Page 10 of Degraded Terms

I reach up, setting my panties aside as I take in large gulps of air. Asher stands, grabbing my discarded underwear and wiping his face off before throwing them back at me.

His mouth opens to make a remark but it’s cut off by the rumbling of my stomach. My cheeks burn in embarrassment at how loud it is. His eyebrow arches.

“You hungry?”

When I hesitate to answer, he steps closer to the table and squeezes my thighs. “Don’t lie to me, Ava.”

“Yes, I haven’t eaten today. I forgot.”

“You forgot?”

I flinch at the anger in his tone but slowly nod. He sighs and pulls me off the table in one sharp tug. Asher doesn’t allow me to put my panties back on, instead stuffing them in my backpackbefore guiding me out the back door of the library so no one can see us slip into his car.

I don’t know what I was thinking, agreeing to go get food with him. It’s not like we could go inside anywhere since we couldn’t chance being spotted. So he took me to Mcdonald’s and pulled into a parking spot in the far corner of the lot.

It felt…too intimate to be sitting in his car, eating fast food silently as we spared glances at each other. I could almost think of it as a date if I let myself fall into the delusion.

Which I should never. This isnota date.

I take a sip of my coke before turning in my seat to rest against the door and face him. I need to break this awkward tension. The man had his face between my legs less than an hour ago. “You had a bad day?”

His eyebrow arches. “Are you attempting small talk?”

I shrug. “I guess. Better than the only communication between us when you’re handing out demands.”

“You’re at your best when you’re listening to them,” he draws out, biting down on a few fries.

I stop myself from rolling my eyes because he’s watching me so intently, as if he’s waiting for it. I take a few more bites of my food, and we stare at each other until I glance away.

“My department applied for a grant I was supposed to help spearhead. We learned today that we most likely won’t be chosen.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” I say softly, unsure what else to offer. Sometimes I forget that he’s my actual professor, and works at the college I attend.

He seems like such a bigger entity than all of this. My heart does a stupid flip because he sought me out after learning such disappointing news, and I have to bite down on my lip not to smile. I’m a fool to feel anything for him, but something about him keeps me hooked.

“Hence why I wanted to take my frustration out on you.”

I blush, chancing a peek at him.

Asher gives a half-smile that sends a flutter into my stomach before balling up his trash and shoving it in the bag. I clear my throat, handing over my trash for him to discard.

“Did it help?”

I’m not sure what he got out of it. He didn’t even come, unless he did, and I didn’t notice.

My gaze drops to his lap, but his pants are too dark to see any potential wet spots. I’ve seen the protrusion while he’s hard once to know his size is decent enough. If only he had pulled it out so I could see for sure.

“Stop staring at my cock like a bitch in heat.”

I rip my eyes away and turn in my seat to face the windshield. Anger curls in my chest, even if it’s exactly what I have been doing. “You don’t have to be rude.”

Asher’s fingers curl under my chin, tilting my face to him. The smirk on his mouth is malicious and makes my stomach churn. “Have you forgotten what this is?”

“No.”

His thumb presses against my bottom lip, and his half-hooded eyes give me the delusion he’s thinking about kissing me. I hate myself for it. Why would I want him to kiss me after what he just said to me?

“You sure?”

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