Page 11 of Classroom Confessions

I smiled so wide my cheeks hurt and jabbed him back. “What’s it to you, if you’re not jealous?”

Cole moved like he might intervene, but I motioned him back. Ethan could deal with his own problems. “We’re grown ass adults. Ethan can use his words.”

He growled at me like some kind of feral animal. “She’s off limits. Even after she graduates, you need to leave her the hell alone. We all know how your relationships end.”

“Fuck you.” Anger burned so hotly, I might very well be the first man to self-combust. “I’d never hurt her.”

“Not intentionally.” Ethan offered the comment with a begrudging wince. “She’s special. I don’t want to see anything happen to her.”

Yeah, well. Neither did I. I hated that he had a point. All my past relationships were disasters. I’d learned from each failure. Years of seeking out love honed me into the man who’d brought Rebecca pleasure so intense she’d turned to putty beneath my hands and mouth. I’d told her I wasn’t a fuck boy, and I meant it. But giving out great sex and being emotionally available were different things.

Cole scrubbed a hand down his face. “It’s too late.”

“What?” Confusion darkened Ethan’s expression.

A beat of silence passed where we stared at each other. I shook my head at Cole, silently begging him to keep his mouth shut.

Cole sank onto the edge of the couch and threw his feet onto the coffee table. “He’s already in love with her.”

6

REBECCA

How? The question ran rampant in my thoughts all night, to the point that sleep turned impossible. I called Lily.

“This can’t be good.” Her groggy tone said I’d woken her up. She yawned into my ear. “Was it horrible sex?”

“No.” Anything but horrible. Probably the best of my life. I almost admitted that to her, but when I opened my mouth, another truth came spilling out. “He’s a professor. My professor, apparently.”

“Holy shit. No kidding?” Lily was wide awake now, her voice shooting up several octaves.

“I didn’t know,” I wailed into the phone like that would make everything better. “How did I not know?”

Silence from Lily, and then, finally. “Oh, that was a serious question? Okay. Well. Did you memorize the faculty at campus so this wouldn’t happen? Had you seen him in the lecture halls? Was there any indication at the coffee shop or at the bar that he was a college professor?”

“Okay. Fine. There’s no way I could have known. But still…” I flopped onto my back in the middle of the bed. It still smelled like him. Like us. Sex. God, what great sex. A slight ache throbbed between my legs when I moved. I’d carry that with me for a few days, a lingering echo of our beautiful night together. Ugh. I sounded more and more like a Nineteenth-Century romance novel. Then again, that wasn’t such a bad thing. David had given me plenty of inspiration for a classic bodice ripper romance. I’d given Ethan hell about Romeo and Juliet, but the truth was, I loved all the classic literature. Something about the way the characters spoke, the longing and yearning that built up delicious tension.

David had shown me what that felt like in real life.

“If you’re going to daydream, I’m going back to sleep.” Lily yawned again. “Are we complaining or what?”

“The only complaint I have is that it can never happen again.” I sighed into my pillow before hugging it to my chest. Fitz hopped onto the bed, circled three times, and lay down with his back to my hip. I stroked him absentmindedly. “It was really good sex, Lily.”

“Sorry, babe.” She grunted, and something thudded through the phone, followed by her footsteps creaking in her hallway. I’d heard that sound too many times not to recognize it. Knowing me so well, Lily understood that when I said great sex, I meant it. “Guess I’d better make it to class tomorrow. I need to see these professors of yours.”

“You don’t have to do that.” I wanted her to, but Lily chose the online option for a reason. She could sit at the coffee shop, working and attending class at the same time.

We both needed the income, but unlike me, Lily hadn’t qualified for the highest amount of financial aid.

Lily’s warm laugh made me smile. “Go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” She ended the call, leaving me with my own thoughts and the thick silence of my apartment.

It wasn’t really silent. Fitz’s snores snuffled out, and the steady drip from my kitchen sink melded into a sweet symphony that lulled me into sleep with my phone in my hand and my head buried in the comforter where David’s scent remained strongest.

True to her word, Lily met me outside Ethan’s lecture hall. She marched in ahead beside me, her calculating gaze sweeping the room. Ethan walked in seconds behind us. His mouth tightened when he saw me, and I couldn’t stop a slight shudder dancing down my spine. Why did he look at me like he knew what I’d done? He couldn’t possibly. No. That was my guilt. I’d flirted with him days ago, then slept with his colleague. No wonder I felt uncomfortable around him now.

Lily and I made it through class without any drama, though she elbowed me in the ribs every time Ethan looked my way. By the time we made it across the quad and into Cole’s class, my nerves were on fire. I’d see David after this. Every part of my body sizzled to the point that Lily handed me a bottle of water from her bag and raised both eyebrows. “I see why you’re having trouble.” The joking in her voice kept my face from flooding with heat. She waggled her eyebrows and lowered her voice. “I’d be across that desk, ass in the air, asking for a spanking if I thought they’d give me the time of day.”

I spat water halfway across the table. “Lily!”

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