. Before I was annoyed, but now I’m pissed. Skyler isn’t the hot Italian. Well, she is hot, but… He chuckles before he pulls his sunglasses from his face. “Bro, tell me you got laid.”
“Did you?” I ask. “Did you defile the bed in my guestroom?”
“Guestroom?” he snorts.
My head snaps to look at him. “If you fucked that girl in my bed, I’ll kill you.”
“Relax, your sheets are in the wash.” He waves me off.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Chace?”
“What?”
“You’re such a fucking dick.”
“Oh chill the fuck out.” He pulls away from her building and starts driving back to my apartment, which if I’m totally honest, I have no idea where it is. “So, did you smash or nah?”
I know if I don’t give him something he’ll literally be like a dog with a bone, and normally I wouldn’t mind indulging him, but Skyler feels…different. “We had sex,” I tell him as I rub a hand over my face. The fatigue of getting no sleep last night is catching up with me. Worth it though. “A lot of sex.” Skyler is undoubtedly the hottest girl I’ve ever fucked, and I swear her pussy felt like a vice was wrapped around my dick when I was inside of her. She gave head like she was made to do it, and her pussy tasted like sin and sex. I shift in my seat thinking about the way she rode my face this morning, her cum dribbling down my chin and sinking into my skin. Fuck, I still smell her on me.
“Finally! God, I knew all it would take is one night out with yours truly. James can go fuck himself.” He turns down a familiar street and I take note of how fast we got here from Skyler’s apartment. “So, you going to see her again?”
I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. “Tomorrow.”
“Word? A date?” He pulls into my garage and into my parking spot.
“We’re having dinner.”
“And by dinner you mean…” He makes the gesture for a blow job and I’m out of the car instantly. “Oh, come on, when did you get to be so uptight? Before the ice queen removed your dick from your body, you would have appreciated that. I thought when you guys broke up she gave you your balls back?” He follows me into my building.
“Because I’m not twenty fucking seven anymore. Excuse me for having just a bit of respect for women.”
“Oh God. Here we go.” He groans as we enter my apartment.
“What?”
“You’re going to get all weird and scare this girl off. I can already tell.”
“No, I’m not.”
“C’mon it’s just us. Lay off. I’m not asking what her cunt tasted like in fucking front of her. Get that stick out of your ass before I knock it out. I made a few jokes about fucking her and you’re ready to have a fit. I know it’s been a while since you’ve been in the game, but just…keep it chill. You don’t have to be so intense.”
“I am chill.”
“And she’s your rebound! I know how you think. Don’t pin all your hopes and dreams on this young girl, Aidan. You’ll just get hurt. She’s here to have fun, not take the Reed name.”
“I’m not trying to marry her, Jesus Chace. I’ve done the casual sex thing.”
“Alright. Just…be careful, bro. Don’t go too hard, too fast.” He pauses. “Well…you know what I mean.” He smirks and raises his eyebrows up and down at his innuendo.
I heed Chace’s warnings. My natural response to what happened last night is to text Skyler. Ask her how her day is going and maybe what color her panties are. I don’t and now it’s the next day. I would never say this to Chace, but I haven’t stopped thinking about her since I left her apartment yesterday morning and it irritates me more than I care to admit that I didn’t talk to her again last night. Don’t come on too strong. Be aloof, Chace told me.
Did that shit really work? Or did she just think I was ghosting her? But if I texted her, then I was too intense? God, the line was so blurry, I didn’t know which side I was standing on. I stare at the ceiling, waiting for my alarm to go off and my dick to go down, making me wonder if I should just go ahead and jack off, when I hear the sounds of a text message notification. I turn my head to my phone wondering who the hell is texting me at 7 AM. My eyes snap open further when I see the message.
Skyler: Have a good first day! No dad jokes, and you’ll be fine.
I am the furthest thing from a morning person, and the fact that she got me to crack a smile before the sun had fully risen has to be some kind of miracle.
Aidan: I do not make dad jokes! I don’t r
emember you doing a whole lot of laughing Saturday night.
Skyler: True. But you seem like the kind that might crack one when you’re nervous hehe
Aidan: I am not nervous. I’ve done this before, I’ll have you know.
Skyler: In Boston?
Aidan: Mmmhmm
Skyler: What made you come here?
