Page 3 of Bad Professor

I don’t want to think about that right now. I’ve got tonight to get through first.

Pink underwear and matching bra; not too bold, or sexy, or like I’m expecting anything. Because I’m not.

I mean, I’d like to have sex, but I’m not expecting much from this date. Brian has good hair but I don’t know what else about him will excite me.

I wonder if anyone will ever see one of my matching sets of undergarments again.

Carlos always insisted on flimsy, lacy panties and bra when we were married. He used to like to rip the panties off—literally rip the scrap of material holding the front and back triangles during sex.

It’s not as sexy as it seems.

And it always left me with a leftover bra, so when I found ones I liked, I would buy a good supply of panties to match. Bikinis, only—thongs were for loose women, according to Carlos.

I can’t wait until he finds out both of his daughters prefer to wear thongs under their leggings.

I doubt he’ll find out; the girls have been helping me with the laundry since I started working again, and Carlos wouldn’t know how to work a washing machine if his life depended on it.

Underwear decided, I pull on a printed blue dress that hugs my chest and waist and flares out over my hips, leaving my arms bare. I look good because I have worked hard to keep my figure and not succumb to the over forty bulges. Yoga, Pilates, spinning class—Carlos’s request.

“If you’re not doing much during the day, then stick to the gym, keep that body tight for me.” Then he would smack my ass, and later that night, rip off my panties in a fit of masculine dominance that he thought I enjoyed.

I did not enjoy being dominated.

Maybe by someone else, because when your husband has full control of your life outside the bedroom, it gets a little old when his rule stays in the bedroom as well.

No more thinking of Carlos. It’s been almost two years since he left and twenty months of therapy for me to be able to announce unequivocally that I’m over him.

I am no longer in love with my ex-husband. I am able to live my life without him. That involves finding a job for my benefit—not for the money, because Carlos still pays for everything. I may be his ex-wife, but I’m still considered family, and it would not do for Carlos to have his family want for anything.

I took a contract that allowed me to work online, helping script a video game. And then I tried ghost-writing a fantasy book for kids. Before I had the kids, I worked with a gaming company to come up with profiles and storylines for their games. I’m not ready to go back full-time, but the work I’m contracted to do keeps me busy, and will give me time to go back to school.

Tuesday is also my first day of school.

I don’t know what’s causing me more stress—the almost blind date with Brian, or the thought of sitting in a lecture hall with a hundred kids who are only a few years older than my daughter and will undoubtedly look at me like I’m some sort of intruder, like an elf who wanders into an Orc convention.

As bad as that seems, it’s not as bad as the stress I’m feeling over this date.

Now that I’m ready, I really don’t feel like going. The urge to stay home is so strong that I reach back to undo the buttons at the neck of my dress.

Before I manage to undo them, I stop and reach for my phone.

Me: Hey…

Juliette: Tilly! Do not cancel this date! You’re going out with Brian tonight unless you’re throwing up like you did back in high school when we drank all that tequila.

Juliette: I’ll know if you bail.

Juliette: if you are ever throwing up that much, call and I’ll come hold your hair back.

Juliette is my best friend in the whole world. If she set this up, the least I can do is go through with it.

Who knows? Maybe there’s more to him than just good hair.

3

Dexter

“School starts next week?” Maximus Steele sits beside me at the bar, with full pints of local IPA in front of us. The last Thursday night in August means baseball on television, outdoor patios full despite the heat, and fans blowing full speed to push around the hot and humid air.

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