Falling For Her

by Mia Ford

  I set the computer on the table and took a long sip of wine. He’d offered to reheat the lasagna that his sister brought over for me, but I was pretty sure that we both felt a little ill about her running into me.

  I lowered my glass to see Liam looking at me and forced a smile. “You know, if she does think anything, it’s okay. Marie won’t say anything about this. She’s got my back.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked as he pressed his lips together.

  “She would ask me why I was doing this. I would tell her, and we’d work through it, but all Marie wants is for me to be happy.” Liam shrugged, and I licked my lips.

  “Are you? Happy?” My words hung in the air as his eyes softened.

  “I like you, Elena. I like spending time with you. I know that I can’t offer you anything substantial right now given the circumstances, but I don’t want to be finished with this quite yet.” It was both reassuring as well as heartbreaking.

  “If we’re still like this at the end of the semester, then what?” I asked as he ran a hand through his hair again.

  “I have never considered that, but I will. I suppose if we weren’t connected through any classes, nothing could be done. We’re adults, and we can consent to this. It just can never get back to anyone that this is how it started.” Liam explained as I drank more wine. “I just want to see what happens here, Elena. It is all new to me since I don’t usually date.”

  We stared at each other for a few moments as emotions rushed through me. Liam wasn’t ending this or throwing me out of the door. He was trying, so why did I want to cry? Liam took in my face before he pushed his laptop away and moved towards me on the couch. “Liam,” I murmured as he cupped my face and stared into my eyes. His lips covered mine, changing all the emotions into lust as my heart pounded in my chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him closer as he groaned. “I don’t want to lose this feeling, Elena.” It was just a whisper, but it filled me with warmth as our lips parted and our tongues met in a deep kiss.

  Liam dragged me to his bedroom, stripping me of my clothes in between hungry kisses. Somehow, the idea of us being caught was now a turn on, and I sensed it in him as well as he kicked off his jeans. We fell onto the bed together as he pressed my back to the mattress before rolling onto his back and holding me close. I felt his cock against my thigh, and my core ached with need as I started to move over him. Liam kissed me as his hand slid down to hold his cock as I moved down over him. He was thick as he filled me, making me cry out. We rocked together as sounds filled the air; moans and bodies slapping together. His teeth locked onto my nipple as he held me over him, angling his hips to slide in and out of me.

  I came first and cried out as he slid into my tight pussy, feeling him jerk into me with a sigh. He filled me, gripping my ass as he kept coming with me. Liam moved me onto my back, still inside of me as he took a deep breath and slowly pulled out. Heat dripped down my thighs as I moaned and dropped my arms to my side as he rested his head on my stomach.

  The room was dark as we recovered, still in his bed. “Are you happy?” Liam asked as I licked my dry lips. “Let me ask something else first. How do you think you did on the test?”

  I was thrown off, and I frowned. “I think I did fine. Why do you ask?”

  “I have never made this about helping you in the class since I know that you don’t need it. But when the test approached, I started to worry about how much I was taking you away from your studies and work. I don’t want to do that, Elena. You have too bright of a future for that.” Liam’s voice was thick with emotion, and I stroked his hair.

  “I have had to make some sacrifices for this, Liam. I won’t lie. It’s worth it because I feel more alive than I ever have. I am happy, but I am also so scared. I don’t want to lose this feeling.” I knew that I was close to tears as I spoke and felt him moving up beside me to cradle me in his arms.

  “Do you regret any of this?” He asked as I sighed.

  “No, never.”

  “Can you do this for another few weeks? Keep this under the radar and keep your grades up, since I won’t be responsible for you messing anything up?” Liam asked as I turned to look at him. It was too dark to see his face, but I knew how he was staring at me. I’d seen it before. “Can we move forward after we’re not in the same goddamn classroom twice a week?”

  “Yes, we can,” I promised him before leaning forward for a slow kiss.

  We got up to eat once we’d worked through all our stress, several times to be exact. Liam reheated a plate of the gooey lasagna in one dish that we shared along with a bottle of water. I thought about the time we spent in bed over the last couple of hours and how our emotions came through it all. Liam wasn’t used to dating, and neither was I. We were in a hard situation, and it would have rough moments, like walking up to the door to find his curious sister staring at me.

  I told myself that it could have been worse. It could have been Sarah or another teacher. Anyone from the university that realized who we were and that I was not supposed to be at his place would be far worse than what happened today. I looked at him for a moment, his hair messy from sex and mouth smeared with tomato sauce as he raised his eyes to mine. “What?”

  “I’m glad I am here. I have been from the start.” He smiled.

  “I am, too. It’s just a terrible situation for both of us, and we have to work through that. Tonight made me realize that more than anything,” Liam said as I sipped the water. “I am going to come clean with Marie, mostly because she won’t leave me alone. We’re close since she’s all I have for family. I will explain it to her carefully, and I won’t say that she won’t be angry with me, but she does want to see me happy.” He reached out and took my hand. “You’ll get to meet her for real someday. We can have dinner and just talk since I think you guys will like each other.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked as he chuckled.

