Taught: A City's Secrets Novella (7 page)

I gently ran my tongue against hers, heart hammering in my chest, starving for every inch of her kiss and her taste. I realized how badly I needed her, and how much I had been thinking of her. Ever since that first day, I hadn’t been able to shake her.

As we made out, she suddenly shifted her weight, and swung her leg over me. She straddled my hips, and I felt the warmth of her body through our clothes. She pressed herself against me, hips grinding down against my hard dick, and I kissed her rough, running my hands along her back. I pulled away and kissed her neck, and she let out a small, soft moan as I ran my fingers through her long hair. Her perfect hips ground down against my lap and I pressed myself close against her, letting her feel the full length of my shaft.

I pulled back, but before I could kiss her more, it suddenly hit me like a Mack Truck, directly in the chest: I was making out with a student. I was a teacher at that college and she was way younger than I was. I suddenly felt guilty and dirty and terrified for my job, but as much as I wanted to feel genuinely bad about it, I couldn’t. I may have been breaking the rules, but I wasn’t taking advantage of some kid for my own benefit. I was genuinely into her, and she seemed into me. My brain was fighting for control over my dick, and I could tell it was winning.

“Wait,” I said breathlessly. I leaned in and kissed her hard again then pulled back. She looked at me, wide eyed, her mouth open. “Let’s take this slow,” I said.

She nodded, breathing heavy. “Yeah, we can do that.”

It was the hardest fucking thing I had ever done. My cock was pushing up against my tight jeans and the only thing I wanted in that moment was to press her up against the statue and fuck her until we both came. Instead, the rational part of my brain decided it wanted to act out. I ran my eyes along her skin, lingered on her open mouth, and cursed myself for being such an idiot.

I wrapped my arms around her back then shifted our weight, rolling to our left, away from the statue. I landed between her legs, her back on the soft grass, and I felt the warmth of her core against my hardness.

“This isn’t taking it slow,” she said quietly. I leaned down and kissed her rough, and I felt her grind her hips against me. I couldn’t stop, and I kissed her for what felt like hours, before slowly breaking away.

I was such a fucking asshole.

“I know, I couldn’t help myself,” I said. I kissed her one more time, softly, and then pulled away. I sat back and looked at her as she leaned over onto her elbow.

“So what now, professor,” she said, smiling lightly.

I sighed. “I should probably explain.”

She shook her head, eyes wide. “No, it’s totally fine. I get it.”

“Really, it’s probably not what you’re thinking.”

“Enlighten me, then.”

“Well, it’s the professor thing, basically.”

“What do you mean, professor thing? I think that’s pretty hot.”

I tried to play it cool, but a smile slipped through.

“Yeah, well, obviously,” I said, thrown off.

“Don’t get shy on me now,” she said, laughing at me.

“I’m not shy. It’s just, I work here. Relationships with a student are looked down on, and I’m pretty sure I can lose my job if anyone finds out I’m seeing you.”

She nodded, and seemed to understand. “So you want to keep this on the DL.”

“No, I mean, yes, a little bit. But I mean, we should take it slow at least.”

“I can handle slow.”

“Since you’re not in any of my classes, I don’t think it’s a big deal. But I really don’t know.”

“I’m not in any rush. I should probably focus on my studying right now, anyway.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it’s almost finals time, isn’t it?”

I shifted my weight and laid down next to her on the grass, my right arm behind my head. She relaxed down on my left side, and I slipped my hand into hers. We looked up at the sky, but the stars were blocked by the city’s lights. It was a large, dark expanse hanging above our heads.

I couldn’t believe I had stopped myself. I really couldn’t believe it. Inwardly, I cursed myself, frustrated that I had pulled back, and pissed that I had let the moment pass.

I was such a fucking pussy.

“Sometimes I wish we could see the sky better,” I said quietly.

“Yeah, me too. It’s probably the worst part of the city, all the light pollution.”

“Also the crime.”

“Yeah,” she said, laughing. “The crime sucks too.”

We lapsed back into a comfortable silence. I felt the warmth of her palm against mine, and breathed deeply the empty night air. I wished we could have extended that moment for longer, maybe not forever, but years at least. I didn’t want forever, because I needed to find out what came next. But I also didn’t want to get up and ride home with things hovering in the odd grey area we had found ourselves in.

