by Cassie Cole
Zack seemed to think about this for a few moments. “Well, I’m down for anything. If you ever want to try it again.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” The thought excited me, having a threesome with Zack and somebody else… But the sexiness immediately faded. Having a threesome meant someone else would learn I was sleeping with my student. It couldn’t happen.
Oh well, I thought.
Another knock came at the door. This time it was Melanie’s voice. “Professor Morris? Are you in there?”
I quickly smoothed out my skirt and adjusted my hair. Zack slung his backpack over a shoulder and gave me a wink.
I forced my smile off my face and opened the door. “The next time you want to retake an exam, Mister Tupelo, make sure you have a real excuse. Being hungover is not a valid reason. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
Melanie glanced at Zack as he left, but only for a split second. “Sorry to bother you, Professor. I just had a quick question about the third section of today’s essay, and I wanted to get clarification before I began grading…”
I giggled internally while going over things with my GTA.
19
Dominic
The best impression of a man, in my opinion, was how well he dressed. Clothes were the first thing someone saw when they looked at you. Style, price, fit, cleanliness. You could glean an immense amount of information based solely on how a man dressed. As a former football player, people made a lot of assumptions about me. One way to overwrite those assumptions was to dress my best every single morning.
It was the reason I spent so much time preparing for my second date with Jessica.
After showering and shaving I consulted my wardrobe. I wanted her to think of me as intelligent and thoughtful, because that’s how she was. I selected a pair of grey cotton slacks and a dark belt. A white undershirt and a cobalt blue button-down. I hesitated while looking at my rack of neckties. That would be too formal for tonight’s date. In fact, so was everything I was already wearing.
To make up for it, I threw on a black DMSU hoodie over my dress clothes. That helped soften my look, but I still considered switching out my slacks for jeans.
I laughed to myself. “She has me second-guessing everything I do.” I had never been this nervous around a woman before. Normally I was as smooth as could be.
Jessica wasn’t like the other women I had been with, though. She was special. She was marriage material. I wanted something emotional, something meaningful with her. Not the random sex I used to have, going to wild parties where nothing was off-limits…
I shook my head. I didn’t want to mess this up.
I tried on two pairs of jeans, then went back to the cotton slacks. Next I debated which of my Omega wristwatches to wear. The cobalt-faced watch matched my dress shirt, but with the DMSU hoodie thrown over top the effect wasn’t as striking.
I spent so much time thinking about what to wear that I found myself running late.
Fortunately she only lived six miles away. When I pulled up to her apartment I found her standing outside. She waved and ran up to the car before I could get out and open it for her.
“Hi!” she said happily.
Jessica had an infectious smile. I couldn’t help but beam back at her. “You look wonderful tonight.”
She looked down at her outfit and laughed. “It’s just a blouse and jeans, but thank you. You look dashing yourself, even without the tuxedo.”
I struggled to think of a witty comeback. Oh, she had such an effect on me!
Des Moines State University had an up-and-coming football program. They weren’t a great team yet, but recruiting was getting better every year as we siphoned prospects away from the two big Iowa colleges. We would be good in three or four years.
I had a special parking pass which allowed me to park in a lot just one block from the stadium. It was a cool Saturday evening, one of the first signs that autumn was truly here. Now it really felt like football season, especially as they scanned our tickets at the gate and we went inside. Our seats were in the corner of one end zone, a section above the DMSU marching band.
“Great seats!” Jessica said.
I smiled internally. Things were going well. “Kick-off is in two minutes. Want me to get you something to eat or drink?”
“I’m fine for now. We can get something at half-time.” She leaned into me, brushing her blonde curls against my arm and giving me a whiff of aromatic perfume. “Too bad they don’t sell beer.”
“Too bad indeed,” I chuckled.
“When I was a student we used to sneak flasks into games,” she revealed. “I had a flask shaped like a tampon tube. It got through security every time. You ever sneak alcohol into a game? That’s probably too wild for someone like you.”
If only she knew the wild things I used to do,” I thought.
“I was always on the field during games.”
“Oh!” She smacked her forehead. “That was a dumb question.”
The stadium roared as the game began with the kick-off. DMSU had chosen to receive the ball, so the offense jogged onto the field and huddled up.
“How much football do you know?” I asked.
Jessica pointed. “The guy who just threw the ball is the quarterback.”
“Good.”
“Thus concludes my football knowledge.” She smiled up at me with her round eyes. “I’d like to learn.”
I leaned in close and pointed. “See the guys all lined up in front of the quarterback? They’re the offensive line. Left tackle, left guard, center, right guard, and right tackle. It’s their job to protect the quarterback and to open up lanes for the running back.”
“Running back?” she asked. “He carries the ball instead of throwing it, right?”
“Exactly. Here, they’re about to do a running play… There. See how the quarterback handed the ball off? The running back has nowhere to go unless the offensive line creates lanes for him.”
Jessica snuggled up against me. “Okay, what’s happening now?”
