by Claire Adams
“I don’t have a problem,” I said. “I just don’t feel good, so can you let it drop?”
“Fine. Go tell your new freshman friend all about it,” Bailey quipped, turning on her heel to stalk out of my room. “I hope you aren’t pregnant because you’re sure as hell moodier than normal.”
Horror filled me. That couldn’t be possible. I was religious about taking my birth control pills, but my emotions were all over the place, just like my stomach since coming back from Noah’s. I shook away the possibility.
“That’s not funny, Bailey,” I grumbled.
She stopped in the door frame to turn and look at me with arched eyebrows. Her mess of brunette curls were clipped up on top of her head, but a few of them tumbled down about her face. Suspicion clouded her eyes.
“I meant that as sarcasm,” she said. “Why are you taking it so seriously?”
Realizing the trap, I wrapped the blanket tightly around myself to avoid Bailey’s far too perceptive eyes.
“I’m not. I just saying that it’s not funny. Shut the door on your way out.”
She closed it without saying another word. As soon as the apartment door shut firmly behind her, I climbed out of the bed to grab my birth control pills. I let out a relieved breath to see I had taken every single one on time. Getting pregnant would be the cherry on top of the shitty sundae I found myself in.
I glanced at the alarm clock beside my bed. No doubt Noah would be pissed that I skipped his class again for a variety of reasons, but I couldn’t stomach facing him. I crawled back into bed to stare up at the ceiling while listening to the sounds of apartment neighbors leaving for their days.
Eventually, sleep took a hold of me again, and I woke what felt like hours later to feeling of my phone vibrating on the bed mattress. I lifted my head to look for it, reaching out sleepily until I found it underneath my pillow again. I didn’t bother looking at the caller ID in my half-asleep state.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Iris. It’s Jen.”
My eyes slipped closed in relief to hear Jen’s voice, instead of Noah’s or Bailey’s. I rolled over onto my back to slowly blink back awake.
“Hey, Jen. How was New York with your family for spring break?”
“It was fine.” I could hear the distant echo of what sounded like chatter. The dining hall, I assumed from the sound of it. “I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. You didn’t show up to Professor Webber’s class this morning.”
“Yeah, I know.” It hit my sleep-riddled brain then what Jen had just said. “Wait a minute. I thought you had class with him in the afternoons.”
“I did. I asked him before break if I could transfer to the mornings, so it’d fit in my schedule better.”
“Oh.” The jerk wouldn’t work around my schedule, but he apparently was willing to work around Jen’s. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from getting agitated with her. She was the only real friend I had that I enjoyed talking with anymore. Being around Bailey 24/7 was too much. “Well, cool. I’m glad we’re in a class together.”
“Me, too,” she said. “I just wanted to see if you were okay.”
I smiled slightly at the concern in her voice. “I’m fine. I think I came down with a twenty-four-hour bug sort of thing.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry. Do you need me to grab anything from the store or from campus?”
“I’ll be fine.” I I just wanted to be alone, and after my exchange with Bailey earlier, I felt uneasy at the thought of Jen coming over. Bailey had a tendency to be a real bitch towards people she felt threatened by. I didn’t want Jen having to deal with that. “Thank you, though. I appreciate you calling to check up on me.”
“Of course.” She hesitated for a moment. “Professor Webber is pissed that you missed class this morning.”
That did not surprise me.
“I know. I’ll email him later to explain what is going on,” I lied. I had no intention of emailing Noah. He wanted to dock me a few points for ditching, that was his deal. I’d make it up somehow.
“And, he asked me to remind you that your grade is based upon attendance of classes and tutoring,” she continued uneasily. “I don’t know what’s going on, but he was upset, Iris. I mean, he looked real peeved at you not being in class.”
I pulled at an errant strand coming from my blanket. That didn’t surprise me, either. He wasn’t mad about me not showing up to class this morning – he was pissed about me not replying to him all spring break and leaving his house without much of explanation.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I replied eventually. “I’ll get it worked out with him. I guess promise him that I’ll be in class and tutoring on Wednesday.”
“Okay. If you’re sure that you’ll be okay.”
“I will.”
We hung up after exchanging goodbyes. I tossed my phone into the sea of blankets on my bed with a sigh. Now I had to deal with Noah’s irritated mood come Wednesday morning. That was another cherry on top of everything.
“Maybe I’ll just be sick on Wednesday, too,” I said, rubbing at my aching head. “I can be sick for the rest of the week.”
Except I knew Noah would fail me then. I had to deal with it eventually.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Noah
I walked into class Wednesday morning skeptical of Jen’s assurances that Iris would be there on time. My skepticism quickly faded when my eyes immediately landed on where Iris sat hunched over slightly in her desk next to Jen, skimming over the reading I had assigned the previous class.
I willed my eyes to burn holes into her, but Iris refused to look up at me. A week’s worth of frustration simmered beneath my skin. I managed to keep a collected smile on my face as I shut the classroom door behind me.
