by Jessa York
“Honey, you’re missing the important stuff.” George shook my arm. “Here, look off mine,” she said, handing my pen to me.
“Thanks,” I said, gazing up again to our professor who was indeed, Jake. I’d never asked him for his last name. His place was spotless, not even an opened letter or piece of mail out for me to peek at. Gosh, I felt sick.
As Jake continued to talk—about what I had no clue—a sudden hot flush ran straight through me. Leaning over to George, I asked, “What did he say his last name was?”
She turned to me, smiling. “Professor hot stuff. I think. Could be wrong though.” She giggled, looking back down at her notes. “Afraid I wasn’t paying much attention to that part, sweetie.”
Something dawned on me and I ripped out my phone, texting Alex.
Me: Do you still have that picture you took of Jake’s driver’s license?
Alex: Girl, you know it!
Me: Can you send it?
Alex: Sure.
I waited a minute for it to show up then texted him back.
Me: Where is it? I can’t see it.
Alex: Oh you wanted it now? LOL, hold on.
Me: I will hurt you.
Ten seconds later, the license showed up on my screen. Zooming in, I read it over and over. Each time it said the same thing. Jake Richter.
Jake
Not two minutes into the class I spotted her long legs shoved into the aisle, just asking me to run my fingers and most definitely my tongue up them. Her gorgeous eyes refused to acknowledge me for several minutes.
I knew this because I couldn’t take my damn eyes off her. When she finally peered down at me, my heart raced in my chest. Part of me wanted to see her get all flustered, grab her books and run out of here.
However, she stayed. The whole class.
A few times I had scanned over my student list searching for Mindy’s name. Nothing. There were exactly zero Mindys registered for Calculus 100.
I had gotten duped. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a second, remembering the horrible texting situation that had occurred last week.
As promised, I texted Mindy that night. I’d thought about waiting a day to not seem too desperate. The only problem was that I indeed was desperate. Desperate to hear her voice, kiss those plump lips, and do a lot of other things to her.
So, like an idiot, I texted her.
Me: Hey hot stuff.
Mindy: Who dis?
That had made me crack a gut. This woman had been so crazy with her games and I was more than happy to play along.
Me: That’s how you’re going to play it?
Mindy: That’s how I always play it, baby…
Me: How about you send me a sexy pic?
I thought I’d try. A man could dream, right?
When my phone pinged a minute later, I could not wait to open it and see her response.
Instead of a hot, sexy Mindy, it was a picture of some guy’s naked nether regions with the text: There’s more where that came from, baby. Just text Big Daddy Steven for whatever you need.
Followed by picture after picture of Daddy Steven and his—appendage.
I nearly lost my supper. Disgusting. But the main thing that had my mind racing was the fact that Mindy had wrong numbered me. Me. Nobody had ever done that to me before.
I was the one who wrong numbered other people.
The whole time I’d thought she was this sweet, innocent girl, she’d actually been playing me. Had she even been a virgin? Or had she lied about that, too? Maybe it was all part of her act.
When I dismissed everyone, I hoped she’d lag back. We had things to discuss.
Luckily, that’s just what happened. She and a redhead were busy laughing to themselves about something as Mindy—or whoever the hell she was—copied her notes. Interesting.
Clearing my throat, I approached them. “Good day, ladies. Could you excuse us for a moment? I need to confirm a thing or two about registration with her,” I said, nodding over to the woman I’d slept with a week ago.
“Absolutely, no problem at all,” the redhead said to me with a bright smile. “Just bring my notes to class tomorrow, okay?” she said to the Mindy imposter.
“Of course. Thanks for your help,” the dark-haired temptress told her.
After the door shut, I sat on the desk across the aisle from her. “What’s your real name?”
“Paige,” she answered immediately out of those tasty lips of hers.
Damn, that was a pretty name. Now she’d ruined it for me. “Paige, we have a problem here.” My fingers laced together as I rested an elbow on my knee.
“We do?”
“Yes.”
“And what’s that?”
“The problem, Paige, is that professors are not allowed to sleep with their students.” No matter how hot they were. Damn, even after all the lies she’d fed me, I could feel my dick twitch being this close to her again.
“That’s nice. Thanks for the info. I’ll be sure to never sleep with a professor.” Her blank gaze peered back at me.
Was she kidding me? “Uh, I think it’s too late for that now.” I could feel my nostrils flare as my breathing sped up.
“How is it too late? I’m not sleeping with anyone, let alone one of my professors.” My gaze shot down to her hand where that mood ring sat. I couldn’t help but look at what color it was. Black.
“I see, so that wasn’t you I had pressed up against the shower wall, screaming my name as you came all over my cock?” It was an asshole thing to say but even so, it made my dick hard remembering how damn sexy she was all soaped up in the shower begging for release.
“It was. You have a good memory.”
“Therein lies our problem. Paige,” I said, feeling my temper flare.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but did that incident in the shower not occur over a week ago?”
“Yes.” My jaw clenched, not knowing what her point was.
“Mmm, hmm. And at that time were you my professor?” Her head tilted to the side as her eyes practically speared me in place.
