I smiled to myself. “It’s always nice when someone receives justice. Even if it doesn’t come from the justice system.”
“That’s why Batman’s my favorite superhero,” Jace said. “He fills in the gaps where shitty people slip away.”
I went to the university website and opened the assignment portal. My Criminology 204 class had a paper that was due Friday night at midnight. Most of the students had turned it in on time, except for three who turned it in late.
Cam was one of the late ones. His paper wasn’t uploaded until Saturday afternoon.
I winced, but I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t play favorites. I had to deduct points from Cam’s paper.
Hopefully he would understand.
“You all right?” Jace asked. He was staring over at me.
“Yeah… I just have to do the part of my job that’s not very fun.”
“You mean being a professor isn’t all about banging your hot students?”
I glared playfully at him, then dove into the first paper.
My first class on Monday passed quickly. Brock and Jace smiled at me, but otherwise everything was totally normal. Nobody ever would have guessed that the two of them had Eiffel-towered me on Saturday night before coming all over my face.
The thought sent a sexy shiver up my spine.
Then it was time for Criminology 204. Cam blushed when he walked into the classroom, but otherwise didn’t give any sign that anything was different between us.
When class was over, he came up to my desk. “How can I help you, Mr. Keene?” I asked, my voice armored in formality.
“I wanted to talk about the assignment…” He frowned. “I got a C+?”
“It was an excellent paper, but you submitted it a day late.”
“I was working on it Friday when I wasdistracted,” he said. “That wasn’t my fault, Professor Carrington.”
Shit. He was absolutely right: I was the reason he didn’t submit it Friday night. Granted, he shouldn’t have waited until the absolute last minute, but it was still my fault.
“Since your attendance has been perfect, and your assignments have all been on time prior to this, I’ll let it slide this one time. But don’t let it happen again.”
He flashed that boyish smile that made my legs go weak. “Thanks, Professor Carrington.”
“Of course.”
After he left, another student came up to my desk. “I’m so sorry for submitting my paper on Sunday morning. I’m a waitress, and I got called in to work a double on FridayandSaturday becausemy boss is an asshole. I stayed up until five in the morning on Sunday finishing it.”
I winced and said, “I’m sorry, but that’s not an excuse.”
“But you just gave Camden an extension!” she argued. “My attendance is perfect, too. This is the first assignment I’ve turned in late.Please, professor. I’ll do anything.”
My blood ran cold as I realized what was happening. I was giving Cam preferential treatment specifically because we had slept together. The one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do.
And now it was affecting how other hard-working students felt treated.
“I’ll remove the deduction,” I said in a small voice. “But don’t let it happen again.”
Her shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you, Professor Carrington. Thank you so much. If you ever come in to the Applebee’s over on third street, I’ll give you the employee discount on drinks and apps.”
I watched her leave, but the interaction left a bad taste in my mouth.
It was a reminder that sleeping with my students was dangerous, no matter how careful I was.
