Chapter 37
Lila
It had been a long time since I’d had to do a walk of shame.
Even longer since I had to do one on campus.
Fortunately, it was still mostly dark outside, and Cam’s hoodie made me practically anonymous. The only people who passed me on the way back to my car was the women’s cross country team, who flew past me without so much as a second glance.
My car was still double-parked on a side street behind Brock’s bar. I got inside, then checked my phone.
I had a dozen texts.
Brock: I just got off work and saw that your car is still here. Are you all right?
Brock: Hey, call me when you get this. I just want to make sure you got home safe.
Jace: You good? Brock says you left the bar but your car is still there.
Brock: I pulled the bar footage. It looks like you walked back toward campus. Jace is going to check your office.
Jace: You’re not in your office. I hope you took an Uber home.
There were a few more messages like that. I instantly felt guilty for making them worry, and spent a moment texting to let them know I was okay.
When I got home, I showered and changed into comfortable clothes. Only then did I finally relax and feel like I was back where I belonged.
While making myself breakfast, I replayed everything from last night in my head. Leaving the bar and wandering around campus until I ended up at Cam’s dorm. Sneaking inside and banging on his door. Confronting him about Joshua Davenport…
And then everything else that happened.
It was reckless. It was insane. It broke all the rules I claimed to care about.
But I didn’t feel any regret. Not even a little bit.
Because last night was amazing.
As I pulled out my bag and began grading papers, I wondered if I was an adrenaline junkie now. Clearly I was thrilled by the thought of doing something wrong, or I wouldn’t have kept doing this.
Where would it end?
I quickly shook my head. This wasn’t going any further. Three was already plenty. Besides, I had a special connection with Jace, Brock, and Cam. Each of them were unique in their own way. I didn’t have that with any other students.
Now I just had to juggle the three of them.
Jace and Brock came over that night. I kissed both of them at the door, then opened a bottle of white wine that had been chilling in the fridge.
“Sorry again for freaking you guys out last night,” I said. “I promise to make it up to you.”
“So… what actually happened?” Brock asked as we settled onto the couch. “Did you take an Uber home?”
It was tempting to lie, but only for a fraction of a second.
I wasn’t that kind of woman, and I didn’t have the kind of relationship with these two that required lying.
With everything going on between us, the secret smiles and sneaking around after class, being truthful was more important than ever.
“I didn’t take an Uber home,” I said.
Jace nodded. “After checking your office, I came here. You weren’t home. Or if you were, you were sleeping so soundly that you didn’t hear me banging on the door.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You waited to see if I would lie?”
He smiled politely. “I didn’t think you would lie. But I was really worried last night. What happened, Lila?”
I took a sip of wine, and then told them everything. All the interactions I’d had with Cam this semester, and the hints he’d dropped about Joshua Davenport. Then how I left the bar last night, needed to take a walk to fully sober up…
“Wait, we’re talking about Cam?” Brock asked. “Camden? Nerdy looking guy who’s always on his laptop?”
“He said you guys have been getting lunch together sometimes,” I said.
Brock laughed. “I didn’t know he had it in him. Good for him.”
“You’re not mad?”
“I’m mad you disappeared last night and made us worry about you for a few hours.
But not about sleeping with another student.
He’s a good looking guy, in an awkward kind of way.
” He gestured with his wine glass. “And I love what he did to Davenport. That guy’s gotten away with his shit for too long.
And yes, I know that’s not the most criminology-minded response, but I really don’t care.
He’s a predator, and now everyone knows it. ”
I smiled, then turned to Jace. “You’ve been strangely quiet this whole time.”
“Camden?” he asked, frowning.
My stomach sank. “You disapprove?”
“No, I’m just pissed off that he’s the one who hacked my Tinder account!” Jace replied. “He’s been eating lunch with us all this time without saying a word about it. Son of a bitch.”
“You had it coming,” I pointed out. “Give him a free pass? For me?”
“I will take that under advisement,” he said. “And I’m going to take out all my pent-up energy on you.” A lusty smile touched his lips.
“But first I need to show you how sorry I am for worrying you both last night…”
We started out on the couch with me alternating blowjobs between Jace and Brock. It was so empowering to be with two men who weren’t jealous about everything I did, and instead turned their focus on all the ways they wanted to have sex with me.
A focus which ended up taking several hours of our time that night, until the three of us were too exhausted to move.
Brock had to leave early the next morning to work at the bar; apparently they did inventory on Sundays every few months.
Jace and I slept in longer, cuddling long after the sun had come up.
Eventually our spooning turned into grinding, and he tugged my panties down and drove his cock into me from behind.
It was slow, lazy, Sunday morning sex, completely different than what we’d done last night but hot and fulfilling in its own way.
Jace picked up brunch from a take-out place down the street, and then we both got to work. I had a bunch of papers to grade, and Jace had his own to write. I parked my laptop at the kitchen table, while he stretched out on the couch a few feet away.
“Oh shit,” he said. “Did you see Davenport was suspended?”
“From the basketball team, or from school?” I asked.
“Both. Placed on academic probation until further notice. And it looks like the police are involved.”
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 was distracted,” 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 Friday and Saturday because my 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.