“I didn’t say that. And I’m not endorsing this kind of behavior in the future. But tonight? I think you can enjoy the win.”
“Oh, I’m enjoying it very much.” I let my hand drift down her spine to her lower back.
“You can grab my ass, you know,” she said. “Don’t be shy.”
I went a little further and gave her butt a nice squeeze.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“I’m thinking about how your ass is so much hotter in person. All this time I’ve had to imagine what it looks like under your clothes.”
“Glad I’m living up to expectations.”
“What are you thinking about?” I asked. “You’re not regretting having sex with a student, are you?”
Lila hesitated a few heartbeats, which was enough to flood my mind with worries.
“Fuck, youareregretting it,” I said. “Shit. If you want to leave instead of dragging this out, I won’t be offended. I can help you sneak out too, but first you—”
She silenced me by sitting up and pressing her finger to my lips. “I don’t regret this.”
I relaxed. “Okay. Good. Me neither.”
“I was hesitating,” she explained, “because… you’re not the first student I’ve slept with.”
All my insecurities, the ones I spent way too much time pushing down, came flooding up to the surface. There wasn’tanything special about me. She’d already done this with another student.
“Oh,” was all I said.
“It’s kind of a long story…” She grimaced. “You actually know part of it.”
That’s when it dawned on me. “Jace?”
Lila nodded. “We started flirting before I knew he was my student, obviously. But it sort of continued into the semester. We’ve been keeping it a secret. You must think I’m a terrible professor…”
“What? No!” I wasn’t sure what to do, so I caressed her cheek with my thumb. “I think you’re incredible. I’ve had a huge crush on you all semester. And you’re fantastic at teaching, obviously. I’ve learned more from you this semester than I have from all my other professors combined.”
“That’s really sweet of you to say.” She patted my thigh through the bedsheet, a reminder that I was still totally naked. “You’ve been my teacher’s pet, I have to admit.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re smart, and willing to help when someone needs it, and you have a strong moral compass.”
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Oh, and you’re the cutest student I have,” she added.
“Cute?”
“Sometimes cute,” she clarified. “Sometimes handsome. And sometimesverysexy. Like right now.”
“That’s better,” I said. My ego was feeling less bruised, now. “Thanks for telling me about Jace.”
She frowned, and stared down at her lap. “It’s not just Jace. I also recently hooked up with another student.”
“It’s not Brock, is it?” I asked.
Her eyes flared wide, confirming my suspicion. “How did you know that?”
