Cosmic Trifecta

by Anna Lewis

  She said, "I have a few hours with nothing to do."

  "Then want to grab a coffee?" Riley asked.

  Linne nodded happily, then grabbed her laptop case and pocketed her phone and followed him out, stopping to exchange smiles with the professor before leaving with Riley.

  "I know the campus sells coffee, but if you really want a good cup of joe, you'll go off-campus to the local coffee roaster. You know the one I'm talking about, right?" Riley lilted the tone of his voice to denote the question and turned to her as they walked down the hall.

  "I don't think I do."

  Riley nodded and said, "Then let me lead the way. You'll likely love it."

  "I do like a 'good cup of joe' if I do say so myself," Linne said.

  "Using my own words against me, Ms. Barsthed?" Riley said and nearly laughed as he again turned to look at her as he walked the campus' halls. "So, what turned you on to tech developing? I gave my reasoning. Now it is time for yours."

  "My reasoning?" Linne asked, thinking back. "I took a required course for my core units with Professor Hawthorne and never looked back. He made the industry and the study of it so interesting. There was no way I couldn't."

  "Did you grow up around here?" Riley asked of her as they got out of the main building.

  Linne shook her head to say no, then added, "No, I moved from the East Coast."

  "I envy you. Did you enjoy it?" Riley asked as they walked underneath great redwood trees on campus and made their way down a meandering walkway beneath the great trees. The sounds of birds chirping could be heard above their conversation and the light splashing of a creek that ran through the campus was nearby.

  "Not really," Linne said, wrinkling her nose. "I like it here a lot better. Nice weather, nice people. What more could I want?" She lifted her arms, as if to bring to light all of the wonders around them.

  "That's good," he said to her. "You should like where you live."

  "What about you?"

  "What about me what?" Riley asked.

  "Do you like where you live? Did you grow up here?" Linne asked.

  "I do and I did. I do and did, indeed," Riley said as they exited the campus. "I like the questions about myself, but I really want to get to know you." He looked at her as he said this and moved to walk backwards, looking at her in the sunlight. She had dark black hair that fell to the small of her back and light brown, almost orange eyes.

  He turned back around and fell in line to walk next to her as they went across a crosswalk. He smiled like he knew some secret about her and she questioned him.

  "What? What is it?" Linne asked.

  He just kept smiling and said nothing, looking straight ahead as he did so.

  "You have to tell me, Riley. What is it?" Linne pleaded.

  He shook his head to say no to her, lips pressed tightly while he stared away from her.

  She stopped in the middle of the crosswalk and balled her free hand into a fist.

  He broke his silence as he stopped walking forward and took a step back to where she was now standing.

  "You really want to know?" Riley asked, a little shocked but smiling wider than he had been before. "I'll tell you."

  Pouting now over, Linne smiled and nodded and her eyes widened in excitement.

  "I find you beautiful," Riley said as he put a lock of her straight black hair in between his fingers and twirled it.

  Linne opened her mouth and drew her head back a bit as she breathed in, then pushed her face forward and gave him a light peck on the lips.

  Surprised and caught off guard, Riley kissed her back, but opened his mouth against hers and let his tongue meet hers.

  Just then, car horns erupted and the two realized where they were. They both nearly jumped in surprise and looked to one another, eyes locking. And, then, they laughed overjoyed and ran across the street towards the coffee shop.

  ***

  Riley grabbed Linne's hand as they walked and she felt the soft texture of his hand against hers and smiled.

  "Just around this corner," he told her.

  "I can't wait."

  They were quiet, but both were giddy and out of breath, almost, as if that one kiss had knocked the wind out of them eternally.

  When they got there, Riley ordered an Americano and Linne got a latte. The two chose to drink their coffees in an alcove that was freed up for them as they approached. They sipped in it delightedly, at first. Then, they opened up again.

  "So," Riley said. "What makes you tick?"

  Linne replied, "Not a lot of abnormal stuff. Work. Play. That sort of thing."

  "Do you like to be around people or be alone?"

