by Raquel Belle
“Hey, how are you?” I said and we bumped fists.
“Slammed,” he said. “I had three papers to write this weekend and got like three hours of sleep,” he rubbed his eyes and then gestured behind me. “Looks like JJ found a girlfriend. I bet the class will be mad,” he said. My body froze for a second then I turned my head and saw another professor that I knew of, standing way too close to Josh. She taught English and a lot of the guys who took her class thought she was hot. Which, I guess she was, for a short, petit, blonde. She touched his chest and Josh laughed. My breath caught in my chest on an unexpected pang of hurt.
“They’ll trash talk her around campus,” I said, trying to make my tone light but it was hard. Jacob didn’t notice that I was off. We walked into class together. Josh could be seen getting close to another professor on campus. There was no policy against professors dating. I sat down in my usual seat and Jacob sat beside me. If he didn’t want to hide, if he wanted a real relationship he could date his co-worker if he wanted.
“Holy shit, Naomi, look at what she’s wearing,” Jake pointed to a girl who just stepped into class. She wore a blatantly thin white tank top without a bra underneath. The entire class could see her areolas and nipples. What’s worse is the short-shorts she wore with it.
“Why would anyone leave their house looking like that?” I murmured. Jake cracked up.
“To impress JJ, why else? Man, this class is comedy,” he said, chuckling to himself. I sighed and shook my head. I wanted to yell, “He’s taken!” Of course, I couldn’t and I wouldn’t. So women would continue to hit on him and make passes at him right in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it. I pinched the bridge of my nose and opened my textbook to finish reading the chapter before Josh walked in.
He glanced at the girl, who chose to sit in the front, once. Then started the lecture. Josh was always careful not to look at me much, I on the other hand couldn’t help it. He was the professor and it would be weird if I never looked at him while he spoke. After class though, the skimpy dressed girl was the first person in line with questions for Josh. I packed my bag slowly, glad that Jake wanted to watch the spectacle for kicks and giggles too. After she asked Josh her bogus questions she lingered by her desk, slowly packing her things while checking her phone. She was obviously trying to stay behind after everyone left.
“Hey, do you want to stay late to ask him something, just to piss her off?” Jake asked. I smirked, really glad I gained him as a friend this semester.
“Yes, yes, you go first,” I said, grinning. Jake pulled his bag over his shoulder and walked to the head of the class. The girl stepped in front of him to say something to Josh and then he took a deep breath, glanced at me for a split second and then gestured to the door. He took his briefcase and left the classroom with her. Jake turned around, his eyes wide and his mouth in an O of surprise.
“Where do you think they’re going?” he whispered loudly.
“Office hours?” I said. Even though I sounded none the wiser, bile rose in the back of my throat.
“Holy shit, what if they bang in his office?” Jake snickered.
I rolled my eyes and walked to the door. “Come on, let’s go to the library,” I said. All I could imagine was Josh taking that girl to his office and her coming on to him. What if they did have sex? It didn’t help that Jake kept rambling on about different scenarios of Josh having sex with her. According to Jake, the most logical option they’d have is in Josh’s car. I felt sick thinking about it.
Later that afternoon, before I left the parking lot to drive home, Josh called me. I answered after taking a breath. My mind was all over the place, I had the irrational fear that he was going to end things between us. It was irrational, sure, but I couldn’t shake the fear and it made my eyes water.
“Hey, are you working tonight?” he asked.
“No, I work all weekend,” I said. My voice was too soft, too vulnerable. I realized then, how much I was starting to like Josh and I wasn’t prepared for it.
“Mind if I come over?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “See you soon,” I said. We ended the call and I drove home with tight hands around the steering wheel. I took care of Jerry when I got home and opened the fridge looking for food. I didn’t feel like cooking and I didn’t want to keep wasting money on eating out. Josh knocked on the door and I closed the fridge and let him in.
“Hey,” he said, smiling as if he hadn’t seen me all day. He put his hand at the small of my back and kissed me.