I casually put my arm around her. She snuggled even closer. “The quarterback called a pass play. There are three wide receivers. They’re the guys lined up on the sides. There they go! They run routes, and if any of them are open the quarterback will throw to them…”
I was enjoying explaining the game I loved to Jessica, and she was an attentive student. We snuggled together in the stands and cheered when the team scored a touchdown.
The date was going very well.
20
Jessica
The date was going very well.
It was a cool night and I was snuggled up against Dominic. He radiated heat through his hoodie, and his arm was wrapped around me protectively while he explained the intricacies of football to me.
Despite what I had said, I knew plenty about football. But I enjoyed letting him explain it to me. He was passionate about the subject, even more passionate than when we discussed history. I was happy to pretend to be the cliche woman who didn’t know anything about sports for tonight. I did learn a few subtle things about the game, too.
A blond guy jogged up the bleachers past us. He reminded me of Zack. The stripper was working tonight. Some event at one of the sorority houses. A pang of jealousy engulfed me as I imagined a bunch of sorority bimbos cheering him on, touching him and stuffing bills into his thong.
I knew I had no right to feel jealous. I was out on a date with Dominic, after all. But I couldn’t help how I felt.
The first half of the game flew by. DMSU was losing by ten at the half. The marching band had left the section in front of ours ten minutes before, and now they were walking out to the field like white-uniformed ants.
“We’re only down by ten,” I said. “That’s not bad, right?”
Dominic nodded. “That’s better than I expected. North Dakota will probably blow us out in the second half.”
“I thought DMSU was supposed to be good,” I said. “I overheard one of my students saying so.”
/> Dominic stroked his blocky chin. “Not yet. But in a few years we will be.”
We watched the marching band go through their routine on the field while chatting about recruitment and booster funding and other football-related topics. When the band was done they walked off the field and filed into the section in front of us again.
Dominic was talking about transfer students when I noticed a trumpeter was staring at me. The rest of the band was facing the field but this guy, ten rows away from me, was twisted all the way around. What was his deal? Was he one of my students?
Then the trumpeter grinned, and I recognized him immediately.
Finn. Zack’s roommate.
I suddenly felt embarrassed to be snuggling up against Dominic. I shouldn’t have felt that way: Zack and I weren’t exclusive. Ours was a forbidden physical relationship, not something serious.
Still, I pulled away from Dominic and stood. “How about that food? You wanted a hotdog and Coke, right? No no no, you stay here. I’ll get the food since you bought the tickets.”
I fled to get food, but even after I returned I felt awkward knowing that Finn was within eyesight. He didn’t look back at me again but he didn’t need to. His presence among his fellow marching band was enough to throw me off.
Would he tell Zack about my date with Dominic? Did it matter?
I struggled to understand how I felt about everything.
The second half of the game passed quickly. Dominic put his arm around me again but I felt stiff and awkward rather than comfortable. He didn’t seem to notice, and happily narrated the finer details of the football game to me.
Dominic was right: DMSU got blown-out in the second half. We left with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter to beat the traffic away from the stadium. I expected him to take me somewhere else, like a bar to get some post-game drinks, but to my surprise he drove me straight back to my apartment.
Like the first date, he kissed me in the car. But this time he didn’t need to be nudged into it. He leaned across and gripped me tightly, pulling my lips to his. He was such a good kisser that I forgot all about the awkward second half of the game.
I let my hand linger on his arm. His muscles were hard and hot underneath the hoodie. I wanted to run my fingers along his bare skin, to see what he really looked like when you took the clothes away. I wanted to be the one to remove his clothes, too. We made out in the car like teenagers who had nowhere else to go, our kisses growing more and more passionate until I finally pulled away.
“Since they didn’t have beer at the game,” I said, “want to come up to my place for a drink?”
“Is that a pretext?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
Dominic smiled. I could see the hunger on his chiseled face, tightening the corners of his green eyes. I knew that look: he wanted me badly. Maybe even more than I wanted him. We gazed into each others’ eyes and a world of fun passed between us: all the dirty, filthy things we wanted to do to each other.
But then he hesitated. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Jessica.”
“Why not? Is everything okay?”
He pulled away and stared out the windshield. “Everything is fine. But I think I need to go home.”
Confused, I got out of the car and went into my apartment.
21
Jessica
Being rejected wasn’t a feeling I was used to.
I didn’t like it.
The worst part was that I was so confused. Dominic definitely liked me. He wanted me badly. I could see it in his eyes. Then something changed.
What was it? Had I said something wrong?
There was an ache in my stomach as I took the elevator up to my floor. I imagined this was what blue balls felt like to men. Being ready for sexual satisfaction and then having it snatched away at the last minute. It was a Saturday night. I wanted to have fun tonight, not return to my apartment and couch surf.
I retrieved a six-pack of beer from my fridge and took the elevator to the tenth floor. I knocked on Zack’s door but nobody answered. He must have still been at work.
