Extra Credit: A College Reverse Harem Romance

by Cassie Cole

  “I have a favor to ask.”

  He swung his cobalt eyes up to me. “Anything for you.”

  I lowered my voice and said, “We can’t tell Dominic you’re my student. I don’t know how he’d react, and I’m not sure I want to find out.”

  Zack nodded, his blond hair brushing against my arm. “No worries. Your secret’s safe with me.”

  I sighed, relieved that he didn’t mind. “Thanks. It will be easier when the semester’s over and we don’t have to be secretive.”

  “When the semester’s over?” he asked. “You’re thinking that far ahead?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “I didn’t know if you would enjoy this as much when I’m not your student. Maybe you only liked it because it was forbidden.”

  I stroked his hair, feeling the silky strands between my fingers. “That’s part of the fun, sure. But I very much want it to continue after that.”

  I didn’t realize how tense he was until he relaxed against me. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “Me too.”

  “Good.”

  Finn returned to the bedroom, still nude as a jaybird. “Blinds were open. Someone down in the parking lot got one hell of a show.” He flexed his arms.

  I giggled at the sexy sight. “I love how cocky you are.”

  “And I love you.”

  The words fell out of Finn’s mouth like he didn’t mean to say them, then instantly wished he could pull them back.

  “Dude,” Zack said.

  “I mean, I love you underneath me,” Finn quickly corrected. “I love your peach of an ass. That’s what I meant to say.”

  “Hell of a Freudian slip,” Zack teased.

  Finn sat on the chair in the corner and stretched his hands behind his back. “Big phrase for a business major.”

  “I took a psychology elective,” Zack argued. “That was totally a Freudian slip.”

  “Whatever.”

  I stared at the dark-haired man. Underneath his five o’clock shadow Finn was blushing! Was he embarrassed by the slip, or did he mean it deep down?

  I really like him, I thought. But love…

  I wasn’t sure how I felt. But when I looked at Finn in the chair, and he grinned back at me… I felt something in my gut.

  Dominic’s hulking figure returned to the bedroom. He was wearing his jeans but no shirt, and his chest glistened with beads of sweat.

  “Dude, you’re fucking jacked,” Finn said. “If this teaching thing doesn’t work out you could be a stripper.”

  Dominic barked a carefree laugh. “I can’t dance.”

  “Dancing can be taught,” Zack chimed in. “Especially if you’ve already got the goods.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement.” Dominic sighed happily while sitting next to me on the bed. “I had told Jessica I wanted to get adventurous, and I’m glad she took me up on it. That was quite something.”

  “Glad she did too,” Zack said.

  “We’ll have to do it again sometime.” Dominic glanced down at me. “If Jessica wants to, of course.”

  I burst out laughing. “Oh we’re definitely doing that again.”

  Finn raised a dark eyebrow. “You enjoyed it? I couldn’t tell.”

  “My screams of pleasure weren’t a clue?”

  “You might’ve been trying to sing,” Finn replied. “That’s how Zack sounds when he sings in the shower.”

  Zack grabbed a pillow and hurled it across the room. Finn deftly knocked it aside and then leaped to his feet.

  “Whelp, I’m going to head back upstairs. Your mom send you home with any pumpkin pie?”

  Zack gave me a parting kiss and then slid out of bed. “Two slices with homemade whipped cream.”

  “Hell yeah.” Finn threw on his clothes, blew me a kiss, and then they left. The sound of the front door opened and closed, and then my apartment was silent again.

  Dominic wrapped me in his arms and spooned me. “I must admit, I was nervous about tonight. But that exceeded my expectations and fantasies. They’re welcome to join us any time.”

  I snuggled back against him. “I’ll take you up on it.”

  We cuddled and drifted off to sleep, satisfied in every way.

  39

  Jessica

  Dominic got up before me the next morning and made breakfast. I woke to the smell of eggs and butter and spices. The tall professor was standing in the kitchen with one of my aprons tied around his waist.

  “Jessica! Perfect timing. I made breakfast.”

  “It smells amazing. What is it?”

  He raised a muffin tray and tilted it so I could see. “Bacon, egg, and cheese mini quiches.”

  I blinked in surprise. “You made quiches?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised,” he said defensively. “I’m a unique and complex man.”

  Dominic had a smear of flour on his cheek. I leaned up and kissed it off. “I’m not surprised you made quiches. I’m surprised I had the ingredients. How did you make the crust?”

  “It’s only flour, salt, and butter.” He used a spatula to pop one of the mini quiches out of the pan. It was golden brown on the outside.

  “Okay, now I’m surprised you know how to make crusts from scratch. But you look adorable in that apron, and I love food, so I’m going to smile and let you serve me.”

  He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to him. “You seem to enjoy what I served you last night.”

  I giggled at the naughty memory. “I enjoyed it very much.” I pointed to my mouth. “But this is the only hole I want filled right now.”

  Dominic put down the spatula and unzipped his jeans. “If you insist…”

  I laughed and shoved him away, and then he wrapped me in a long morning kiss.

  The mini quiches were amazing. Dominic complained that he didn’t use enough salt but I thought they were perfect. I ate two, then decided that I deserved a third one. After all, we had worked up quite an appetite last night.