“It’s getting late,” Emma said.

I looked toward her. “Yeah, you’re right.”

She let go of my hand and sat up, checking her phone for the time.

“Shit, how is it already 1am?”

I sat up and looked over her shoulder. “Wow, time flies, I guess.”

“Yeah, except I wasn’t having fun.”

“Ouch, that cuts me deep.”

She laughed as she climbed up to her feet. “Come on, rock star. Let’s get going.”

I stood up and smirked at her. “If you’re going to call me that, I’m going to call you my groupie.”

“I’m hardly your groupie.”

“I don’t know, you are throwing yourself at me after my show.”

She smiled and rolled her eyes, and then walked over to grab her bike. I followed, picking mine up, and straddled the frame as she strapped on her helmet.

“I’ll ride you home,” I said.

“You don’t have to.”

“Of course I do, it’s late.”

She didn’t answer, just started pedaling back the way we came. I followed behind her, marveling at her body on the bike. She wasn’t skinny, but she was athletic, strong and sure. I wanted to go back into that garden and grab her hips, feel exactly what her muscles were like when she came. I sensed another erection beginning to stir, and I forced myself to focus on pedaling instead.

We rode back onto the main road through campus then turned left toward Broad. We crossed over toward 15
^th
, took a quick right turn into a small side street, and finally stopped in front of a red brick building. We weren’t far from campus at all, and the lights from the track still lit our path.

“Home sweet home,” she said, climbing off her bike.

“Need help getting that upstairs?”

“I’m going to lock it out here.” She pulled out her U-lock, took off her helmet, and locked her bike to the stoop’s railing.

“Okay, cool.” She looked around, an odd look on her face. I stepped off my bike, took a step toward her, wrapped my free arm around the small of her back, and kissed her hard. It was a deep kiss, hungry, and I didn’t want it to end. I tasted her mouth and soft lips, and felt her tongue run along mine. Finally, we broke apart, breathing heavy.

“Good night,” I said.

“Good night,” she said back, a little breathless.

I hopped on my bike and, with one more look back at her, I rode off into the night, heading toward my apartment.

“Y
ou fucked the professor last night?” Lane nearly screamed in my ear.

“No Lane, we made out.”

I had just finished telling her about what happened after Jim and I left the bar, about the ride through the city, about the hidden garden, and about our kiss. I couldn’t get him out of my mind; the way he rode his bike with confidence, the hidden garden, his cocky grin, the way he kissed me and drove my body insane, everything was too much. If I wasn’t completely crushing on him before, I definitely was after that night. I wasn’t sure why I was so hesitant at first, but I found myself melting into him more and more.

“Yeah, but come on. You didn’t just kiss.”

“He wants to take things slow.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” she said, eyes wide. “He’s perfect, dude. Lock him down.”

“He’s worried about his job.”

“Yeah, that’s an issue.” Lane looked pensive.

I moved across the kitchen and poured myself a glass of orange juice.

“Could he get in trouble for dating you?” Lane asked.

I gave her a look. “Nobody said anything about dating.”

“Are you kidding me?” She rolled her eyes.

“I don’t have time, and plus, he probably would get in trouble.”

“But you’re not his student.”

I drank some of my juice, and exaggerated a shrug. “I don’t know how it works, Lane. He’s worried, that’s all.”

“Listen to me, and listen good. That’s a hot rocker professor you have lusting after you. Don’t let that shit go to waste.”

Typical Lane. She was fun and my best friend, but a little short sighted. In her mind, this was the perfect opportunity for me. If I liked him, then obviously I should date him. But things weren’t that simple to me. I couldn’t bring another distraction into my life. I had pressures she didn’t understand, especially coming from my parents. They would be wrecked if I didn’t get into a good med school, and forget about not getting into one at all. I’d probably be cast out of the family if I got rejected across the board.

“We’ll see,” I said, trying to change the subject. She gave me another big eye roll.

I walked out into the living room and sat on the couch, legs folded under me, and pulled my laptop off the coffee table and onto my knees. I booted it up, typed in my password, and navigated to Facebook.

