Naughty Professor - A Standalone Teacher Romance

by Claire Adams

  I pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a baggy shirt before leaving the sanctity of my room to face the wrath of my roommate. Just as I’d imagined, she stood in front of the sink with bubbles up to her elbows. A few cleaners were pulled out and sitting on the counter, as well.

  I arched my eyebrows as I approached cautiously. Apparently, it was going to be a cleaning day. Not that I would ever complain about Bailey taking her anger out on our apartment. The landlord loved it. He was always impressed whenever he came to check out the place.

  “Cleanest apartment I have here,” he beamed the last time we saw him. “Consider your rent lowered for such a great cleaning job you two do.”

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Bailey didn’t even spare me a glance. She scrubbed aggressively at a pot before dunking it back into soapy water.

  “What’s it look like I’m doing?” she quipped, shooting me a look that cut at me. “This place is dirty. Pick up a sponge while you’re standing there, or at least clean some of the dishes. You’ve barely been around to help out anyway.”

  I sighed as I picked up a dirty plate to hand to her. “I know. I’m sorry. I have a lot homework to do and-”

  “A new friend to hang out with, too,” she added snidely.

  “Is that what you’re having your period about?” I asked. “Because I hung out with someone else besides you?”

  “Not just that,” she replied, and turned to look at me with bubbles trailing down her tanned arms. “You’ve been MIA since the beginning of this semester. I can tell something is going on with you, and we are supposed to be roommates and friends.”

  I caught a brief glimpse of genuine hurt in Bailey’s eyes before she turned to continue scrubbing at the dishes. Guilt shot through me. Maybe I was the one acting like a complete bitch to Bailey the past few weeks.

  We had known each other for four years, despite my suspicions that Bailey inwardly had a love-hate relationship with me. I never knew were we stood with one another, but to hear her drop the friend label changed that a bit.

  I still didn’t plan on telling her the truth, though. Noah and I had promised one another to keep quiet and not tell anyone about each other.

  “You’re right,” I said. I waited until she turned to look back at me to offer an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for going MIA on you. I’m just trying to get through the next couple of weeks so I can graduate.”

  “And, there’s nothing going on with you?”

  “Nothing,” I said, and ignored the guilt growing in my stomach. “Just the usual crap of being stressed out with homework and school.”

  She looked skeptical for a long moment, but relented when I handed her another dirty plate to wash. “All right. What do you want to do this weekend?”

  “Whatever you want to do,” I said, grabbing a washcloth from next to the sink. I placed my phone on counter to plug it in and charge. “I have a lot of homework to do and an exam to study for.”

  “That’s what Sundays are for,” Bailey pointed out and washed the last plate with a relieved sigh. “What about seeing a movie next weekend? I already know you’re going to turn me down for a party.”

  “No parties for me,” I said, grimacing. “I don’t know how you do it, honestly. Loud music, horny guys, and cheap booze does not sound ideal to me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “That’s if you go to a frat party,” she said. “I’m over the frat parties, too. The guy I went to Hawaii with goes to wine gatherings in New York.”

  “Sounds classy. That’s a step up from what you were bringing back here.”

  “It is,” she agreed, beaming. “His name is Conner. His family is close friends with my family, so we’ll get to see each other a lot over the summer.”

  “That’s great,” I replied, grinning at her. “Here, let me finish the dishes up while you wipe down the counters.”

  “Good. My fingers were getting to be prunes.”

  She wiggled her soaked fingers with a giggle. We switched sides, and I spent the next ten minutes washing down every utensil we owned while Bailey chatted animatedly about various things. She lifted my phone to wipe down the counter there before setting it down.

  “Iris.”

  I looked up from the sink to see Bailey lifting my phone slowly up to her face. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. She looked up at me then with furrowed eyebrows, and I had no doubt who had texted me.

  “What?” I asked, reaching for a towel to dry my hands. “Bailey. That’s my phone. I don’t look at your-”

  “Why is there a man named Noah Webber texting you?” she asked, abruptly. “More importantly, why is a teacher not only texting you, but texting you on the weekend?”

  I reached for my phone, but she tugged it away before I could grab it. She looked at me expectantly.

  “No reason,” I said. “He’s probably just texting me about our exam that we have tomorrow, is all.”

  Bailey shook her head. “Teachers don’t text you about things like that,” she said. “That’s one of the rules on campus. What is going on, Iris?”

  “Nothing,” I said, desperation starting to fill me. “Nothing is going on. Give me my phone back.”

  “It’s not nothing. He texted you, ‘I miss you. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.’”

  I would’ve been touched by the good morning text, but with Bailey clasping my phone like it was her lifeline, I knew I had to tell her. There was no lying my way out of this one. I could already see the wheels in her brain turning at a million miles a minute.

  “You slept with Professor Webber,” Bailey said slowly. A knowing grin started to spread across her lips when I looked away to hide my burning cheeks. “Holy shit! You slept with a fucking a teacher? Of all the rules you break, you broke that one rule that could expel you.”