  “What do you have planned for this gorgeous Sunday?” he asked.

  “My schedule is clear,” I said. “Whatever you want to do with me.”

  He gave me an apologetic look. “I have work to do. Papers to grade, and I need to prepare the pop quiz I’m giving my class.”

  “Skip the test,” I said with a playful pout. “Stay home and play with me instead.”

  “I would love nothing more, but I can’t allow my personal pleasure to interfere with my job as a professor.”

  He meant it in a lighthearted way, but the comment was a dark reminder that my own personal pleasure was indeed interfering with my job. A pit formed in my stomach.

  “Besides,” he said with a smirk. “I’m feeling drained today. I need time to recuperate.”

  “Okay, old man,” I said with a sweet smile.

  “Aren’t we the same age?”

  “Nuh uh,” I said. “You’re six months older. I don’t turn thirty-three until January.”

  “Close enough.”

  “Nope! I’m still a young, beautiful woman and you’re an old geezer.”

  Despite our banter, the pit in my stomach remained until he kissed me goodbye and left. I changed clothes and went up to the tenth floor. Finn answered the door shirtless. He looked me up and down like someone examining a meal he was going to devour.

  “Ready for another go?” he asked.

  “I’m going to need multiple days before I’m ready for anything else,” I said while walking into his apartment. “I’m quite sore this morning.”

  “Sorry.”

  I kissed him on the cheek. “It’s okay. It’s a good sore.”

  Zack came out of his bedroom beaming happily. “Good, because I’m not sorry for what we did to you. I loved every minute of it.”

  He embraced me and held me tight like we hadn’t seen each other in weeks. I inhaled deeply.

  “You smell like baked goods.”

  “Dominic made breakfast quiches.”

  Zack scoffed. “H
e helps us gangbang you and then doesn’t offer us his quiches? Rude.”

  Finn gestured at me with a RedBull. “Our tits aren’t as nice as hers.”

  “Dominic is actually why I’m here,” I said. “I wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page about our relationship. He can’t know that you’re my student.”

  “I know,” Zack said. “We talked about this last night.”

  “I’m making sure Finn knows, too.”

  His dark eyes narrowed. “I don’t go around bragging about all the women my roommate bangs.”

  “But you might see Dominic again,” I insisted, “either on campus or if the four of us get together. Zack isn’t my student. Is that clear?”

  “Your secret’s safe with me,” Finn said. “I don’t want to get you fired or anything.”

  “Dominic wouldn’t turn me in. I don’t want him to know because… I just don’t.”

  Finn cocked his head. “You really care what he thinks, don’t you?”

  Zack crossed his arms over his chest. “Things must be getting serious with you two.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “Has he said I love you yet?” Zack asked.

  “No.”

  He tried to suppress a smirk. “Then it’s not as serious as your relationship with Finn.”

  Finn groaned. “Stop making it weird.”

  “It’s not weird that you totally love Jessica.”

  I nodded playfully, joining in on the teasing.

  Finn finished the rest of his RedBull and tossed it in the trash. “After what you let us do to you? It was my cock speaking more than my brain.” He leaned in close like he was going to kiss me. “I do like you, though.” He let his lips drift close, close enough that I could smell the fruity energy drink… Then he walked down the hall and closed his door.

  I spent the rest of my Sunday relaxing. We were two weeks away from final exams so I did a little bit of work on that, but I mostly vegged in front of the TV. After spending the previous day anxiously cleaning my apartment and preparing for last night’s events, it felt good to relax.

  I kept thinking about what Finn had said. I doubted that he actually loved me. We had been fooling around for a couple months. That was it. We didn’t go on dates or hang out together outside of the bedroom. Our relationship was purely physical.

  Then why did my stomach tingle whenever I thought about him, the same way it did when I thought about Zack or Dominic?

  There was no denying that I had feelings for all three of them. I meant what I had said to Zack last night: I wanted our relationship to continue after this semester. But to what extent? Things were getting more and more serious with Dominic. Even though he enjoyed group sex, I wondered when he would want us to get exclusive. How would that work? Would Zack and Finn be able to still have fun with us while keeping things casual?

  Or worse: would I have to choose between them?

  I wasn’t ready to think about that, so I put it out of my mind while watching TV.

  Class the next morning was slow to get started. Everyone seemed to have a Thanksgiving hangover. This was the toughest part of the year. Final exams were two weeks away, with winter break after that. Getting a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving was like a tease. Here’s a nice little break for you… now go back to campus and study your ass off for two more weeks.

  Melanie was the only one who seemed awake and alert while I lectured. She gazed out at the students like she was searching for something to complain about. I pitied her future students if she ever decided to teach. She would probably be the type of professor who took attendance every class, as if they were middle schoolers instead of adults who were paying to be there.

  I was just getting into a groove about Emperor Macrinus’s short reign when my students all turned toward the door. One girl said, “Aww!” loudly.

  Dominic was standing in the doorway with a bouquet of red and yellow roses in his hand. He walked into the room and nodded to the class. “Sorry for disrupting the lecture, everybody. Professor Morris paid a visit to one of my classes last week so I’m returning the favor, with interest.”

