“No.” Emily felt her own lips curve into a smile. “No. Not for a second. I’ve been a fucking wreck.” She lazily slid her hand slowly up and down Alex’s arm as she spoke. “What I can promise you is that I do want to find a way.” She pursed her lips. “Can we talk about this in the morning? Because right now, with you looking like that,” she said, letting her eyes travel over Alex’s naked body, “I can’t even think.”
“Does that mean you’ll stay?” Alex asked.
“Yes.” Emily’s hand slipped behind Alex’s neck, pulling in her for another passionate kiss.
24
Emily had been out for the count when Alex woke up, too restless to sleep. She’d even managed to get in and out of the shower and make coffee, all without waking Emily, which in her studio apartment was nothing short of miraculous.
She did finally stir though when Alex made her second cup, and Emily stretched her hands over her head.
“Morning,” Alex said from the breakfast bar. Her place was too small to have a dining table, but she nearly preferred sitting up here to eat and relax in the mornings.
“Morning.” Emily’s voice was hoarse with tiredness.
Alex’s stomach flip-flopped as Emily let the sheets fall away revealing her incredibly sexy figure, and Alex had to force herself to look away as Emily scooped up her clothes. Until she really knew what they were doing, it felt wrong to openly admire her.
“How is it ten-thirty?” Emily asked when she came back from the bathroom.
“Because we didn’t go to sleep until three?”
“Hm. Yeah. That makes sense,” she said, sliding onto the bar stool beside Alex, her hand trailing along Alex’s back, sending a shiver up her spine.
“Do you want me to make some breakfast?” Alex asked, her hands wrapped around her mug. “Or coffee?”
Emily cleared her throat, her eyes moving to Alex’s leg which she hadn’t even realized was bouncing. “I think we need to talk first.”
Those words instantly set off a wave of dread inside Alex, and her face must have told Emily exactly that.
“No, sorry,” Emily said with a hint of a smile. “Not that kind of talk. I just mean, continue what we started talking about last night.”
“Okay.” Alex sipped her coffee. “I just wanted to put the idea out there, you know, just in case you thought that I wouldn’t be willing to wait.”
Emily inhaled a shaky breath. “The problem with that is I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. I only signed a one-year lease on my apartment. My job isn’t guaranteed beyond this year. Although there have been some rumors about the professor I’m covering for wanting to extend their break.”
Alex nodded. She knew that Emily wasn’t staying.
“What I do know,” Emily said, her hand reaching up to push Alex’s hair behind her ear, “Is that although there isn’t a clear rule in the college handbook forbidding student teacher relationships, apparently, it’s kind of an unspoken thing. That if you are seeing a student, that you aren’t public about it. No social media posts that would potentially damage the school’s reputation. No preferential treatment.”
Alex searched Emily’s eyes. Was she really saying what Alex thought she was saying?
“I asked Ryan about it,” Emily said. “When we were at dinner last night.”
“I’m so sorry about that, about being jealous.”
Emily shook her head. “I was the one who was jealous. When you told me you were on a date?” She sighed. “I felt so sick.”
“So, Ryan thinks this happens?”
“He knows for sure that it has. Because his boyfriend was his student five years ago.”
“What?” Alex’s jaw dropped.
“So,” Emily said, finding Alex’s hand and holding it on her lap. “While I don’t know for sure that I’ll have a job next year, it’s looking very likely. I got the wink and the nudge this week that I should look into renewing my lease.”
“I don’t believe it,” Alex said, her lips sliding into a smile. “You’re really staying?”
“How could I leave?” Emily asked, returning her smile. “Even if this job doesn’t work out, I’d like to think that I wouldn’t have trouble finding something else. Look, I know it’s only been a few weeks, but fuck Alex. This is serious, isn’t it?”