  "A mix of both," Linne told Riley after he had asked the question.

  "Which do you like more, animals or people?" Riley asked, leaning forward.

  "Animals, most definitely," Linne told him. "People are not as nice as animals are."

  "Ain't it the truth?" Riley asked, smiling. "Do you like adventure or staying at home?"

  "Do I have to decide?" Linne said. "I think both has a place in my life."

  Riley shook his head, "You have to decide."

  "Fine, adventure."

  Riley smiled, "Adventure, huh?"

  "Now you," Linne told him ambiguously.

  "What?" Riley asked.

  Linne told him, "Now you answer those questions."

  "Oh! That's what you meant," Riley said. "Well, I like to be around people. I prefer animals, though, like you. And I like to stay at home."

  "We're a little bit different and a little bit alike," Linne said.

  Riley leaned forward even more and whispered, "It wouldn't be fun if we were the same exact person, now would it?"

  "No, it wouldn't be," Linne agreed. "So, is that all?"

  "I like having met you, Linne," Riley said. "It's very refreshing to meet someone as down to earth as you."

  "I thank you for the compliment." Linne then added as she laughed quietly, "I just like blonds."

  He smiled and rubbed a hand through his hair, pushing his eyebrows up and down as he made eye contact with her.

  "Then it's a good thing I am one, isn't it?" Riley asked her rhetorically.

  "It is indeed," she said. "What do you like about me? If I may know."

  "I like you. I just do," Riley shrugged. "Is that not enough?"

  "No, no." Linne said, "It's more than enough."

  The two looked across from one another, then after a brief silence both laughed at the same time. There was a connection between them, that could not be doubted.

  "How do you feel?" Riley asked out of nowhere.

  Linne put her lips against the latte's foam and took a small drink before answering. She wanted to think about her answer.

  "Very good, Riley," Linne told him. "I feel better than I expected to after meeting a stranger on my first day as a TA for my professor."

  "Very good is good to hear," Riley told her. "And he's not just your professor, anymore."

  "Well, he holds a special place in my heart," Linne told him honestly.

  "For opening you up to tech developing?" Riley asked.

  "Yes," Linne told him with a terse nod, not willing to say more.

  "Well how well do you know him?" Riley asked.

  Linne laughed nervously, "Next topic, please."

  "Really?" Riley asked, looking very concerned. "Why?"

  "I don't think you want to know," Linne said, knowing that it was more of a problem of what Jimmy Hawthorne would think knowing she had told one of his students a secret.

  Their own private secret.

  "What would he say knowing you were dating one of your students?" Riley asked Linne.

  Linne deflected the question easily by saying, "My next time seeing you, where is it going to be?"

  "What do you mean?" Riley asked, baffled at the sudden change of subject.

  "If you're going to take me out on dates, where is our next one going to be?" Linne asked forwardly.

  "I haven't
thought about it," Riley told her honestly.

  "Well I need to know if I'm going to go soon. Or will you text me?" Linne asked.

  "You have to go?" Riley said forlornly, a shadow falling over his green eyes.

  "I do, indeed. I'll see you again, though." Linne added as she handed him her phone, "Here is my phone. Add your number."

  "Will do!" Riley said ecstatically. "A date sounds like something I can really get into with you. I'd enjoy that."

  He began adding his number and was almost done when a text appeared on Linne's screen. His face went from smiling and jovial to nearly blank and a little bit like he had just seen a ghost.

  "What?" Linne asked, not knowing what he had seen. She grabbed her phone and looked at the screen, where there was a message from Jimmy Hawthorne.

  ***

  It was as if all of the blood had drained from Riley's face and he was staring into a black abyss that was her phone until she took it from him.

  The text was explicit and said, "Meet me in my office at 7 tonight wearing very little, if anything at all."

  "Riley," Linne muttered as she read the text from the professor. "I'm so sorry you had to see that."

  "No, no. It's fine." Riley said after breathing in deeply. "You can have relationships."