“It’s nice to see everyone here on time,” I said, not willing to let Iris get away with skipping class so easily. I sat my bag on the front desk. “It’s nice that you can join us after coming back from an extended spring break, Ms. Paige. May I inquire how wonderful it was?”
She looked up at me then. An array of emotions played out in her eyes, but Iris looked away from me after a stretch of awkward silence in the classroom. The color in her cheeks drained, and she looked pale and worn out.
“It could’ve been better,” she said.
Everyone looked between the both of us in confusion. I stared at her, trying to decide if that was an insult or if something else had happened after leaving my house. I let it drop until I could speak with her by grabbing my book.
“Let’s talk about the assigned reading,” I said. “What did you all think of it?”
I half-listened to a few students’ replies, but I found my eyes lifting constantly from the text to where Iris sat sullenly in her desk. She refused to even look in my direction. If that was how we were going to play it, then I could play the game, as well. I had more experience of ignoring people than she ever could’ve imagined.
And I planned on doing it after I delivered the news of her failing grade if she continued to skip my class and tutoring sessions.
As class concluded, a few students came up to my desk to talk about the exam next week. I tried my best to answer them, but I kept focusing on where Iris sat next to Jen. She still refused to look in my direction.
“Will there be tutoring tonight?”
I focused back on the students standing around my desk. I needed to get my shit together, not let this woman get underneath my skin this way. Still, when Iris rose from her seat next Jen, I watched her duck out of the classroom without saying a word.
What the fuck?
“Professor Webber?”
I snapped out of it. If Iris wanted to think she could get away from that easy, she had another thing coming to her. I wouldn’t let my job be put on the line because of a mistake I had made by giving into the one thing that had tantalized me for weeks.
“Yes?”
I looked back at the student standing nervously in front of my desk.
“No. Not tonight,” I said, forcing an apologetic smile on my face. “I’m sorry, everyone, but I have some things that I need to take care of this evening for classes. Enjoy the evening off and get your assignments done. If you need anything, email me.”
They exited the classroom without any further questions. I rubbed at the back of my neck in aggravation as I glanced up at the clock above the door. How was I supposed to handle this shit throughout the afternoon?
I took a deep breath before gathering the rest of my books to head over to next my class, but stopped when I heard Kale call my name out from his office. He came out when I stopped in the hallway.
“Everything okay?” he asked, undoubtedly sensing the tension rolling off me in waves. “I heard some of the students in the hallway saying you were having a hard time in class.”
“Hard time?” I echoed with a scowl. “What does that mean?”
He frowned deeply. “It means that they could tell you were pissed off about something. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. There isn’t anything going on.” Anymore.
I started down the hallway to my office without saying another word to Kale. I felt his eyes threaten to burn holes in my back as I strode into the privacy of my office. Locking the door behind me, I dropped my bag carelessly to the floor before taking a seat at my desk. I sent out a quick email to my other morning class that classes were cancelled and for everyone to study for their exam on Monday.
I doubted that anyone would question it, but a stab of uneasiness went through me after I sent the email. I needed to be careful from now on about how I reacted whenever Iris was around. I’d already attracted too much attention just this morning by acting like a complete dick to everybody because of it.
“Get over it,” I told myself firmly. “She’s just another chick. She pulled my own moves on me, but I’ll get over it.”
I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the track on campus to work out the anger swimming in my veins. My knee ached horribly by the time I reached the English Department right as the sun was beginning to set. The warm spring air started to fade into a typical chilly night, but I savored it nonetheless.
I opened the window in my office and sat down at my computer to write down a few ideas I had to pitch to the agent in New York. I still hadn’t gotten around to calling her back, and I wanted to have a couple good plot ideas written down to help my pitch.
When I finished, I sat back in my chair with a relieved sigh and five completed chapters. Writing had always been the one thing I could count on to work out my frustrations when my body couldn’t handle it physically.
I rubbed at my sore knee while I shut down my computer after answering a few emails from students. Stuffing my wallet into my back pants pocket, I glanced at the clock on my desk. 9:41 p.m. Picking up a sandwich from somewhere sounded more tempting than going home to order a pizza.
I turned sharply in my chair at the sound of a knock on my door to find the one person I didn’t expect to see standing at the edge of my office.
“Can we talk?” Iris asked softly. She tucked a strand of errant hair behind her ear nervously and took a small step forward into my office.
“About what?” I demanded, coldly. “It’s late, Ms. Paige. I want to go home and go to sleep.”
The expression on Iris’ face didn’t falter. Instead, she looked down at the floorboards and appeared to struggle for words from how thickly she swallowed. I sighed in irritation. I was no longer in the mood to try to understand her behavior after a week’s worth of it.
“I’m sorry for missing class on Monday,” she said, her tone still soft. “I wasn’t feeling well and-”
“Cut the bullshit,” I snapped out, and she looked up in surprise. Her eyes widened. “You didn’t want to face me in class, so you ditched. Don’t waste my time or yours by lying about it.”
Tears sparkled in her eyes, but I didn’t fall for them this time. Pent up anger from the past week and a variety of other things I didn’t want to pay attention to swirled hotly through my veins.