  “It won’t be tomorrow or anything, but yes.” I smiled. We finished the food and cleaned up before settling on the couch together. I was sore from the rough sex from earlier. We had so many things in our head, and I realized that sex was a release sometimes in that way. “I’ll have the tests done in a day or so and hand them back next week. You’ll know earlier more than likely, so act surprised.” I looked up at him. “I am focused on that, Elena. I really am.”

  I left later that night, kissing him before he watched me walk to my car from his door. We did need to be careful and the near miss tonight was a reminder of that. I drove back to my apartment and hurried to the door, locking myself in before my phone chimed. I checked it.

  L: Make it home? I never asked where you lived.

  E: I’m home. I live on the corner by the club Wild Times.

  L: Is it safe there?

  E: I am very careful, and the building is secure.

  L: I suppose so. Lock up tight, pretty girl.

  We sent a few more texts as I got ready for bed and settled against the pillows, making me think that we were going to be just fine. This would work out, or it would end for acceptable reasons. That happened a lot, didn’t it? It was part of being an adult, and I was going to enjoy it as long as I could.

  CHAPTER 12:Liam

  Elena got a fucking A on the test. I didn’t worry about holding her back and hoped that she was doing nearly as well in her other classes, quizzing her about that over dinner at my house the night after they were handed back to the class. Elena assured me that she was doing just fine and would focus on school over anything else. I kissed her softly in agreement, smiling when she laughed at me.

  Marie pinned me down at lunch the week after she met Elena. We always went to this diner, and she picked a table in the corner, staring me down until our drinks were ordered. “So, who was she?”

  “I knew that you wouldn’t let it go,” I muttered as she raised an eyebrow at me. “She was there about class, Marie. The thing is…she’s a student in it.” Her eyes widened, and I reached out my hand. “I know, I know.”
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  “You could lose everything, Liam. You’ve worked so hard.” Her eyes filled with tears and I took a deep breath. “Why would you get involved with a student?”

  “I didn’t mean to. Neither of us did but there was a connection, and we couldn’t fight it,” I said as she glanced up. The waitress dropped our drinks off as my voice drifted off and I stared at the table for a few moments. “It’s been going on for a few weeks. Nobody knows about it apart from you and they won’t. It’s a private thing.”

  “It only takes one time, Liam. Do you know what might happen? Is this to help her grade?” Marie asked, hitting a sensitive spot for me.

  “Fuck, no. I was worried about that even though we never discussed the class at all. Elena is a smart student, and the only thing that she did was get some help with the tutor before we even saw one another.” Marie raised an eyebrow. “I had nothing to do with it, and she did better. She got an A on my test.” I looked into Marie’s stern face. “I didn’t help her at all. I was prepared to end things with her if it was worse. She writes for a living to make a little extra money. Her scholarship is only partial, so she needs to make ends meet.”

  “Does she have a family?” Marie asked, and I thought about the subject that she hadn’t discussed yet.

  “She just mentioned that her parents didn’t have money for college and that she worked hard to get in. They were disappointed by her partial scholarship so Elena found something she could do from home to pay rent. That’s all she said, but I suspect that they don’t live close by and she generally keeps to herself,” I replied as suspicion crossed her face. “She’s an independent girl and has it together, though I don’t like the neighborhood that she lives in too much. I am not considering anything crazy, though, Marie. Don’t worry.”

  “Your place is pretty big. She might just disappear into the walls,” Marie joked. She thought the three-bedroom home was big, but Mom’s house was cozy and on the smaller side. That was more her style.

  “If she lived there, I wouldn’t want her to disappear. It hasn’t gotten that far, though. We’re taking it day-by-day until we’re not in the same room together for the class.” I watched her nod as she sipped her tea. “For now, I’m happy. Elena is great, and we enjoy each other.”

  “You’re not being a man whore, are you?” Her voice was low as I felt someone’s presence, thankful that I didn’t need to look at the menu here. We ordered burgers, and I sipped my soda as I rolled my eyes.

  “No, just her. She’s enough.” Marie tilted her head at the words, knowing that I’d never felt that way before.

  “Is she in for you?” Marie asked, making me wonder if that was the case. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but it did mean a lot the night Marie saw her for the first time and we talked it out or fucked it out. There was a bit of both.

  “I don’t know. I can’t think beyond tomorrow these days. It’s confusing.”

  “Bring her over for dinner sometime. I’d like to meet her.”

  “How about during the break?” I asked as she smiled and nodded.

  “Just be careful. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” I promised her that I would be. Elena and I were both concerned about that as well since I’d been in school for so long to work and she was a Junior. She needed to finish school and start her dream.

  We talked about other things through the meal, though I saw Marie’s maternal side coming through. She’d tried to set me up over the years with friends, but I avoided that, not wanting to ruin anything for her. She hugged me tightly before she left me there, reminding me to be careful before she told me that she loved me. I returned it, only saying the words to her and Mom over the years. Never a woman, since I didn’t meet anyone that meant that much.