“Technically? No.”
“That’s correct. Therefore, there’s not a problem. I have no plans to ever sleep with one of my professors. Trust me.”
I had no idea why that comment stung, but it did. “Stop being ridiculous. You need to drop this class. Now.”
Her eyebrows raised. “I’m not ridiculous and I’m not dropping this class.”
Letting my head fall forward for a second, I huffed. Peering back up, I said, “Would you be reasonable?”
Just then the sound of doors opening took our attention. Students began filing in for the next class, books in hands, chattering at full volume.
Without another word, she grabbed her books with the force of a woman who did not wish to further discuss anything. She dodged and weaved her way out, limping up the steps. Shaking my head, I wondered if she was faking that, too.
Man, she’d played me but good.
15
Paige
“And there I was, sitting like a good little boy in the most boring of all classes, geology. Like, who in the world even cares about rocks? I do not see what purpose our labs are going to serve. How many rocks can you even look at over the course of one semester?”
“Like, hello class, here’s another rock to look at. Just like the rock we looked at last week. And the week before that,” Alex said, going off on a tangent.
“Concentrate, dude. So far I don’t see what this emergency call is about? You said it was life altering news?” Holly said, over video chat while she put on her makeup for a performance she was in later.
“I can just—” I started before Alex put his hand over my mouth.
“Hush, girl. I have to tell this right.” He let go of me, leaning into his laptop, lowering his voice. “Then I get a text from our girl, Paige, asking for the pic I so wisely took of her hot guy’s driver’s license.”
“Were you in a boring class, too?” Holly as
ked, contouring her face with a darker shade of powder.
“Umm, yeah, calculus,” I said, exhaling loudly.
She put down the brush she had been using, staring directly into the lens. “You need to pay attention in calculus. What the heck are you doing texting with Alex?”
Opening my mouth, I didn’t get a chance to tell her. Alex cut right in. “Oh, she was paying attention—to the professor,” he said, laughing in such a high-pitched voice it hurt my ears.
“Oh, so he’s drool-worthy?” she asked, picking up a brush, dabbing it into a different circle of powder.
“You could say she’s already drooled—all over him.” Alex fell back on his bed, making the laptop bounce. I grabbed it so it wouldn’t topple over.
“What do you mean?” Holly set her brush down. “Paige?”
Letting out a sigh, I finished Alex’s story as he rolled around in fits of laughter. “It was the guy from the club.”
“Who was the guy from the club?”
“Her professor,” Alex screamed, grabbing his stomach, hardly able to breathe.
“What do you mean?” Holly asked again, her eyes wide in panic.
“My calculus professor is the guy I went home with from the club.”
Holly’s face froze on the screen making me think we had a bad connection for a minute. “Oh my God, you’re sleeping with your professor?” she whispered, unblinking. “I think there are rules about that, Paige.”
“Yeah, probably the same rules there are about nailing your teacher in high school.” Alex snorted back at Holly, managing to sit up as he wiped his eyes.
“I was legal. And he’s only four years older than me.” Holly attempted to defend her actions even though we all knew their relationship had been against the rules.
“And now you’re living with him far away from us in London.” Alex pouted, crossing his arms, bottom lip out.
“I may be coming home for a visit soon.” A sly smile emerged on her face.
“What? When?” Alex yelled, arms lifted to the sky in excitement.
“I’ll tell you later. Now I want to know more about calculus.”
“There’s not much more to say. He confronted me after class. I set him straight. End of story.” I leaned back on my hands, trying to play it cool. Seeing Jake up there, teaching the class had given me a case of the shakes I still couldn’t get rid of.
The look on his face had been one of sheer anger. At me. I wondered if he’d tried to text or call me—or whoever’s number I’d given to him. No matter how much I’d wanted to plug my digits into Jake’s phone, I just couldn’t.
Instead, I typed in a combination I’d hoped he would probably never use anyway. Lots of guys asked for girls’ numbers but didn’t actually call, right?
My stomach twisted hard as I thought about how many times I’d lied to him.
Holly bent closer. “You’re going to drop the class, though, right?”
Shaking my head, I replied, “Nope. I need this class for my degree. We slept together before the school year even started. As far as I see it, no rules were broken.”
Alex poked me in the shoulder. “Yeah, until you accidentally fall into his bed again.”
Just hearing Alex say that made my lower belly start aching. It didn’t even make sense since Jake was obviously mad at me. The bitterness in his voice when we spoke after class actually shocked me.
It was difficult to rectify that he’d been the same kind, funny, patient man I’d slept with last week. Not to mention he was the same kind, funny, patient boy I’d had a crush on all those years ago.
He obviously hadn’t recognized me or my name when I’d told him. I’m sure he’d never put two and two together and remember we’d been playmates as children.
Frowning at Alex, I said, “Look, it’s not like we had a relationship or anything. It was a one-night thing and we both knew it.” After I said that, my stomach began to hurt.
Holly looked down for a minute before she spoke, “Hmm, this is dangerous territory, Paige. I think you guys could get in trouble if anyone finds out.”