I scrolled through my feed for a while, clicking randomly on pictures, not really caring about what I saw. Facebook had become more of a habit than anything else. Suddenly, the little red notification for a new friend request popped up. I opened the tab and stared at the name: Jim Sleeter. His picture made it clear that it was my Jim, or at least the Jim from last night. Professor rocker Jim.

Oh wow. I couldn’t believe he had stalked me down already.

Flattered, I clicked accept, not thinking anything would come of it. I looked through his profile pictures, pretty average stuff, and scrolled down through his wall. It was a pretty typical Facebook page, boring and generic, with the occasional funny picture of him or maybe a funny comment somewhere. I knew mine was more or less the same.

As I finished my stalk-session, a window popped up in the bottom right hand corner.

Jim: hey

I stared at the window for a second, my heart racing. My first reaction was to call for Lane and obsess over what exactly he meant, or why he messaged me at all, but I resisted those impulses. It was silly to obsess over one word. Plus, I was my own person with my own feelings, and I didn’t need to act like a teenager with a crush, even if I felt that way.

Me: hey what’s up?

Jim: not much. I had fun last night.

Me: yeah, me too. You guys were awesome.

Jim: haha thanks, but I meant after the show.

Me: I know you did :)

Jim: what are you up to today?

Me: not much I think. probably just hanging around the house. you?

Jim: not sure. George said something about a record label guy, but he didn’t go into detail.

Me: woah, what?

Jim: I’m not getting excited, George is usually wrong.

Me: that could be huge right? do you know what label?

Jim: he didn’t say. George is a little tough to deal with sometimes.

Me: ah that’s frustrating.

Jim: yeah, but he’s coming over. I should find out more soon.

Me: I’m sure it’s a huge record deal. Multi-million dollar contract.

Jim: yeah, definitely. I’ll be playing sold out stadiums soon.

Me: won’t have time for me anymore

Jim: I’ll work you in somehow, I always have space for cute girls

Me: oh good thanks, makes me feel special

Jim: hey I’m in demand now, you’re lucky to get any time with me at all

Me: okay rock star, let’s calm down

Jim: haha sorry, getting ahead of myself

I felt myself smiling like an idiot, staring at the computer screen. I glanced up and looked around. Luckily, Lane was busy playing with her phone, and didn’t notice my stupid grin. Otherwise I’m sure I would be answering a million questions and parsing out every meaningless comment. I had to get a hold of myself.

Jim: so are you working this week?

Me: yeah, Monday Wednesday and Thursday, 6 to closing.

Jim: what time is closing again?

Me: ha, good one.

Jim: I’m just saying, you’d think working at the library meant you’d know which doors locked and which ones didn’t

Me: keep it up mr. professor and you will be banned for life from the stacks

Jim: you don’t have that power

Me: I definitely can make it happen. I know people.

Jim: I believe you actually

Me: good, you should believe me.

Jim: okay, I gotta go. George is here.

Me: good luck! Tell me what he says

Jim: what’s your phone number? I’ll text you

My heart skipped a beat. That was a big step in our relationship. Did I want him to have my number? I guessed I could always change it if he turned out to be a total creeper, but I didn’t think he would be. Or at least I hoped not.

Me: it’s 555-563-8832

Jim: cool. I’ll text you

Then the green icon next to his face disappeared, and I assumed he shut his laptop. I looked around the room again, and found myself staring my phone, waiting for him to message me. He had my number, but his wasn’t in my phone yet.

“God, I feel like such a little kid,” I muttered to myself as I shut my laptop.

“What was that?” Lane said, glancing up from her phone. I looked at her and felt like a nut.

“Nothing, talking to myself.”

“You going all crazy stressed Emma again?”

I laughed. She was referring to the year before when there were some particularly difficult tests all on the same week. I probably didn’t sleep more than a few hours a night for the days leading up to them, and more or less lived in the library. I looked like a crazy cat lady, mumbling theorems and muscle groups to myself as I walked around the apartment. Lane said I stopped showering and gained twenty pounds, which was completely untrue, but I did care a little less about my physical appearance. I lived in a uniform of sweats and sweatshirts, punctuated by Ugg boots and a jacket. In short, I was a mess.