  I headed through the city to my condo, taking in the brief glimpses of sun in the sky. I loved Seattle. I loved growing up here, and it was an easy choice to move back here. I hoped to settle here and keep teaching until retirement because the university was a perfect job for me. I could start over somewhere else, but I didn’t want to leave this city.

  I didn’t want to leave Elena behind.

  I glanced across the street to see a redhead walking with Elena, smiling brightly. They seemed to be shopping, and I stared at Elena as she shook her head at something her friend said. My conversation with Maria played back in my mind as I wondered if she was in for me. She was beautiful, and her kindness showed even right now as they walked into a boutique.

  I found out later that night that they were shopping for a party. Ginger was taking her to a mixer at one of the frat houses, and the idea made me instantly uncomfortable. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “It’s a party. People go to them all of the time, and I promised her that I would hit a few a year with her since we met our first year here,” Elena told me as I stared into the fire. I’d heard about the darker sides of the parties, both personally and in news stories.

  It didn’t go unnoticed that I was feeling protective of someone other than my sister. I looked back at Elena sitting on my couch and smiled. “They do. I did, and that’s part of why I am concerned.” Elena shook her head.

  “I don’t drink a lot. If I do, I make sure that I get the drink myself or right from a bartender. I know enough people through Ginger that I’ll be watched out for. Don’t worry,” she said, giving me a puzzled look. “I didn’t think you’d be like this.”

  “Like what?” I asked, my irritation rising.

  “Controlling,” she muttered as I shot her a dark look.

  “Hardly. I'm cautious. People get hurt on college campuses all the time, Elena. Forgive me for not wanting that to happen to you.” Even I was surprised at my words as she blanched.

  “I know that. We both do, and we’re careful.” She moved closer to me, throwing an arm around my neck. “I wasn’t meeting anyone before this party, and I won’t be now. I have you.” She kissed my cheek. “I have never had a guy worried about me before. It’s different, and it came out wrong…what I said.”

  “So did mine. I did sound like a controlling ass,” I admitted as I found Elena’s lips with mine. We kissed slowly at first but like always it heated up as she moved over my lap. We didn’t see each other that much, and we made every moment count, making most of the time about our pleasure. Elena had come a long way in the weeks that we’d been seeing each other, asking to try things, and getting comfortable in her own skin.

  We started on the couch with her riding me wildly, without abandon. I ended it with her on her knees on my bed, fucking her from behind with the ever-present goal of getting her to squirt like before. She didn’t stay through the morning anymore as much as it bothered me, but it was smart. I always got a text when she got home, and we’d sometimes talk until we fell asleep.

  She continued to excel in my class, and I checked with her to make sure that she was in the others as well. Elena worked a lot from my place when we weren’t in bed, and I enjoyed her being in my space. She fit here.

  The party came up in a week, and I pushed away from the dread that came along with thinking about it. I talked to Marie about it, and while she saw my point, she also thought that Elena deserved to get out and have fun. Maria reminded me that I started being a man whore back in my own college years and pointedly asked if she thought that Elena was the same way.

  Point taken. She wasn’t, but that didn’t mean the guys at the party weren’t like me.

  I went out with some friends that night. I didn’t see Elena every weekend anyway, but tonight I gave in to their need to catch up. We met up at a corner bar, and I ordered a beer as I glanced at the game on the TV. The guys talked about their jobs and flavors of the week as I responded and laughed, thinking more about the party. It was at one of the wilder frats, and they had quite the reputation.

  “What about you, Liam? Any cute college girls in your life?” Jared asked as I sipped my beer.

  “You know that’s against the rules. No way, Jar. I am just keeping busy
teaching and hitting the gym,” I replied, waving my hand in the air. “I’m boring.”

  “You’re not boring. You have more numbers that any of us with those smoldering eyes.” Jared heard a girl say that to me once and would never let it go.

  “Jesus Christ. That was years ago,” I groaned as I glanced at the score again. “I’m getting old now. The young ones don’t want me.” I knew that was a lie, thinking back to Thursday night with Elena. She was into me, and the sex hadn’t cooled down yet.

  “Teachers?” Ted quipped as I gave him a dark look. We all knew how it went when the pretty teacher became obsessed with me five years ago, not wanting to let me go. She worked in another state now, thank fuck.

  “Fuck that.”

  I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and reached for it automatically. I glanced at the screen, seeing that Elena sent me a photo of her smiling on a balcony. She told me that she was safe, but all I could think about was how the guys there must be looking at her. I would have eaten her up at their age. Hell, I was doing that now.

  I shook my head and shoved the phone back into my pocket as Jared frowned at me. “Who was that?”

  “Just a friend, Dad,” I joked as I reached for my beer again. “Jesus.”

  We ended up ordering some appetizers and another round of beer. I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I made a point of not drinking too much so I could get anywhere if Elena needed me. I didn’t do that too much anymore anyway.

  I headed home after midnight, feeling good to drive as I told them goodbye. I walked to my car, sitting inside while I checked my phone again. I didn’t hear from Elena again tonight, and it worried me a bit.