“We had this discussion at the beginning of the semester,” I continued, standing up from my desk. My heart pounded in fury against my ribcage.
“If you skipped class, or ditched our tutoring sessions, I would fail you. Is that why you took my offer to stay at my house over spring break?” Iris remained mute, which only stoked the fire blazing in my chest. “You hopped into my bed thinking that I’d give you an A while you slacked off?”
“No, I-”
“Then what the fuck is going on with you? Not once did I expect anything to happen afterwards, but damn it, Iris.” I shook my head at her in exasperation. “I liked you. You’re different from any other woman I have known.”
Iris toyed with her fingers absently while absorbing my words. I had no idea what she planned on doing here tonight, but I didn’t plan on staying behind to see. I grabbed my coat from the back of the chair, but stopped when my office door clicked shut. I looked up at her with my coat in hand as she slowly turned the deadbolt into place.
And send me to hell, I felt myself harden when I caught sight of the desire swirling in her eyes. I detected a bit of hesitance, though, as she reached for the light switch on the wall.
Not here, a part of my mind screamed. Don’t do it here. Don’t give in. Fuck. She looked so beautiful with her wavy hair pulled back in a loose braid held by a gray scrunchie. My eyes raked over the curves of her legs and buttocks I had explored eagerly last week. My fingers itched to touch her.
When I didn’t say anything, Iris clicked the lights off. Darkness filled the room, but I could sense her approaching me. Soft hands gently touched my shoulders, and it stole the breath right out of my lungs.
“Give me the F then,” she whispered, grabbing a hold of my tie. “I don’t care. I slept with you because I wanted to sleep with you. There was no other reason.”
She tugged me forward. A pent-up groan escaped my throat when her silky lips pressed up against mine in a hot kiss that instantly had the rest of my blood pooling down between my legs.
Her tongue stroked mine teasingly while I wrapped my arms around her tiny waist and pressed myself against her in desperation to ease the ache in my crotch. She didn’t fight me when I tilted her head back to kiss her thoroughly, deeply.
Unlike last time, Iris’ hands were bold as they slid their way up to undo the buttons of my shirt. She parted the fabric and slid her hands around my waist to rake her nails gently up my back. The fire between us sparked wildly, and I no longer cared that we were in my office.
I could get caught right here, right now, with my hands all over Iris, and not even give a damn about the consequences. Rules were meant to be broken, anyway. I’d gladly break this rule all over again.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Iris
I didn’t know what to expect when I walked by the English Department on my way back from the library to see Noah’s office light still on.
I had sat there in the cold night air, arms wrapped around myself as memories from that night replayed in my mind. The only reason why I didn’t want to face him was because I knew that I’d fall into his arms again. I was terrified of getting caught. I was terrified of how Noah made me feel. It had nothing to do with anything else.
And, it had been either pure courage or pure stupidity on my part to walk up those stairs to face him for the first time. He had been understandably pissed, but now he poured all of that frustration into bruising kisses that left me panting and craving more of it. His body was taut and hot beneath the palms of my hands as we continued to kiss hotly in his dark office.
Our clothes were off before I even realized it. All I felt was Noah’s soft skin, his hands clasping my buttocks tightly, and a certain hard organ pressing against my lower belly. His lips trailed hot kisses down the side of my neck and worked their way down to suckle at my breasts again. I threw my he
ad back as I stifled a moan with my hand.
This was what hot and pure pleasure felt like. Every inch of my skin was covered in a slick layer of sweat, and I could feel the dampness on his skin when he pressed up against me.
“Damn,” he whispered, letting go of my breast much to my reluctance. “I’ve missed you, Iris. You have no idea.”
I reached down to skim a finger along the hardness pressed between us. Noah let out a ragged hiss at the touch. I smirked when a wave of feminine smugness washed over me. I liked knowing I had this much power over someone like Noah.
“Pretty sure I do,” I replied, breathlessly.
Noah smacked me playfully on the right butt cheek before hooking my leg up around his waist. He spun us around, and then I heard him shoving things off to the side before the cool grain of wood touched my back. It was so dark that I could barely see his tall figure moving gracefully in front of me, but his hands were clear indicators of where he was going. I felt them trail down the inside of my thighs sensually, drawing patterns at my knees before moving back upward.
My heart thudded quickly under the teasing touch. The first touch of his fingers sent pleasure spiraling through me. I arched off the desk with a startled gasp.
“I think you’ve missed me even more, dear,” Noah said huskily. “Do you think you can keep quiet? The janitor is downstairs cleaning.”
I nodded feverishly before I realized that he couldn’t see me. “Yes,” I whispered back. “I can be quiet. Please, Noah.”
“Say that again.”
I lifted my head off the desk. “Say what?”
“Say ‘please, Noah.’ I like the sound of that.”
“Please,” I groaned out, body aching to be touched the only way Noah knew how to.
Hot breath caressed me intimately. My eyes widened at when I felt his nose nudge my hip before trailing kisses down closer to the bundle of nerves twitching between my legs. Surely he didn’t mean to actually…