Aidan: I haven’t had coffee yet. Too early for that conversation. Why are you up so early anyway?
Skyler: Class at 8
What grad student chooses a class at 8 AM? When I was in grad school, I planned it so I only had class three days a week and my days didn’t start until eleven. Rookie mistake.
Aidan: Woof. Sounds like the worst idea ever. You never did tell me what you were studying anyway?
Skyler: Criminal Justice
Aidan: No shit? That’s what I’m teaching at CGU. I knew I liked you.
Well, at least I knew we had things in common besides our obsession with each other’s genitals. I’d studied Criminal Justice in undergrad, Social Justice in grad school, and got my doctorate in Criminal Justice. Once I realized that I had no interest in going to law school, I’d spent some time working at a non-profit in Boston. Something Corinne hated. There was little to no money in it, and she had wanted a very expensive ring. Harvard had wanted my knowledge. I’d been published in over a dozen textbooks and co-wrote a book with my mentor two years before, so I had the skills, but I didn’t exactly have the passion to teach a bunch of eighteen year olds who didn’t give a fuck about much other than getting the A and just regurgitating the words I’d spoken. Nevertheless, I pressed on, and I actually didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would.
I look at my phone and notice she hasn’t responded. Chace would probably be rolling his eyes at me right now.
Aidan: Have a good day. I’ll text you later about dinner.
“Fuck.” I toss my phone on my bed as I scramble to finish getting ready for class. I’d put off messaging him all day yesterday, knowing I’d needed to figure out just what he was teaching, but I was too much of a chicken to do it. I pull on my gray leather jacket over a white t-shirt and slide my sunglasses into my hair. I slip my feet into flats and do a spin in the mirror, taking in my outfit. I look down at my bare legs, extending from a black mini-skirt, and I am pleased that I still have a good tan.
There’s a knock at my door and I call towards it. “It’s open, Peyton!” I’d offered to drive her to campus today because one, I didn’t know exactly where to go or where to park, and two, Peyton had actually grown on me.
“I brought coffee!” Oh, and she offered to bring coffee. “Even though I believe it was you, Bella, that was supposed to bring me coffee for getting you some hot sex with Boston Hottie!” She shoots me a look as she hands me a cup of the steaming liquid that I pray will make me feel better.
I ignore her comment, because right now despite the hot sex I had, I could strangle her for getting me into my current predicament. “He’s a fucking Criminal Justice professor. I’m going to have him as a professor, I just know it!” I shriek as soon as she enters my bedroom.
“Well, isn’t this just a comedy of errors?” Peyton shakes her head and plops down on my bed, pressing the paper cup to her lips as she stifles a giggle.
“Peyton, this isn’t funny. He is going to fucking lose it. Why did I listen to you about changing my age?! He wouldn’t have paid me a second look if he knew I was nineteen.”
“What makes you think that? You’re hot, Sky. Like really hot. AND guys like younger girls. The closer you are to jailbait the better.” She points at me.
I scrunch my nose and shake my head. “Aidan isn’t like that.”
“Oh, and you know that because of all the time he spent inside of you? You’re right, Sky, he fucked a girl he just met on the first night, on his first weekend in a new city, from an app he joined for the sole purpose of casual sex…” She gives me a thumbs-up. “He really gives a fuck that you lied about your age.”
“He’s going to care when I show up in his class!”
“Then you transfer out.” She rolls her eyes and blows her hair from her eyes. “You’re being really dramatic, and I haven’t finished this cup yet.”
“I’m going to shit my pants if I have him as a teacher.”
“Don’t you have like a schedule or something?” I hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Why don’t you just check?”
“Brilliant! But I don’t know his last name.” I grab my schedule from my bag.
“His first name should still be on there.” I sit on my bed scanning my schedule and I breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t see Aidan listed anywhere on my schedule. “See you’re panicking for nothing. So, he’s teaching in your major but it doesn’t mean you’ll have him.”
“You’re right, and I’ll tell him tonight at dinner. And if he hates me and never wants to see me again, at least I can rest assured that I won’t have to face him every day.”
“Exactly. Now, come on, the parking lot is a traffic jam in the mornings.”
