Chapter 14 Lila
Lila
Thursday was a blur. I had three straight hours of student advisory meetings, plus two class lectures. I was looking forward to the peacefulness of my regular office hours, but that was ruined by a steady stream of students with questions about the semester’s first test on Friday.
One of those students was Brock. I didn’t mind his questions.
Unlike the young Freshmen who seemed clueless and asked a lot of questions that I had already answered in class, Brock dove deeper into the material and asked things that would be relevant in a future Criminology career.
Besides, he had a quiet confidence that I liked.
It was no surprise that he was twenty-six.
People aged a lot between eighteen and twenty-six.
Men especially, I’d learned.
I woke up on Friday with a Signal message that was sent at two in the morning. At first I was afraid it was a drunk text from you-know-who.
But it was even better than that.
Cam: This is Cam. Mission accomplished. Plus I did a little extra favor for you.
Extra favor? I wondered what that meant. But if the Tinder messages were deleted, I was happy.
I opened my Tinder app and checked my history. The entire chat thread with Jace was missing. It was like it had never existed. And I trusted that it appeared the same way on Jace’s end.
I walked into class with my head held high.
It was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulder.
“Good morning, class! Today’s exam is five essay questions.
I’ll give it during the second half of class, so you can leave after turning it in.
But for now, please turn to the chapter eight review questions. ”
While connecting my laptop to the projector, I got a text.
Jace: You’ve got a little extra pep in your step this morning. Excited to torture us with an exam?
Me: Nope! I’m happy for another reason.
I left it at that and smiled even wider. Jace didn’t know, yet. I was going to enjoy dropping hints after class until he figured it out.
I gave my lecture, then put the exam questions up on the screen. The room was quiet except for the sound of pencils and paper. I smiled out at the students, occasionally locking eyes with Jace.
He frowned back at me. His suspicion made me downright giddy.
My students slowly trickled out of the room, turning in their exams as they finished. Jace finished around the middle of the pack, and I gave him a big smile as he left. His scowl deepened. And a few minutes later, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Jace: You’re in a really good mood. Did you hook up with the ant scientist last night?
Me: Maybe.
Jace: I doubt it. You said he was boring.
Me: I can overlook a lot of negative personality traits if a guy has a big dick.
Jace: Or you can go out with a guy who has a big dick and zero negative traits.
Me: True. Hopefully I find one soon.
Jace: I don’t believe that you went out with him again.
Me: You can believe whatever you want. I don’t discuss my personal life with my students. No matter how sexy they are.
Jace: I appreciate the compliment, but I’m still suspicious.
Me: If you delete our Tinder history, and send me a screenshot as proof, then I’ll tell you why I’m so happy.
When Cam arrived to my next class, he gave me a wink in passing before taking his seat at the back of the room. I smiled back at him. It was nice to have an ally.
I was certain that my last text to Jace was blunt enough that he would figure it out.
I put my phone on silent during class so that his flurry of angry texts wouldn’t disturb me.
When my lecture was over, I checked my phone with the enthusiasm of a child checking the Christmas tree for new presents.
But Jace hadn’t responded.
Damn.
“It was a lot of work, but I got it done,” Cam told me quietly after class. “I trust this settles the matter between us?”
“It does indeed,” I replied. “And I wasn’t judging you for humming the Wicked soundtrack the other day. I’ve seen the stage musical three times. My dad took me to see it with the original cast when I was eight years old.”
“You saw Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel?” Cam whistled between his teeth. “Damn, Professor. I didn’t think you could get any cooler.”
I thanked him, expecting him to leave, but he lingered a moment longer.
“Um.” He shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. “I wanted to tell you. Like, to your face. I saw the photo. In the chat thread. I wasn’t trying to snoop, but it was there. I just wanted to… I don’t know, tell you? It seemed weird not to tell you.”
I felt my cheeks redden. I knew he might see it when I asked him for the favor, but I had hoped to pretend that he hadn’t. “Thanks for letting me know. Have a good weekend, Mr. Keene.”
He was blushing, too. It was almost adorable. “You too, Professor.”
I had lunch in the cafeteria, then went to my afternoon office hours. I checked Signal again, but there wasn’t anything new from Jace.
My disappointment soured my otherwise cheerful Friday mood. But at least the messages were deleted for good.
One student came to my office hours to discuss a scheduling issue for the second exam, and then I had some time to myself. I decided to prod Jace a little more.
Me: Have you deleted them yet?
Jace: I don’t see how that’s any of your business, Professor.
Me: Just checking. I’ll check again in another hour.
Another student knocked on my office door, and I spent the next five minutes explaining one of the reading assignments to her. While we were still going over the material, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed out in the hall.
Jace appeared, mouth open like he was going to start shouting at me. When he saw I was with another student, he started pacing back and forth, shooting glares through the doorway at me.
Yes!
I had to stifle a silly grin while I kept advising the other student, which was hard with Jace prowling around in the hallway, looking furious. He paused to lean against the hallway wall, staring daggers at me. Then he began pacing again.
This was so much more satisfying than I expected.
By the time the girl left, Jace’s anger had calmed to a white-hot rage. He slowly strode into my office, closing the door softly before turning back to me with his arms crossed.
“I know what you did.”
“What are we talking about?” I asked innocently.
“How?” he demanded.
“How what?”
“Did you hack my phone? I don’t know how you could have done that.”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” I replied.
“Oh ha ha. I get it. You’re repeating back to me what I texted you earlier. That’s so funny.”
“I don’t know how I could have hacked your phone,” I calmly told him. “For one thing, it’s illegal. For another, I’m not very tech savvy.”
