Borderline

by Tymber Dalton

  He almost thought he was going to get out of there without her speaking to him.

  “Bob.”

  He turned to find Mrs. Horhner smiling at him. She nodded. “Good job today. That’s more like what I expect from you.”

  More of that warm flush filled him, this time making him exceedingly glad he’d held his backpack in front of him. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  She rarely called students by their first names. Only when she was giving praise, which she did sparingly.

  The smile filled his face as he turned and walked for the door.

  Yes!

  * * * *

  On his last day of classes his senior year, Bob realized as the end of Mrs. Horhner’s class approached, he was fighting the urge to cry.

  He’d likely never see her again.

  The reaction shocked him, catching him off-guard. When the bell rang, she stood before them, hands clasped. “Good luck, everyone. Thank you for a wonderful school year, and I hope your futures are bright and full of promise.” She offered them a smile. “Class dismissed.”

  Bob stalled, waiting for a couple of students who’d stopped to shake hands with her or say something to her to finish and head for the door.

  That left him to walk up to her. “Mrs. Horhner?”

  She favored him with a smile. “Yes, Bob?”

  “Thank you for being tough on me. I appreciate it. I learned a lot from you this year. I won’t forget you.”

  Her smile widened. “Thank you, Bob, that’s very sweet of you to say. You were an excellent student.” She reached out, laid her hand on his shoulder, and gently squeezed. “You are smart and even more, you have the drive to succeed. I can see it in you. Whatever you set out to do, I know you’ll do it well. I wish you nothing but the best.”

  Her hand withdrew.

  “Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate it.”

  He headed for the door and hoped she didn’t notice how he’d had to wipe at his eyes before he even made it there.

  Some of his friends wanted to go out after school, and his parents had given him permission to go with them, if he wanted. He didn’t have a car yet, and it wasn’t in his parents’ budget to buy him one. He was saving up money left over from his allowance and doing chores for the neighbors, but it would take a while.

  Instead of going out, he elected to head for the busses and ride home that way, staring out the window, a seat to himself with the passenger numbers diminished with all the seniors who’d caught rides home with friends or family, or who’d stayed behind for a small carnival the school was throwing.

  He just wanted to go home, do his chores, and watch TV. He’d start his first semester of college in a few weeks, opting to jump in on a summer session. He wanted to get a part-time job, but his mom and dad had told him they’d increase his allowance a little if he wanted to trade for doing more chores. They were more concerned about his grades than money.

  He had earned a full academic scholarship, but the residential portion wouldn’t kick in until fall semester. He’d be taking a city bus to campus and back during the summer, until he had the money for a car. Unless fall semester came first. Then he’d be living on campus and wouldn’t need a car anyway.

  When he got home, he headed over to the table to find his mom’s note.

  Congratulations, honey, we’re very proud of you. Take the afternoon off. You earned it. You’re a good boy. We’ll take you out to dinner tonight, if you’re not out with friends.

  He felt a little…adrift. This was the first time in years he hadn’t come home from school and found at least one chore on the list.

  He wasn’t even sure what to do with himself.

  He headed to his bedroom to change into shorts and decided he’d go ahead and dust the living room. It’d be due by that weekend anyway, and it’d be one less thing for his mom to do on her day off.

  And it gave him a way to avoid thinking too long or hard about Mrs. Horhner’s words and how much he was going to miss her and her class.

  Chapter Five

  Still in the past, but a little later…

  Bob rubbed at his eyes and tried to make sense of the blurry words marching across the page of his statistics textbook. He’d taken up a corner in one of the study lounges in his dorm building. The light wasn’t great here, but there wasn’t a TV or comfortable chairs, either, meaning it got far less use than some of the areas.

  He’d stretched out on the floor, back to the wall, hoping he could get through the last few pages of that chapter before he fell asleep over his book. His roommate had invited his girlfriend over for the evening, so Bob had agreed to clear out for a couple of hours.

  It was that, or have to ignore the two of them giggling and writhing under the covers on the other side of the room.

  No, thanks.

  He wasn’t a prude, but he wasn’t a masochist, either.

  The first semester of his junior year, and he was holding a 4.2 GPA by the skin of his teeth and had zero social life. Not that he wasn’t into girls, but between studying and tutoring for extra cash, he didn’t have time for a social life.

  He damn sure didn’t have time to go out drinking, even though he’d turned twenty-one a week ago. No time to pledge to a fraternity, either.

  Actually, no desire to pledge to a fraternity. He knew some of them were great, service-oriented organizations.

  Some of them were little more than thinly disguised party houses.

  He’d rather take his chances living in the dorms.

  After another round of yawns, and realizing he still had over an hour before he could safely return to his room, he grabbed his stuff and headed downstairs and across campus in the waning dusk to the University Center. They had an all-night coffeeshop and better lighting. Around exam time, the place was usually packed, but at eight o’clock on a Friday night nowhere near exams, it would likely be nearly empty.

  He was one of three customers, the other two also hunched over stacks of books and laptops. Bob ordered himself a coffee and carried it over to a table along the wall, approximately midway between the other two patrons.