“Hi,” I said. I rubbed the center of my chest which felt oddly heavy and warm. I couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness that I had.
“Are you feeling better from the stomach bug?” he asked.
“Yeah much better. It was stress related,” I said. Josh and I walked to my bedroom and laid down. He grabbed my tv remote and started flipping through channels. “Your uh…colleague was really touchy today, huh?” I said. Josh glanced at me and quirked his eyebrow.
“I guess, she always is though. I don’t entertain it but she was being bold in the hallway. She knew I wouldn’t make a scene,” he said. “Same with Erika, the girl who wore a see through shirt. I walked her out of the building because I didn’t want to get stuck in the room alone with her,” he said.
“Oh,” I said. Josh settled on a channel showing Frasier reruns. I bit my lip and glanced at Josh a few times. His profile could’ve been stamped on a penny or etched into marble.
“Do you see yourself…with a family one day?” I asked. “Or did your ex-wife kind of ruin that dream for you?” I asked, it was a question that had been haunting me.
“I definitely still want a family. That hasn’t changed for me. I want kids, the whole nine yards,” he said. I bit my lip to keep from reacting too much, my eyes started to water. I was honestly annoyed, why was I so emotional?
“That’s…understandable,” I muttered.
“What about you?” he asked. I shrugged. If he wanted a family it was only a matter of time until he ran out of interest in me. “So, did you talk to your parents yet?”
“No. Neither of them have called or texted me. It’s…it’s not fair that they treat me as the afterthought all the time,” I said.
“You aren’t an afterthought. I’m sure they’ll reach out to you. The situation is messy on all sides,” he said. What did he know?
“Thanks but…you don’t know them like I do,” I said.
Josh fell silent then. “You know that I didn’t—that I wouldn’t—do anything with other women, right? If I can ask you to be with me alone, you can expect me to reciprocate,” he said. I looked up at him, wondering when he’d see that he was wasting time with me. If he wanted a family, a wife and kids, he needed to move on. It was obvious. Yet, he was there, in my bed, promising that I had him all to myself.
“Thanks,” I said. Josh kissed me then. His lips pressed firmly to mine and his tongue swept against my bottom lip before he tugged it between his teeth. I put my hand on his chest and he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me to him so that our hips were flush. Heat spread through me quicker than normal and I rubbed my hand over his cock. I felt it twitch and start to stiffen under his jeans.
Our tongues swept against each other’s and I unbuttoned his fly. He stopped my hand before I could tug on the waistband of his jeans.
“What?” I asked. Josh shook his head and then rolled onto his side. I laid flat and he pushed off my pajama shirt and slid off my shorts. I was naked underneath them. Josh ran his hand over my stomach, then palmed each of my breasts and pinched my nipples. Pleasure spiked in my belly and I reached for him. He kissed my neck and then pulled one of my nipples between his teeth. I moaned softly and his hand passed over my pussy before he spread my legs and his fingers slipped between the folds of my cunt. He rubbed my clit and kissed me again. My hips rocked against his hand and he slipped two fingers into me.
Josh pulled his fingers out of me and quickly whipped his clothes off. Josh
lifted my leg and pressed his hips to mine, he rubbed his cock against my clit while kissing and nibbling at my collar bone. My back arched and my hips rolled underneath him as I strained for more of him. I wanted him inside but I wasn’t wet enough yet. We both knew that.
He moved, sliding down to rest his shoulders between my legs and spread my lips apart to flick his tongue against my clit. I moaned and bunched the bedsheets in my fists. He applied the perfect pressure with his tongue and swirled circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves. I couldn’t help that my hips echoed the motion of his tongue and then he slipped his fingers into me again and I groaned as he started to thrust against the right spot inside of me.
My legs tensed and I ran my fingers through his hair over and over as he continued to drive me towards an intense orgasm. The wave of pleasure hit me fast. I cried out and Josh wiped his mouth on my thigh before he took his fingers out of me, replacing them with his cock. He filled me up in one slow thrust.