  "You looked pretty upset just a minute ago, Riley," Linne commented. "You sure?"

  "I'd still like to see you, Linne. I don't care... If he doesn't care, that is," Riley said, adding the last part to be sure.

  "He won't," Linne said reassuringly.

  "Then," Riley said, getting comfortable once again. "Would you still like to go on a date?"

  "I think I would," Linne said.

  "You just 'think'?" Riley asked.

  Linne gave a short, subtle laugh out loud then nodded.

  "I know so," she said, looking into his green eyes with her fiery orangey brown ones. "I most definitely know so."

  "I look forward to it," Riley said, picking up his things and his Americano cup and got up, then bent over and kissed her swiftly on her cheek. "Goodbye for now, my lover girl."

  "Goodbye for now," she said to him with a wistful smile.

  ***

  Linne took out her key to the office and opened it up with a swift motion and pushed her shoulder into the door while looking around. The professor was in a corner of the room at his desk and when he heard the door open, he looked up and towards Linne. A bright smile lit up the dark-haired man's face and his face, pushing his blue eyes into near-crescents.

  "Linney," he said, closing his laptop as he did. "You made it."

  "That I did," Linne replied, as she took her bag off of her shoulder and set it down.

  "I wanted to see you so badly," he said, getting up and immediately went towards her.

  "Me, as well," Linne breathed out. She put her hands up so that they cupped the professor's face in them as he approached. His face was rough with a seven o'clock shadow and his sapphire eyes closed for a moment as he reveled in the feeling of being close to her.

  "My true love," the professor said.

  "Jimmy," Linne said after she had kissed his neck a half dozen times. "I love you, too."

  "How was your day?" Jimmy Hawthorne asked. "Have a good time with that student?"

  "I did," Linne said.

  "I like you making other friends," the professor said. "Do you like him?"

  "I do," Linne said to Jimmy Hawthorne. "I think I do, at least."

  "It's always so hard to tell in the beginning."

  "That it is," Linne said. "How was yours?"

  "Lots of work. Lots of dealing with her."

  "Your wife?" She asked.

  "Soon to be ex-wife," he corrected.

  Linne said, "I'm sorry you have to deal with that."

  "I don't know why I burden you with it," Jimmy said.

  Linne said, "Because I like to be here for you."

  "That you do," Jimmy said.

  Linne went on to say, "There's nothing I would rather do."

  "Nothing?" Jimmy asked teasingly.

  Linne said, "Nothing at all."

  "Not even hang out with cute students after class?" Jimmy Hawthorne asked.

  "Well..." Linne said, biting her lip and looking away.

  "Aw, you're so adorable when you do that," he told her.

  "Am I really?" Linne asked. Then she added, "I mean, thank you."

  "No need to thank me. No need to ever thank me or apologize to me."

  The pair coalesced and then Linne knelt down so that she was sitting on the large couch in the office. She still held Jimmy Hawthorne's face in her hands and he crouched down with her. They kissed, feeling one with another and basking in the feeling. Jimmy's tongue went hungrily past Linne's lips and moved around inside of her mouth.

  She accepted his tongue into her mouth by meeting it with her own. She moved over it with hers and wrapped around it before letting it loose to have its way inside of her. Her hands pulled off his jacket, then unbuckled his belt while they kissed.

  He parted the kiss and did the rest of the work of taking off his pants. Then, the professor stripped himself of his underwear and shirt. Linne watched with eager eyes and looked to him with excitement written all across her face.

  "Are you looking forward to this?" Jimmy Hawthorne asked. He gently eased himself onto the couch and Linne leaned back, sprawling onto her back. She was wearing her loose t-shirt and a pleated skirt. She opened her legs and he could see her pale pink and white striped panties underneath.

  The professor crawled over her and put one hand on the armrest of the couch while the other one moved to his penis. He gripped it in his palm and guided it into Linne's pelvic region. She pulled her panties to the side and he moved his head against her lips. She moved her hands away and he pressed into her. She gasped as he entered her and he smiled, happy to please her once more.