  A clear indication he wasn’t interested in socializing with them, either.

  He’d sunk deep into reading again when he heard a familiar female voice at the counter and his head snapped up.

  There stood Dr. Louise Gunning, a professor he’d had last year for a business class. Probably in her mid-forties, she had long dark blonde hair that looked natural, usually pulled back into a loose bun low on the back of her head. While she’d always worn jeans when she taught, she normally wore a blazer over a blouse, and boots. Not cowboy boots, or fancy, dressy ones, but black motorcycle boots, or sometimes dark brown ones, blunt-toed and low-heeled, practical.

  Somehow, it’d always made her appear more professional, to him.

  Commanding.

  In charge.

  He’d struggled for the A he’d pulled down in her class. She was not known to give easy As.

  Tonight she was dressed in jeans, black boots, and a Grateful Dead T-shirt. She carried a laptop case casually slung over her shoulder, and held a coffee cup in her hand as she walked into the dining room area. When she spotted him, it was like an electric current shot through him.

  She headed straight for him, one corner of her mouth curling ever so slightly.

  Her blue eyes pinned him in place. “May I join you, Mr. Simmons?”

  His breath caught. She remembered his name!

  “Y-yes, Dr. Gunning. Sure.”

  She smoothly dropped into a chair across the table from him. “No need to be so formal. I’m not your professor anymore. Louise, please.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Louise. Sorry.”

  “Bob, correct?”

  He felt his face heat as he nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Her eyes narrowed slightly even as her smile widened. “So what are you doing here all alone on a Friday night?”

  “Studying, ma’am. Roommate is…” He swallowed hard. “I
needed to clear out of my dorm room for a while. He wanted…um…privacy for him and his girlfriend.”

  “Ah, I see.” She’d set her laptop case on the floor next to her chair and leaned back to sip her coffee. “I needed to clear out of home for a while, too.”

  “Roommate?”

  She shrugged. “My husband’s moving the last of his shit out tonight since the divorce was finalized this morning. It was stay at work late, until I’m sure he’s gone, or I’d be tempted to shove him down the stairs.” She grinned. “Whoopsies.”

  He laughed with her, his tension finally easing, although he wasn’t sure what the expected social protocol was for something like that. “I’m…sorry?”

  She shrugged. “Life goes on. He’s ten years older than me and found someone fifteen years younger than me who will put up with his bullshit. I got the better end of the deal—I ended up with the house and the newer car, plus he has to pay me for some investment properties he got to keep because my salary helped buy them.” Another smile as she took a sip of coffee. “Tomorrow, I’m having some friends over for a small get together. Celebrating my sudden weight loss of about two hundred and ten pounds.”

  He chuckled. “That’s a hard way to do it.”

  “Yeah, but worth every damn penny for the attorney’s fees.” She leaned in. “What are you doing tomorrow night? Going out with a girlfriend?”

  He swallowed hard, once again feeling pinned under her gaze, much as he always had in her classes. “No, ma’am. No girlfriend.”

  Her eyebrow arched. “Boyfriend?”

  He shook his head. “Straight.”

  “Job?”

  “I tutor, but nothing tomorrow night.”

  “Good.” She pointed at his phone, where it lay on the table next to him, and held her hand palm up, the meaning clear.

  Without argument or hesitation, he unlocked his phone and handed it over.

  She smiled as she typed her number into a text message and hit send. Her phone buzzed. She returned his phone, grabbed her own, and typed in another message.

  When his buzzed in his hand, it was her name, and an address.

  And a time—6:00pm.

  “Casual,” she said before taking a sip of coffee. “Shorts and T-shirt casual. Don’t worry about bringing anything. I’ve got you covered.” She winked.

  He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

  Saying no didn’t even cross his mind, not that he wanted to say no.

  “Good boy.” She was about to say something when her phone buzzed again. She glanced at it. “Oh, good. The sonofabitch is done. Guess I can go home.” She started to rise, then looked at him. “Just out of curiosity, are you studying to study, or studying to kill time because of your roommate?”

  He still didn’t have a car. He didn’t need one on campus, had a bike for when he needed to go somewhere close, or took the county bus or caught a ride with a friend. Since it was evening, friends were already out enjoying their night, and he didn’t like to bike at night.

  “Just killing time.”

  “You’re…what, twenty?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  She stood, shouldering her bag. “Feel like taking a ride and killing some time with me tonight?”

  He nodded, even before he realized what he was doing, and started to gather his stuff with trembling hands. He scrambled to follow her as she headed out of the coffeeshop.

  As they walked toward one of the faculty lots, he realized he had to work to keep up with her long, purposeful strides, even though he was at least six inches taller than her.

  As they approached the second line of cars, she hit a button on her key fob and the taillights blinked on a sporty, two-door silver Audi as the horn chirruped. She opened the trunk and dumped her stuff in. He followed suit.

  She smiled. “You drive?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He barely caught the keys when she tossed them to him with a laugh. “Come on—it’s insured.” She headed for the passenger side.