  “Keep it down,” I scolded uneasily. “Please don’t say anything, Bailey. I know how hard it is for you to keep secrets.”

  “Right. I’ll keep it a secret.” She handed me the phone before staring at me in a mixture of what appeared to be awe and pure envy. “I have to admit, I’m jealous of this. Professor Webber is hot. How did you score losing your virginity to a teacher?”

  I grimaced at her choice of words. I fiddled with the corner of my phone, debating on whether I really wanted to tell her how this happened. I had promised Noah to keep quiet so we didn’t risk our futures at PHU.

  “It just sort of happened,” I said, hesitantly. “It’s not that big of a deal. I mean, it is, but…”

  “It’s a huge fucking deal,” she exclaimed. “You broke one of the biggest rules here on campus. I never thought you’d be the one to do that sort of thing. Not to mention you finally lost your virginity.”

  “Well, it happened,” I said, shortly. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Bailey. Let’s finish up cleaning, and then go catch that movie at the mall. Homework can wait until later.”

  “Sure.”

  The short answer threw me off for a moment. Bailey’s face was utterly expressionless, but I could still see the wheels turning in her head. Uneasiness filled me, but she didn’t bring it up again throughout the rest of the morning and on our way to the mall to catch a late afternoon movie.

  When we returned to the apartment later that afternoon, I gathered my books and backpack to head off to the library. I couldn’t shake off the feeling of uneasiness around Bailey when I turned to look at her watching me with a strange smile.

  “Off to school so late?” she asked, a bit too sweetly.

  I tensed. Even though I hadn’t had a choice, telling Bailey had been a mistake, or was going to be in some way. That much I could already tell from the way she kept looking at me.

  “I have to study for an exam in the morning,” I said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Right. Have a good time studying.”

  She turned away before I could even think of reply. Without sparing me a glance, she disappeared into her room. I stood in the livi
ng room for a long time while I stared at Bailey’s closed door.

  I had made a mistake telling her. That much I could feel deep in my gut even though I wanted to believe that Bailey wouldn’t stoop that low. She would never sell me out if she considered us friends. She’d done some pretty sketchy things over the years that I’d known her, though. She never once hesitated to gossip about others.

  Except, this was beyond gossip. She knew that like I did. It meant getting me expelled if she said a word – and I had a horrible feeling that she liked having that type of power over me.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Noah

  It was damn near impossible to focus on anything with Iris around. That much I knew when I found myself looking up every few seconds to lock eyes with her from across the room. No matter how hard I told myself not to look, I still found myself looking at her with a pang of desire in my chest.

  Her dainty little feet were bare today, a flip flop dangling between her toes as she crossed her long legs to get comfortable. It was warm enough outside now to wear sandals around campus, and I couldn’t wait to see Iris in something else besides her usual attire of leggings and shirts. Of course, she looked beautiful. She looked beautiful no matter what she wore.

  Not seeing one another was going to be hard. I’d never felt this way about a woman, and I didn’t plan on questioning it, either. I wanted to jump in and never look back, but there were a few weeks left for us to get through. I could handle it. I could handle not seeing her outside of class.

  A smiled tugged at Iris’ lips when I found my gaze settling on her again. She pouted her lips at me in a quick kiss before focusing back down on the text that a student was reading out loud. Tease. She was a tease, and knew it too.

  I sighed when I felt blood pool down to between my legs. There was no use in trying to keep myself distance from her. It was impossible because I wanted her close to me at all times. I wanted to see what other mischievous smiles she had hidden.

  I dismissed class shortly before nine o’clock. A few students lingered to talk with me about their papers before the classroom emptied out except for me and Iris. I didn’t waste any time by grabbing her by the waist. She tasted deliciously of coffee and sugar when I kissed her deeply.

  She pulled back a moment later with a gasp. “Did you miss me or something?”

  I rested my forehead against hers. “More than you know,” I whispered against her lips and reluctantly stepped back in case someone stepped into the classroom. “When can I see you again?”

  “Noah,” she started, shaking her head at me. “We agreed to see each other after I graduated, remember?”

  “I honestly can’t wait that long,” I told her and motioned to the bulge in my pants. “Look at me. This is going to be torture trying to stay away from you.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. I glanced up at the clock above the door to make sure we still had time to get to our other morning classes.

  “How about Wednesday?” she asked, eventually. “I have tons of homework to do over the next two days. Your class included.”

  “Right. Don’t slack off, either,” I warned, wagging a playful finger at her. “No amount of amazing sex will get you off the hook with me.”

  Iris laughed lightly as grabbed the door handle. “Wednesday then,” she said, disappearing out of the classroom without looking back.

  I sucked in a couple of deep breaths to cool myself down before exiting the classroom to go to my next class. The rest of the morning passed by without a hitch, and I was thankful to return to my office for a brief period of silence.

  “Knock. Knock.” Kale popped his head into my office, looking around briefly. “Are you busy at the moment?”