I’d gotten through two classes already, my heart pounding out of my chest through the first ten minutes of each just waiting for Aidan to manifest. By noon, I was starting to calm down, knowing that, one, I’d be getting lunch with Peyton soon, and two, I might make it through the day without any run-ins. I’ve even opted for a seat in the second row of the sixty person lecture. In the other two classes, I’d sat in the back, something I hated, but I was so worried he’d show up, I knew I needed an escape method, or at least to be able to hide behind someone tall. But I prefer to sit in the front. I’m not thrilled about being back in school, but I’ll admit I was a teacher’s pet. A girl sits next to me, dropping her bag on the floor and begins to fluff her red wavy hair in a compact mirror. “So, what do you think he’ll look like?”
I look around wondering who she’s talking to. “I beg your pardon?”
“The new professor. I hear he’s gorgeous.”
“Wh—what?”
“There’s a change in the syllabus, didn’t you get the email last week?” She doesn’t look at me, as she has now taken out a tube of lipstick and has begun reapplying.
“Umm… no? I mean…I don’t think so? I was having an issue with my emails until this morning.” My heart begins to race in my chest. I was almost home free. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Ah, well the initial professor had a conflict in the schedule or his wife had a baby or something. Anyway, we have a new professor.”
My heart races at her words. “And…”
“And word on the street is he’s gorgeous. Like, total babe.”
“Do…do you know his name?”
“Ummm, I’m blanking.” She pulls her phone out. “I’m Lily.”
“Sk—Skyler,” I stutter, my body slowly shutting down as it braces for impact. Oh my God. Oh my God. I turn around in the class and notice that the seats are all starting to fill up. Maybe I should just leave before he gets here. I start to stand when the door opens and the object of my fantasies for the past day and a half comes strutting into the room looking even better than he did on Saturday. I immediately plant myself back in my seat just as I hear a “hot as fuck” fall from Lily’s lips.
I put a hand over my eyes and turn away from him as much as I can. You gonna hide for fifty minutes, Sky?
The class is set up like an atrium, with each row of seats slightly higher than the one in front of it, and I’m grateful to be more off to the side so I’m not in his direct line of sight.
“Good afternoon everyone, I’m Doctor Aidan Reed and this is Social Justice 101. I realize that there’s a slight difference in the syllabus, but I do believe that everyone should have received the email that Professor Billings would not be your teacher this semester. If that serves to be a problem for anyone, please come talk to me. I promise, I’m a really nice guy. And I’ll probably let you turn your final in a day late.” He chuckles and everyone in the class cheers. Except me. I’m sweating in my seat, a
ctual beads of sweat form on my forehead, and I still haven’t looked at him. Even now, I can’t even enjoy the fact that the best sex of my life is within twenty feet of me.
“I don’t really have many rules. Be on time. Eating is fine. Computers are fine. Just be respectful of the people around you. Wherever you’ve chosen to sit is your seat for the semester so I hope you’re comfortable. I’m passing around a seating chart that I’ll pass around at the start of every class. Now, frankly, I don’t care if you come to class or not, but if you choose to come, there’s something in it for you. If you attend every class you can get up to five extra credit points at the end of the semester. Those points fluctuate if you miss a class.”
Great. No skipping.
“God, he’s hot, right?” Lily whispers and I don’t respond. God girl, hush! Don’t draw his attention over here. “I mean I’ve never had a hot teacher…do you think, he’ll offer office hours?” Back off bitch, my subconscious perks up.
Not fucking now! Aren’t I in enough trouble?
I still haven’t looked at her or even towards Aidan and my eyes are now screwed shut, willing the fifty minutes by faster.
“Do you have a question, miss?” Fuck. Don’t look. Do not look.
“Oh. Umm no. Sorry,” I hear Lily squeak out. You just couldn’t shut the fuck up.
“How about you, miss, trying to pretend she doesn’t know I’m talking to her.” He chuckles and the entire class snickers. My face flushes bright red as I prepare to meet my fate. I turn slightly, and when my eyes meet his, I have a flash of Saturday night. Writhing underneath him, screaming his name into the dark room. His mouth on me, his cock inside of me, his lips on mine. He must be having the same thoughts because his eyes widen and his mouth drops open though he recovers rather quickly, averting his gaze from mine. “Right, well, if no one has any questions, then we can proceed.”