  "Jimmy..." Linne said, trailing off.

  "Yes?" Jimmy asked as he let his head fall back and he breathed in and out evenly, enjoying himself, already.

  "Jimmy, you feel so good," Linne told him.

  "So do you," the professor replied. "So do you."

  She moved her hips so that his shaft entered and exited her smoothly and in time with his own gentle thrusts. They moved in rhythm together while he looked at her fine features and brown-orange eyes. She had her eyes trained on him, as well, but a different part of him than his face. She watched as his manhood went in and out of her, pulling and pushing on her pink lips as he did.

  After a few moments of this, she looked up to Jimmy's face, smiling.

  "You like that?" Jimmy Hawthorne asked and she nodded.

  "Keep going," she said to him. "I want more."

  "I can give you more," came Jimmy's reply. "I'll always want to give you more."

  "Th—thank you," was all she could say, stuttering as she did.

  "Always," he said to her. He then leaned down and kissed her forehead, then began pumping harder in and out of her than he had been before. He felt her inner walls clamp against his shaft while his head pushed against the back of her womanhood. It was wonderful for the both of them and they similarly breathed in and out sharply and audibly.

  A knock at the door stopped the two of them almost instantly.

  Linne went pale and Jimmy looked to her, then towards the door and called out, "Not now. Office hours are over!"

  "It's me, Riley," came the response.

  "Riley?" Jimmy said, confused.

  Linne whispered, "He's a nice guy, Jimmy."

  "Nobody's nice enough to overlook their professor and T.A. having sex, Linne," Jimmy whispered back.

  "Let me try," Linne said, getting up as she was the most clothed one of the two.

  "No, no, no..." Jimmy said, but it went unheard by Linne.

  She opened the door a crack and asked, "What's up, Riley?"

  "I think two might not be as fun as three," Riley said cheekily.

  "What's that supposed to mean, Riley?" Linne
asked.

  Riley said, "It means I know what you two are doing, and I want in."

  "That's quite the offer," Linne said as her brows raised up on her forehead and her smile widened. She looked behind her and asked, "Professor?"

  "Sounds good to me," he said. "I've always wanted to share you."

  "Then come on in," Linne said as she opened the door further.

  "Professor," Riley said respectfully. He nodded towards the professor, who had grabbed a blanket and strewn it over himself. Riley smiled pleasantly and waved to the professor. "Nice to see you."

  "And you, Riley," the professor said. "Come on in."

  "May I join you?" Riley asked as he closed the door behind him.

  Jimmy Hawthorne replied, "I said you may come in."

  "But may I join?" Riley said, putting added emphasis on the last word.

  Linne laughed as she pulled her panties and t-shirt off and set them down on top of her laptop bag beside the door.

  "We were just enjoying ourselves," Jimmy Hawthorne said. "Please, join in."

  Riley then took off his pants and underwear to reveal an already hard shaft. He held it in his hand and approached Linne. He put a hand on her back, having her bend over for him. She looked to the professor, who had removed the blanket and was stroking his own penis.

  "Do you want me inside of you, Linne?" Riley asked when the head of his penis was pressing against her pink lips.

  "Yes, Riley," Linne said as she turned to look at his jade eyes with her amber ones. "I want you inside of me while our professor watches us."

  Riley smiled wide and then looked away from her eyes to watch as his penis opened her up and entered her wet lips. He moved his hand away from his shaft, which was now fully inside of Linne, to hold either one of her hips. The professor groaned from the couch as he watched Linne take it from behind. His hand moved up and down his penis, which was wet from Linne's inner lubricant.

  Riley held Linne's hips and the black-haired girl's hair moved gently around her cream-colored face as she was pumped in and out of. Riley's manhood entered and exited her slowly as he began to get a rhythm of movement going inside of her.

  "She likes it when you go deep," the professor said to Riley. "I'm sure you can accommodate her."

  "I will, professor," Riley said to Jimmy Hawthorne while he pushed his full length inside of Linne's tight body.