“Josh,” I whispered. He started to move. I held on to his waist as he took slow, hard strokes. There was no way to describe it other than languorous, he took his time with me. Josh kissed and sucked on my neck. He changed up his stroke and thrust into me hard, our hips connecting. I felt him fill every nook and cranny of my pussy and my body shuddered underneath him. My pussy squeezed and milked his cock and he slammed his fist against the headboard.
“Shit,” he hissed.
“Please, please keep going,” I begged. Josh pulled out of me and turned me over. He pulled my ass up and sank into me again. He gripped my waist and slammed into me from the back. His cock went deep, over and over again. The room was loud with my cries of pleasure and Josh didn’t let up. My legs went weak as my body strained towards climax. I felt as though I were freefalling and Josh was my parachute. He didn’t stop until my body gave out. I screamed with the pleasure and he hugged my waist before I could fall. My body shook and my mind blanked, went somewhere else completely. Vaguely, I heard Josh groan and then moments later I opened my eyes and he smiled at me. He looked drunk and I was completely spent, I couldn’t move and I didn’t want to.
“Stay?” I murmured drunkenly.
“Of course,” he said and kissed me softly on the lips. With Josh’s warmth wrapped around me like a blanket, I was out within seconds.
Chapter Fourteen
Josh
I wanted to stay with Naomi. That much was painfully true when I woke up beside her in the morning and felt like everything was as it should be. I left her apartment early and drove back to my house while mulling over the situation. We could stay together. We could continue doing what we had been doing until the class was over, then we wouldn’t have to hide anymore. At least, I was pretty sure that was how it worked.
I looked for the orientation packets I got when I was hired at Southeastern and found the code of conduct and ethics book for professors. If I wasn’t mistaken, relationships between professor and current student were prohibited, but relationships with students you weren’t personally teaching were merely frowned upon. When the semester ended we could go all in, basically. I flipped through the pages until I found the policy. I read it through four times. I was right. Hope tugged at my chest. My phone was on the desk, I grabbed it and called her.
Naomi answered on the last ring, “Hey, didn’t I just see you?” she said, her voice was a lot lighter than it was the night before. I hoped that was because of me, she’d been having a rough go lately with all of her family drama.
“Yeah but I just discovered something I probably should have looked up a long time ago,” I said. “Come over tonight, I want to talk about it in person.”
“Sounds serious?” she said.
“Yes and no, plus I want to see you,” I said.
“You always want to see me,” she chuckled. “Alright I’ll see you later, then.” We ended the call and then I faced the new set of papers I had waiting to grade. With earbuds in my ears for background music, I buckled down and started grading.
When I felt a tap on my shoulder, I jumped out of my chair and spun around to find Amy bent over, dying of laughter. “What the hell, Amy?” I yelled.
She pointed at my face and forced air into her lungs, “You should see your face,” she chortled. She wore a pair of skinny jeans, a t-shirt and light blazer over it. Her hair was tied in a ponytail.
“You could have called, texted, anything to let me know you were coming over. You can’t just sneak up on people like that and give them heart attacks!”
Amy laughed all over again. I rolled my eyes and took the earbuds off, sat down and ignored her while she recovered from her fit of laughter. I finished grading the last paper.
“I’m sorry,” she said soberly. “Really, I didn’t mean to give you a heart attack. But I texted you like five times,” she said. “I just came from a late lunch and was passing by so I brought leftovers.”
“Thanks,” I sighed. “You should have called if you were close by and I didn’t reply.” I stood up and put the graded papers away. The code of ethics book was underneath it all and on the center of my desk. Amy’s eyes landed squarely on it and she glanced at me curiously.
“Brushing up on some rules?” she asked.
“That’s just where I’ve left it,” I said as nonchalant as possible. Amy recoiled a little bit and looked at me as if she didn’t recognize me.
“Why do you have to lie, Josh? I know you. That book was probably filed away neatly somewhere in saran wrap,” she said. Amy searched my face and unconsciously, her hand went to her hip. “That girl from the club,” she prompted.
“I told you all there is to know, Amy. Drop it,” I said.