  “Just finishing up some test grades,” I said, twirling a red pen between my fingers. I motioned for him to come in, but he stayed in the hallway with his head extended in my office. “You can come in if you want. You don’t have to hide out in the hallway.”

  “I was actually thinking that maybe we could get something to eat,” he suggested. “There’s a little grill off campus that I think you’d like to try out.”

  “Okay,” I said, slowly. Something was off from how he was acting, but I shrugged it off at the thought of getting off campus for a bit to clear my head. “Let me grab my stuff and lock my office up while we have the time to go.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Kale pulled up to a small restaurant that smelt heavenly of barbecued ribs and garlic bread. I groaned when my stomach grumbled hungrily as I took in the menu of delicious food.

  “I say we go here all the time now,” I told him. “Forget that shitty dining hall food we’ve been eating for the past few months.”

  “No kidding,” he said. “I come here on the way home to grab food. I don’t ever have the time to cook.”

  “I just suck at cooking,” I said, and ordered a half rack of ribs when the waitress returned to get our order. Once she left to put our orders in, I looked at Kale to find him staring at me with knitted eyebrows. Wariness filled me. “Okay. I don’t like that look on your face. What is going on?”

  He played with his straw for a moment. “I don’t mean to put you on the spot because I consider you a close friend of mine, but I have to tell you something that the other professors are saying.”

  I kept my face neutral as possible despite my heart threatening to pound its way out of my chest. I had promised Iris that no one would find out, but if people were starting to suspect something, we really had to cool it down even more.

  “Miles told me I’m starting to be ‘too popular’ with students,” I said. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?’

  “No. That’s just jealousy from the other professors. There’s a rumor going around about you and your senior student, Iris Paige.”

  I stiffened, appetite gone now. “About what?”

  “A student told another professor that she’d seen Iris leaving the English Department the other night, and then you leaving not long after. The both of you looked a bit flushed, from what I heard,” Kale said.

  He leveled a serious glance at me. “It’s none of my business, Noah, but is there something going on between you and her? I don’t want to see you lose your job over this.”

  My skin felt hot to the touch when I reached up to rub at my forehead. I should’ve known that someone would’ve seen Iris leaving and then me, too. I was the only one in the building that night, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out she had been there at the same time.

  “Nothing,” I gritted out between my teeth. “There is nothing going on between Iris Paige and me. I don’t know why people are saying that.”

  Kale stared at me hard for a moment. “Look, man. I’m your friend, and I’m not going to rat you out to Miles if you want to tell me about what is going on. I have nothing to gain by running to the dean over it. It’s none of my business, but it’s rather obvious too that there is something going on between you two. It’s clear as day, actually.”

  It was tempting to tell him the truth. I was balancing on a delicate edge of a knife – either way, I knew I’d be nicked or stabbed no matter what I said to anyone.

  “There isn’t,” I insisted. “Nothing is going on.”

  He didn’t look he believed me. “Okay. I’m just telling you that if there is, be careful. It’s none of my business, but-”

  “You’re right,” I cut in, staring him squarely in the eye. “It’s no one’s business about what I do outside of the classroom, but I wouldn’t put my job or her future on the line for a fling.”

  The lie tasted bitter in the back of my throat. The waitress returned with our order of food, but my gut churned painfully when I glanced down at the ribs. I pushed the plate away and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill to cover my half of the bill.

  “I need some fresh air,” I told Kale, standing from the table. “Thanks for warning me that rumors are starting to go around.”

  “Noah-” he started, but I didn’t giv
e him a chance to say anything further.

  Guilt filled me when I left him at the table. I had to get outside to get fresh air in my lungs to think clearly.

  All I could think about was how shit was about to hit the fan, and no amount of lying would protect Iris and I from the consequences of what we had done. If people were talking about us, that meant we were already crucified before Miles even had a chance to ask about what was going on himself.

  I dragged a hand down my face as I strode down the sidewalk in the direction of PHU. Thirty minutes of walking in the fresh spring air would hopefully clear my mind by the time I got back to campus to assess what could happen if people talked. I wanted to believe that Miles would ask me first if something was happening, but I had my doubts that he would. He was already angry about me not wanting to coach the rugby team.

  I needed to find Iris and warn her before Miles had a chance to get to her.

  Chapter Thirty

  Iris

  Tomorrow’s monetary economics exam would suck. I stared down at the study sheet helplessly as I tried to retain the information written there.

  I had no idea why I couldn’t concentrate like usual. The library was utterly quiet, and there weren’t any distractions anywhere. Still, I had a horrible sinking feeling that something was wrong from the way students in the English Department had looked at me on my way out of the building earlier in the morning.

  “I give up,” I said, sighing. “I’m not going to get any studying done if I can’t concentrate.”

  Closing my textbook, I tucked it back into my backpack. I powered on my computer one last time to check through my emails before heading back to the apartment. My heart skipped when I caught sight of an email from the admissions office.

  Dear Ms. Paige,

  The dean has requested an emergency meeting with you in his office no later than this evening. Please stop by as soon as you receive this email.