Jealousy tingled in my stomach again. Rather than go back to my empty apartment I sat down in the hall and cracked open one of the beers. I wanted to be here when Zack got home. Was it because I wanted to see if he brought someone home with him?
Maybe.
I finished one beer and opened a second while replaying the date with Dominic in my head. Everything had been perfect. The only awkwardness was when I saw Finn sitting with the rest of the marching band, but I didn’t think Dominic noticed my reaction. No, that definitely wasn’t the problem because when we got home we made out in the car. Things were great until I invited him up to my apartment.
That had to be it. I was moving too fast for him. He must have been going by the three date rule.
It still made me feel awful to be rejected, even if there was a legitimate reason.
A door opened down the hall and two girls in mini skirts appeared. They gazed down at me as they passed and rolled their eyes .
“Don’t look at me like that,” I muttered. “I’m not the one with half my ass hanging out.”
They reached the elevator and waited a moment. When the elevator dinged and the door opened one of them said, “Hi Zack! We’re going to Psi Gamma Beta if you want to come.”
Zack emerged from the elevator and mumbled something to them that I couldn’t hear. Whatever it was made the girls giggle. Zack walked down the hall and saw me. A huge grin split his face. God, he looked good.
“You don’t want to go to that Psi Gamma Beta party?” I asked when he approached. Then I added in a ditsy voice: “It’s, like, going to be totally awesome and stuff.”
His grin widened. “Nah, that’s not my speed.”
I got to my feet. “How was work? You didn’t bring any girls home from the sorority house?”
“I don’t fuck my clients,” he said smoothly. “Plus, I like my women to be more mature than that.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you calling me old?”
“Oh yes,” he said while unlocking the door. “You’re practically ancient. Thirty-two years old is almost retirement age, right?”
I hefted the pack of beer. “Just for that, I’m not sharing my beer with you.”
“Too bad. If you get me drunk we could have a lot of fun,” he replied.
“I don’t need to get you drunk to do that.”
Once we were in his apartment he grabbed me and kissed me. “Give me ten minutes to wash the stripper smell off me and then we can put that to the test.”
He tried to pull away but I held onto his arms. “I don’t want you to shower. I want you, stripper stink and all. Give me the full treatment.”
“I don’t dance for free,” he teased.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. “Then I’ll have to stuff this somewhere fun.”
We kissed our way over to the couch. Zack pushed me down onto the cushions and then went to the sound system underneath the TV. Soft house music began playing, with a deep thumping bass.
“I charge five hundred an hour,” he said while swaying his hips.
“I’m sure I can haggle your price down.”
Zack removed his shirt. His muscles leaped into my vision, bulging with delicious tension. He ran a hand through his blond hair while dancing slowly, eyes locked onto mine.
“I’ll settle for one of those beers,” he said.
I ripped one away from the pack and tossed it to him. He caught it in the air, cracked it open, and guzzled it down in six long pulls. He drank it so quickly that a little bit ran down his chin, a brownish stream that landed on his chest and ran down into his abs.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward me, then licked up the stream. I could feel the lines of his abs underneath my tongue, warm and rigid.
“How much whipped cream did they lick off you tonight?” I asked.
Zack shook his head in sync with the music’s bass.
“No whipped cream tonight.”
“Honey, then?” I asked. “Or chocolate syrup?”
“Nothing like that. Just a normal show.” He cocked his head at me. “You’re jealous.”
“No I’m not.”
He continued moving in time with the music, muscular body undulating hypnotically. “Yes you are. You’re totally jealous about my job.”
I leaned back on the couch and sighed. “Okay. Maybe I’m a little jealous. Wouldn’t you be jealous if you knew I was out with a guy?”
It was a testing question, and I waited anxiously to see how he would respond.
“I don’t get jealous. I’m not possessive like that.” Zack’s lips twitched in a half-smile. “You said my job wouldn’t bother you.”
“It doesn’t bother me. I’m just a little jealous they got to see you naked for an hour and I didn’t. It makes me want you even more.”
Zack ripped his pants away. Instead of a thong he wore tight booty shorts that went halfway down his thigh. His cock was a thick bulge down his left leg.
“You’re getting a better show than them,” he said. “With a much better finale.”
He leaned in and kissed my neck where it met my shoulder. I brushed his blond hair away from his face and asked, “What kind of finale?”
“I was thinking of trying something new tonight.”
I tingled with excitement. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to have full-blown anal sex… But I was ready to try.
“I was thinking the same thing. What do you have in mind?”
The front door opened and Finn walked in. He had changed out of his marching band uniform and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. His dark hair was messy and his gaze was intense.
He grinned when he saw me.
My stomach tightened. Was he going to tell Zack that he saw me at the football game with Dominic? Even though Zack claimed he didn’t get jealous, I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to find out about that from Finn, or from me. Or at all.
But Finn just strode into the room and then pulled his shirt over his head. He tossed it aside and stood next to the couch, his muscular body glistening in the light.