  Everything fell apart before I had a chance to realize it.

  Dominic turned away from the class and extended the bouquet to me with a charming smile.

  Then he did a double-take and looked back at the class.

  The bouquet fell from his hands.

  As he stared out at the class, I saw him mouth one word.

  Zack.

  40

  Jessica

  Dominic mouthed the word Zack, then whipped his head back toward me with accusation in his eyes.

  And then deep disappointment.

  I snatched the bouquet of flowers off the ground. “Slippery fingers!” I said to the students.

  “Professor Karlson?” one of my male students said. “You’re dating Professor Morris?”

  “Nice,” another student said. “Get it, Professor Morris!”

  Zack was sinking down in his chair like he wanted to disappear.

  I turned back to Dominic. “We need to talk…”

  “I have to go.” He whirled around and practically jogged from the room.

  “No kiss?” one of the students asked.

  “I think he’s shy!” another said.

  “Maybe this is the first time he’s telling Professor Morris he likes her.”

  They were all background noise to me. There was only one severe, painful thought running through my head:

  I screwed everything up.

  I chased after him, catching him out in the hallway.

  “Dominic, wait!”

  He whirled around with lightning speed. “You lied to me.”

  “You don’t understand…”

  “Then help me understand!” he said with quiet rage. “Because my understanding right now is that you just fucked one of your students!”

  Even though he said it quietly, I gazed around to make sure nobody was nearby. “It started before the semester. I didn’t know he was my student then.”

  “You know now!”

  “We tried to stop,” I said in a rush. Tears welled in my eyes. “Zack couldn’t drop the class because of his schedule.”

  “Oh, okay! So you just kept doing it even though you knew it was wrong! I understand now!”

  He tried to turn away but I grabbed his arm. “Dominic, please…”

  He yanked his arm away from me. “I don’t know you. You’re not the person I thought you were.”

  Dominic stormed off and this time I didn’t stop him.

  It took thirty seconds to collect myself and then return to class. My students were wide awake now and full of excited questions.

  “Professor Karlson is, like, so dreamy,” one girl said. “You two should get married.”

  “Why did he run off?” another girl asked. “Was he nervous about giving you flowers? That’s adorable!”

  Zack looked terrified, but I avoided his stare. I didn’t want to look at him.

  It was a struggle to resume my lecture after that. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach that worsened with every moment. Somehow I managed to get through the subject matter on the syllabus and then hastily dismissed the class.

  I was halfway to my office when Zack caught up to me. “Hey. Professor. Do you have a minute?”

  His normally calming presence had the opposite effect on me today. I flinched when I heard his voice and whispered, “We can’t be seen together.”

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered back. “For ruining things for you and Dominic.”

  “You didn’t ruin anything,” I replied. Tears were welling in my eyes again. “I did this to myself. This was all one giant mistake. I knew it was wrong but I did it anyway.”

  “What are you saying?”

  I stopped in front of my office and finally faced him. Zack’s eyes were wide and fearful of what I was going to say next. I almost didn’t have it in me to say it out loud.

  Almost. />
  “We are a mistake,” I said. “We can’t be together, and it was stupid for us to think otherwise.”

  He blinked and a single tear ran down his cheek. That was too much for me, and my emotions threatened to overwhelm me, so I spun away and hurried into the bathroom.

  I had just enough time to verify that the bathroom was empty before I started bawling. First because of what Dominic had said, and then because of what I said to Zack. It felt like I had just been dumped by Zack even though I was the one making the decision. I cried and cried until my chest ached from the effort.

  How could I have been so stupid? Being with Zack had been so much fun at the time in spite of the risk. Maybe because of the risk. But now that Dominic knew it felt like the horrible mistake it was. I had known what I was doing and I went ahead and did it anyway.

  I’m a fool, I thought while cleaning myself up in the mirror. I’m the biggest fool in the world.

  Grateful that I had some time before my next class, I returned to my office to figure out what to do next. How to fix this.

  But Melanie was waiting in my office when I got back.

  “I don’t have time to go over the tests,” I told her. “It can wait until Wednesday.”

  “It’s not that. I wanted to talk about what happened in class with Professor Karlson.”

  “That was a personal matter, and frankly it’s none of your business.”

  She remained calm and poised in her chair. “I know what happened, Professor.”

  I let out a bitter laugh. “I doubt it.”

  “It’s about Zack Tupelo.”

  I froze halfway into my chair. What does she know?

  Melanie carefully folded her hands in her lap. Like a lawyer preparing to lay out her case. “The signs have been there all semester. You have always treated him differently. It began on the first day when he walked into class. You kept looking at him. It was peculiar. Noteworthy. As the semester went on I noticed that you address him differently. You are a friendly professor.”

  “I’m friendly with all my students,” I said defensively. She doesn’t know anything. She can’t know.

  “That’s just it. You are friendly with all of the students… except Zack. When answering his questions you are stiff and formal. Did you know my mother was my high school chemistry teacher? The way you talk to Zack reminds me of the way she used to speak to me in class. Just a little bit more formal than everyone else. Like you’re over-correcting.”