“Nobody’s going to find out. There’s nothing to find out,” I said, hunching over.
“Sleep on it. Seeing him every day in class is going to be hard on you.” Holly picked up her brush again and started powdering her face.
Yeah, and they didn’t even know the half of it yet. Telling them my mom had worked for Jake’s family for years hadn’t come up.
Neither had the fact he’d been my girlhood crush. Until he’d broken my heart and left.
“Nah, I’m good. I knew what I was getting into,” I said, hoping I’d convince myself the more times I said it.
“Still, take tonight and see how you feel tomorrow. Dropping one class won’t derail your life.” Holly handed out her wise words, putting the finishing touches on her face.
Desperate to change the subject, I asked her a question. “Now tell us your news?”
A huge, wide smile crossed her face. “Well, it’s kind of crazy and I know we’re young and haven’t even been together that long but—”
Alex turned the screen toward him, yelling, “Out with it already.”
Pulling the screen back so I could see it, too, Holly said, “Evan asked me to marry him.”
“No, he did not,” Alex screamed, leaping from the bed, running around his bedroom, pumping his arms in the air.
I broke out in a fit of giggles watching him. “Are you serious? You’re getting married?” I asked, feeling my eyes tear up as I watched her gaze get glassy.
She nodded. “Don’t you make me cry,” she said, tipping her head back and blinking as though that would stop the waterworks.
“You don’t make me cry,” I said, tears already flowing freely down my face.
Alex rushed over, hugging me, his voice cracking. “Our little girl is getting married. What are we going to do?”
That made me do a weird laugh/cry that ended with me coughing as I pushed away from him. “Congrats, girl. We’re so happy for you.”
“Stop you guys,” she begged, fanning her face with her hands. “I don’t want to redo my makeup.” It was pointless, though. Her mascara was already a mess.
“Okay, okay, Holly’s face is melting. We need to talk about something else,” Alex said, shoving his hands out, palms down. “Ahhmmm, ahhhmmm,” he began chanting some kind of meditation with his eyes closed.
“Is that why you’re coming home? To tie the knot?” I asked, wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand.
“Yeah,” she said, dabbing under her eyes with a Kleenex. “Well, I haven’t actually even met his parents yet. Evan said his family would probably put on some kind of engagement party for us. I’m not sure when we’ll actually get married. I’m guessing not for a while yet.”
Gazing over to Alex, he was still absorbed in his own little world. “That is so exciting. You’ll let us know when you’re coming home?”
She nodded, tearing up again. “Of course, I will. I can’t wait to see you guys.”
“Ditto. Now go fix your face and break a leg tonight. And Holly?”
“Hmm?” she said, giving me a small smile that warmed my heart no matter how pixelated the screen became.
“I’m over the moon excited for you guys.”
“Thanks, I knew you would be. Look after that lunatic beside you, okay?” We both laughed as we said our goodbyes.
16
Jake
One benefit of not sleeping all night was that it gave me plenty of ideas about ways to force Miss Paige—damn, I didn’t even know her last name yet—to voluntarily drop my class if she had the balls to show up again today.
Part of me was certain she’d be too smart to come back after yesterday. I was sure after some reflection she’d realize what a stupid idea it was to continue as student/professor after we’d gotten to know each other’s bodies in biblical terms.
Just the thought of seeing Paige and her curves in my class, several times a week dr
ove me crazy. Remembering how her face looked right before I took her—Christ. And the sounds that woman made? My dick twitched thinking about her desperate moans.
I sighed a breath of relief as I looked down at my watch. Two minutes until I started. Mindy—I mean Paige, seemed like the intense kind of learner to never be late for anything. All signs pointed to the fact she’d done the right thing and quit.
Turning around to the board, I wrote the title of the next section we’d be going over today. A small zing of excitement shot through me as I thought about everything I’d teach these poor saps behind me. By the end of the term most of them would be light years ahead of where they were right now.
“We’ll start, everyone please take your seats,” I said, adjusting the small microphone I wore. In a lecture hall of this size there was no getting around using one to save your voice.
Walking slowly back to the lectern, I heard a woman say, “Oh sugar, let me help you.” Peering up, I saw Paige limping down the steps looking around for an open seat. Damn it all to hell. Why did she not stay away? I gritted my teeth so hard my jaw hurt.
She held onto the gorgeous redhead whose notes she’d copied yesterday. Inwardly sighing, I waited for her to take a seat. Once she did, the redhead helped open Paige’s backpack, getting her settled.
“If it’s all right with everyone, I’d like to get started. First off,” I said, moseying around in front of the table that sat beside me. “Please consider this your formal invitation to arrive at class on time. We will not wait for you. In fact, from now on if you’re late don’t bother entering. I despise my time being wasted and I refuse to waste the rest of the class’s time waiting on those who are tardy.”
Paige looked directly at me, her face blushing. “There are many sections we need to get through and only so many allotted days. If you feel that getting to class places too much of a demand on your social life—now is the time to leave,” I said the final part directly to her although I’m sure she and everyone else in the class knew exactly who I was speaking to.
