Chapter 36
Camden
Was this a dream come true?
Because I’d had this dream a whole bunch of times, but never expected it to actually happen.
Even now, cuddling in my bed with Professor Carrington, I was in a daze. It had all happened so fast. Someone banging on my door on a Friday, and it actually being her. Sitting on my bed and explaining everything about Joshua Davenport to her.
And then…
She sighed happily and snuggled closer.
I wasn’t a virgin. I didn’t exactly have game, the way other guys talked about it, but I knew what I was doing in bed enough to have some confidence. But being with Professor Carrington made me feel like I was fifteen and it was my first time all over again.
It was strange because I didn’t think of her the way I thought of my other professors.
In addition to being about four decades younger than the others in her department, she looked young.
If you put her in sweatpants and dropped her randomly on campus, I would’ve assumed she was a student without a second thought.
She also wasn’t as judgmental as I expected a professor to be.
She gave me a small lecture about hacking into the faculty Wi-Fi, but didn’t turn me in.
Same for the Davenport stuff. A Criminology Professor should have scolded me about the importance of the legal system and letting law enforcement do their job, but she seemed downright thrilled by the way I had exposed Davenport.
All in all, it felt like a dream. One I didn’t want to wake from.
“I like your Matrix poster,” she purred against my chest.
“Really?”
“No.” She snorted. “I was teasing you. The poster looks cheesy.”
“Well this is a dorm room,” I reminded her. “I’ll decorate better when I have my own place.”
“What’s playing on your computer?” she asked. “I can hear the music through your headphones over there.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t get a chance to turn them off. It’s the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.”
She twisted to gaze up at me.
“What? I told you, musicals relax me. I do a lot of good coding work with that kind of music on in the background.”
“I didn’t say anything. I’m just surprised you chose Phantom, considering it’s the most overrated musical in the history of Broadway.”
I pushed up until I was resting my back against the headboard. “Woah, now you’ve gone too far. Phantom is a masterpiece.”
“It’s overrated.”
“How so?”
“It’s dumb,” she argued, sitting up and pulling the bedsheet up to cover her bare chest. “This dude’s been living underneath a Paris theater all these years and they just… let him?”
“You need better suspension of disbelief,” I said. “Musicals don’t always have to make sense.”
“I bet you love CATS, too,” she teased.
“Now that’s the most overrated musical,” I said. “I hate CATS with every fiber of my soul. Andrew Lloyd Webber really missed the mark.”
“Glad we agree on one thing.” Her eyes lowered to my lips, and then she gave me a soft kiss before snuggling up against me again. “I can’t believe you outed Joshua Davenport.”
“Right?” I felt myself grin. “That douchebag supreme deserved it.”
“You sound very pleased with yourself.”
“Because I am. It took weeks of work to hack into his accounts.” I hesitated. “Is this the part where you lecture me on how I should’ve allowed the legal system to do its job, Professor Carrington?”
“First of all, you can call me Lila. When we’re alone. Obviously, don’t do that in class or around other people.”
“Obviously.”
“And second… I did intend to give that lecture when I stormed over here,” she admitted.
“But honestly, sometimes the legal system fails. It protects people like Joshua Davenport while punishing those who weren’t born with his advantages.
Sometimes I’m able to shake it off and focus on the positive things, but other times… ”
She shrugged. “Other times, it’s nice to see a predator like him get what he deserves. Even if it took a little vigilantism to make it happen.”
“What I’m hearing is that you think I’m Batman,” I said.
“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, you are regretting 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’t anything 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 sometimes very sexy. 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?”
“I’ve been eating lunch with them in the cafeteria three times a week. They talk about your class a lot. And about you. I didn’t suspect anything until I blurted it out, but now that I know, it seems obvious. They talk about you like you’re a goddess.”
Lila blushed nervously. “Are you upset to learn I’ve slept with them?” She quickly shook her head. “Let me clarify. It’s not past tense. I’m still actively sleeping with both of them. We hooked up last night, actually.”
“You slept with both of them at the same time?”
Her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red.
“I’m not judging!” I quickly said. “That’s hot as hell. Threesomes are amazing. I mean, I’ve never had one, but I… I think they’re great.”
A new look sparkled in Lila’s eyes, and she tilted her head to the side. “We can always change that, depending on how friendly you are with Jace and Brock.”
Excitement filled me, but then it was replaced by anxiety. I was too nervous to do something like that. Especially with Jace or Brock, two guys who were more muscular than I ever would be. Compared to them, I was just a scrawny nerd.
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
Lila cuddled up against me again. “Being back in a dorm is weird. I have a lot of good memories in rooms like this.”
“You can stay as long as you want,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t leave any time soon.
“A little more cuddling.” She stretched her legs out behind her, feet poking out the other end of the covers. “This is really nice, Cam.”
I wanted to tell her that it was amazing, that it was the best thing to happen to me in a long time. But I wanted to play it cool, so all I said was, “It is.”
“We shouldn’t do this on campus again,” she murmured. “Off campus only. And obviously we have to act totally normal in class.”
She wanted to do this again? I was glad her eyes were closed so she couldn’t see how broadly I was smiling.
“Makes sense,” I agreed. “I’ll continue being your favorite student in class, and then we can do our extra credit somewhere else. Like a hotel.”
“Or my place,” she whispered.
She soon fell asleep. I gently caressed her hair and watched her body rise and fall with every breath. Everything felt so perfect that I didn’t want this moment to end.
I closed my eyes.
I woke to my roommate’s voice: “Damn, Camden. Didn’t know you had it in you!”
My roommate was standing on his half of the room, unpacking his backpack. Twilight shone through the window, and the wall clock said it was six in the morning.
“Yeah, uh…” Lila’s head was buried against me with the sheet pulled high, so only her hair was showing. “How was your night?”
“Fuck my night. Who’s this fine honey you lured back to your dorm? Someone from computer club? And I thought you spend Friday nights on your computer!”
“Yep. I’m a regular, uh, sex machine,” I said. “I don’t even know this girl’s name.”
“Right on, my dude!” He came over and gave me a fist-bump, which I awkwardly returned. “I’m gonna hop in the shower. I’ve got lacrosse practice in half an hour, and I smell like the sorority house.”
My dorm room had an adjoining bathroom that we shared with our neighbors. As soon as he was inside and the door closed, Lila popped up and glared at me.
“Sex machine?”
“You know it.” I flashed a goofy smile.
“I can’t believe I slept all night!” she said while quickly gathering her clothes. “I have to do the walk of shame. From a dorm. Ugh!”
“I’m so sorry. I fell asleep, too.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s mine.” She shimmied into her skirt and then pulled on her heels. One look at my face, and she stopped and smiled.
“I know I’m panicked right now. But this doesn’t change how great last night was.” She leaned forward and gave me a long, passionate kiss.
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks for a wonderful night, Lila.”
“Call me Professor Carrington,” she said with a wink. “Mind if I borrow a sweatshirt?”
Without waiting for an answer, she opened my closet and rummaged around before finding a red Smokey Mountain State University hoodie. “I’ll give this back,” she said, pulling it on and then flipping the hood up to cover her face.
She blew me a kiss, opened the door to make sure the coast was clear, then disappeared into the hall.
I got out of bed, put some underwear on, then went to the window. Lila was exiting the dorm down below, then quickly followed the path to the street and turned left. I kept watching until she disappeared behind the Chemistry building.
As incredible as last night was, I could only think about one thing.
She wants to do it again.
My crush on Professor Carrington definitely wasn’t going away any time soon.