  He scrambled to get into the driver’s seat. It took him a moment to adjust the seat and mirrors. With trembling fingers, he inserted the key into the ignition and cranked the engine.

  “You know how to get to Carrollwood?” she asked.

  “Not really, no.”

  “Head out the main entrance onto Fowler, turn right.” She settled back in her seat.

  Her left hand came to rest on his right thigh and squeezed.

  Praying he didn’t wreck her car or jizz in his jeans, he followed her directions to her house. It was an older two-story home in an obviously expensive section of the subdivision, located on a lot with several old oak trees visible in the twilight.

  She grabbed her things from the trunk and led the way up to the front door. Inside, she flipped on the lights. It didn’t look messy, but somewhat disorganized.

  “Sorry about the disaster.” She set her stuff down on a dining room table that had no chairs. “He got to take some of the furniture. You want a drink? Beer, soda?”

  “Just water, please, thanks.”

  She walked over to him, smiling up at him and hooking her fingers through his belt loops.

  There was no way she couldn’t have felt his raging erection through his jeans as she pressed her hips against his. “No stupid Mrs. Robinson jokes, huh?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Oooh. I like the way that rolls off your tongue, boy.”

  She rose up onto her toes to kiss him. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with his hands, so he slipped his arms around her and kissed her back, gladly. He wasn’t a virgin, but his first and only relationship with a girl had lasted less than six months, in his freshman year.

  She ground her hips against him harder. “That’s it,” she whispered. “You’re going to have a fun night tonight. I haven’t been laid in nearly two years. I didn’t give that cheating bastard the satisfaction of running around on him, even though he’d tossed our marriage vows away. You still want that drink of water, or you want to get straight to having a fun night?”

  He had to swallow before he could speak. “Fun night, please, ma’am.”

  “You keep calling me ‘ma’am’ and I might not ever let you go.” She grabbed his hand and practically dragged him up the stairs. In her bedroom, she started asking him questions he could barely think to answer coherently. Like about his sexual history, if he’d used condoms with his ex, what kind of experiences he’d had.

  Next thing he knew, he was naked, and so was she, and she was pushing him down onto his knees next to the bed. “Now, let me lay down some ground rules for you, baby,” she said. “I call the shots, got it?”

  He nodded, his rigid cock bobbing along with his head. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him between her legs. He was happily surprised to realize she shaved down there, and she started patiently talking to him, telling him what to do.

  Pretty soon, she was moaning and grinding against his mouth, and he had a death grip around her thighs to hold her in place as she threw her head back and let out a long, loud moan his ex had never come close to making.

  Panting, she leaned forward, curled around him, her hands sliding down his back. “Oh, you are a fast learner. We’re gonna have a lot of fun together. Rule number two is that you don’t cheat on me. This won’t be permanent, but I’ve got at least a few months of frustration to blow, and I think you’re going to be the perfect guy to take it out on. The benefit for you is you get pussy on demand, baby. So don’t go falling in love with me.”

  He mumbled an assent against her pussy, which he assumed he was still supposed to be licking, since she still had his face pressed up against it.

  “Mmm-hmm is right,” she said, tousling his hair. “You are going to get to live the college-guy fantasy of banging the professor. That’s why this stays between us. You don’t say a word about it to anyone, or it ends. Technically we’re not breaking any rules because you aren’t my stude
nt, but I don’t want any hassles, and I’m sure you don’t, either.”

  She gently raked her nails over his scalp, raising the good kind of gooseflesh all over his body. “Pussy on demand, whenever you want it, and all you have to do to keep getting it is stay faithful to me and keep your mouth shut. You meet someone you want to date, you need to tell me first so we can talk about it. Meanwhile, I’ll teach you how to be a world-class lover who can please whatever lucky bitch you end up with next. Deal?”

  “Deal,” he mumbled.

  Wasn’t like he was dating anyone anyway. Screw it, he’d already fantasized about her plenty of times while in the shower.

  This was…heaven.

  She had him lick and suck another orgasm out of her before she coaxed him up onto the bed. He stretched out under her, on his back. She knelt over him with a smile.

  “Nice cock, baby.” She wrapped her fingers tightly around the base of it and pressed her fingers against the underside before she engulfed him with her mouth.

  He had no clue how he managed to hold back while she played with his balls and teased his cock. “And no whacking off now, either,” she said when she lifted her mouth from him. “I want you primed and loaded. We’ll exchange class schedules. My office is at the end of a hall, and Professor Jackson next door is never there. Lock the door, turn on the radio, and we can have all the nooners we want.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

  Oh, fuck yeah.

  She licked the head of his cock. “Such a good boy,” she whispered, smiling up at him.

  She went deep at the same time she loosened her grip on the base of his cock. With her other hand, she gently tugged on his sac, like she was milking him.

  The strongest orgasm of his life slammed into him as she swallowed every drop of his cum. Then she crawled up his body and kissed him, deep, tasting himself on her lips.

  “If she swallows, don’t you ever hesitate to kiss her after. Came out of you anyway. And if she doesn’t want you to kiss her after you go down on her, find a new one. She’s not worth it.”