“Josh. I really hope you aren’t being stupid and dating a student. You’ve never done that before and you’ve always made a point not to find yourself in that situation.”
I sighed heavily and rubbed my eyebrows. “So where’s the food? What’d you bring?” I asked and walked out of the office. Amy didn’t leave the room until I got to my kitchen and found the paper bag on the counter. She’d had lunch at a Cuban restaurant. Inside was half of a steak sandwich and a cup of fried sweet plantains—maduros.
“Josh…” Amy stood by the fridge with her arms crossed over her chest.
“Amy,” I said and popped the container with the sandwich open. It was still warm, I took a bite. Her jaw tensed and she waited for me to give her a serious answer. “It’s not what you think. So, relax,” I said.
“Tell me she’s a grad student at least, a young lecturer or something,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it Amy. I’m not gonna lose my job. There’s nothing for you to be worried about so please drop it,” I said. She rolled her eyes and then grabbed her keys from the counter.
“I’ll pray for you, Josh,” she said. It was something she often said when I frustrated her.
“Please do,” I said with a smirk. Amy waved and I silently walked her out. I hung out by the front door until she pulled away then sighed as I walked back inside. Yeah, there was no hiding things from Amy. On purpose or by accident, she always found shit out. It turned out to be a good thing that I pissed her off because a few minutes later, Naomi texted me that she was outside.
I jogged to the front door and opened it for her. Her eyes were dull, she wore a sweatshirt over shorts and her hair was in a loose half ponytail.
“Hey, how are you? You don’t look like yourself,” I said. Naomi stepped inside and pecked me on the lips.
“I’m fine…it’s just been a blah kind of day,” she said. Naomi rubbed her eyes and walked towards the kitchen. “Can I have some water?” she asked.
“Sure, have a seat. I’ll get it for you.” Naomi turned around and sat in the living room. I poured her a glass of water and joined her on the couch. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days and I couldn’t remember if she looked as drawn since morning or not.
“Want to talk about it?” I asked. I wondered if she’d finally spoken to her parents.
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“No. It’s nothing, just a mood,” she said quickly. Naomi put the glass down on the coffee table and then tucked her legs under her. “What did you want to talk about?” she picked at something on her hand and I realized that she was probably nervous.
“It’s nothing bad, like I said. I just wanted to tell you in person—”
“Can it wait then, if it isn’t serious?” she asked. My mouth opened and closed. Naomi moved closer to me on the couch and pushed her fingers into my hair, at the same time her other hand drifted to my fly. Her lips were on mine after that and I knew we wouldn’t be talking about the code of ethics any time soon. I couldn’t help but think, as we kissed, that there was a part of Naomi that still felt distant. Usually, as soon as our clothes fell off I got caught up in her scent and the sounds she made. I was oblivious to the fact that she barely met my eyes until I cupped her face and tried to catch her gaze. Naomi unbuckled my pants and rubbed her hand over my cock before she reached under the waistband of my boxers and pulled it out.
I was almost fully erect and knew that if I kept thinking—hesitating—this wouldn’t be fun for either of us. Afterwards we would talk and smooth things out. Naomi stroked my cock in her grip and heat flooded my veins. I bit her neck and then pushed her shirt off, followed by unhooking her bra. I cupped her breasts in my hands and pinched her nipples. Naomi moaned softly and straddled my hips. I moved to lie her down on the couch and kissed her neck. I sucked and nibbled on her nipples until they were hard peaks.
Naomi’s hips moved impatiently against mine. I pulled her shorts off and moved her thong aside to kiss the top of her pussy. Naomi gently combed her fingers through my hair as I kissed my way to her clit. I fluttered my tongue against the sensitive nub and she sighed an easy moan. I sucked hard on her clit and felt her legs tremble. When I slid two fingers into her core and pressed on her g-spot, Naomi cried out and her hips started to move. She rubbed her folds on my tongue and lips. I liked when she lost control, it was one of the few times we really connected no matter how hard I tried otherwise.