Jace held out his phone. “Our Tinder conversation is gone.”
“Huh. Interesting.” I scrunched up my face like I was considering a puzzle. “Maybe your conscience got the better of you and you deleted the messages, but forgot about it? If people can sleep-walk, maybe they can sleep-phone.”
“That’s not all you did,” he growled, rounding the desk. “Look.”
I squinted at the screen, ignoring how close Jace was pressing to me. It was a Tinder thread with some girl named Brittani.
Jace: It’s because I was in the Army. Did my time there, and now get to go back to school thanks to the GI Bill.
Brittani: What’s the GI Bill? ChatGPT says that GI stands for Gastrointestinal. But that doesn’t seem right.
Jace: It’s a student loan program for veterans.
Brittani: Oh, cool! I’ve always wanted to date a soldier.
Jace: I still have my uniform, if you want to see.
Brittani: I like playing dress-up. Want to see what I would wear?
Jace: You know what? I do want to see.
“Stop reading the whole thread!” Jace snapped. “Look at the last message.”
Brittani: What time are you picking me up on Saturday? If you’re good, I’ll let you come up to see my dorm room first ;-)
Jace: Sorry, but I just remembered I don’t date fat girls. Maybe try the Kappa Delta Rho house? Their standards are pretty low.
I guess that’s what Cam meant when he said he did a little extra something. I had to suppress a laugh as I looked up at Jace.
“Her name is Brittani, with an I?” I asked. “That’s the sluttiest way to spell that name. You made the right choice bailing on her, although you could have been nicer about it.”
“I didn’t bail on her,” he said through gritted teeth. “That’s my point. Also, you changed my Tinder profile to bisexual. In the past two hours I’ve gotten hookup requests from the entire gay community at this school!”
“Can you blame them? You’re kind of a snack.”
He barked a laugh, but loomed over me. “How?”
“I have my ways. Ways that could have been avoided if you deleted our thread the first time I asked. Or the second time. Or the third…”
“Unbelievable,” he said, pacing around my office again like a caged lion. “I’ve got random guys winking at me in the hallways and you’re acting like it’s my fault.”
“It is your fault,” I insisted, rising from my chair and going to the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have exams to grade.”
I started to open the door, but Jace planted his palm on the wood and closed it again. His easy strength was on full display, arm bulging as he held the door closed and stared at me.
For a brief moment, I wondered if Cam had gone too far. If I’d gone too far.
Then Jace grabbed my arm and pulled me into a kiss.
My body came alive as I leaned into him, savoring the way he felt.
Jace’s hand slid behind my neck and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss with a deep noise that rumbled up out of his chest. I gripped his arm, squeezing his bicep, holding onto him because I never wanted him to stop.
He was hard and warm everywhere my fingers touched, and I wondered what else of his was hard and warm right now.
His body pushed into me until my back was against the door, and I quickly reached up and tugged on the blinds to block anyone’s view from the hallway before turning all of my focus back to Jace and the insane electricity sparking everywhere our skin touched.
After two weeks of teasing and flirting, kissing Jace felt so much better than I could have imagined. Surrendering to the undeniable chemistry between us. And the fact that it was forbidden made it infinitely hotter.
This isn’t allowed.
The thought penetrated the throbbing ball of need that was screaming between my legs. We weren’t supposed to be doing this. I was his Criminology Professor!
I placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away, but I went with him for a step. Our lips continued churning like they had a mind of their own, unwilling to stop, until I finally tore away from him with a gasp and a more forceful shove.
He stumbled back a step, looking as shocked as I felt. The leftover heat of our argument was like static in the air. My pulse was still a little too fast, my breath not quite steady.
He stood there in my office, his broad shoulders straining his tight T-shirt, ex-military build screaming dominance. His dark gaze was hot and frustrated as he watched me.
“This is a mistake,” I said, forcing my voice to stay level. A hot flush crept up my chest even as a cold, nervous flutter tightened my stomach. “You should leave.”
I returned to the other side of my desk, but Jace hadn’t moved. “You don’t want me to leave.”
My stomach flipped. He was right. I wanted him to kiss me again, to shove me up against the door and take me like I belonged to him…
“I’m your professor,” I made myself say. “You’re my student.”
“I’m not a child, Lila.”
He moved again, circling my desk like a predator closing in on its prey. I backed up an inch just to keep some space between us, even though the reckless part of me didn’t want anything separating us.
“Jace,” I tried again, knowing my voice was too soft to be convincing, “we shouldn’t—”
“We shouldn’t,” he agreed. He reached the side of my desk, and instead of stopping, he came around it. Into my territory, my safe professor space. And I felt the entire world narrow to a single point of heat. “Tell me you didn’t feel anything, and I’ll leave.”
I swallowed. Hard. “I didn’t feel anything.”
“Liar.” He grinned, and looked utterly pleased that he could read me like an open book. A book that wasn’t on the syllabus, but one he wanted to devour.
He was close enough now that the hungry look in his eyes felt like a hand sliding up my spine. Close enough that I could see the faint freckles across his nose, the gold in his brown irises, the controlled rise and fall of his breath. I sat down in my chair, and he leaned closer. Looming over me.
The role reversal, the sudden feeling that he was in control and could do whatever he wanted with me, was exhilarating.
“I want you so badly it hurts,” he whispered. “It’s a physical pain, Lila. And I know you feel the same way.” His eyes raked over my body, then settled on my lips like he wanted to devour me.
“That’s not the point,” I breathed. “We have to set boundaries. There are rules.”
Jace placed both hands on my armrests and gripped the chair tightly. “Fuck the rules.”
He yanked the chair closer and kissed me again.