One Night With My Alpha Professor

Audity

"But... What about your girlfriend

Edwin's eyebrows shot up and he immediately looked confused, followed by concerned, then confused again. Clearly, my words had taken him off guard. Maybe he didn't expect me to find out about the reality of his situation.

"Girlfriend? What girlfriend?" he finally asked.

"Don't play dumb, I muttered, feg a bit of frustration bubble up beneath my skin. Without waiting for a response, I turned on my heel to leave.

But he caught my arm, his grip firm but gentle, and pulled me back to him with ease. "Audrey, what are you talking about?" For a moment. I felt my face flush at his touch. But I quickly pushed that feg down as best I could. "Don't act like you don't know, I replied coldly, ripping my wrist away from his grip.

He quirked his eyebrow. "I really don't know what you're talking about."

Sighing, I placed one hand on my hip while the other gripped my cardboard coffee cup like my life depended on it. "I saw the photo of you with that beautiful woman at your apartment during dinner. And I saw you in the convertible with her, and at the club last night. You shouldn't have danced with me like that if you were with someone else." I hoped he couldn't see me trembling. "Audrey, 1-

"And I certainly hope you weren't in a relationship when we**ed up on New Year's Eve," I added, my voice lowering to a

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There was a long weighted silence after that. Then, to my surprise, Edwin burst out laughing. I blinked in surprise, not sure if he was mocking me or if it was something else, "You think I have a girlfriend?"

"Don't patronize me, I growled.

"I'm not." He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and held it up to me. "Are you talking about this woman?" he asked.

Pursing my lips, I leaned forward to see a picture of the woman that I had seen-beautiful as ever, her blonde hair practically shining with a light of its own. "Yes," I replied, feg my chest tighten just upon looking at her.

Edwin huffed. "Audrey, that's my sister.

For a moment, I didn't believe him; but then I looked up and met his gaze, and saw nothing but sincerity there. My face instantly went red. "You have a sister?"

Edwin nodded, still chuckling. "Three, to be exact." He tapped his phone again for a few moments before turning it back around to show me what looked like her Facebook page. "Eliza Brooks," he said. "See?", Several seconds passed as I stared at the screen, taking in the beautiful woman's relationship status: single. And she was definitely his sister, because there was a picture of the two of them with an older man and woman, as well as two other equally beautiful ladies: clearly their parents and their other two sisters.

"Oh, Goddess," I mumbled, covering my face with my free hand "I'm... I'm so sorry. I just assumed... 12%2

"You don't need to apologize." Edwin said, his laughter subsiding as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "It's a common mistake. We don't look much alike and she keeps herself out of the public eye, so a lot of people have made that assumption that she's some mystery woman' that I date on and off."

He paused, folding his arms across his chest. "But I can assure you, I would never sleep with my sister." His face grew even more serious. "And I would certainly never sleep with anyone else if I was in a relationship."

I didn't know what to say, I couldn't decide if I was relieved or if had just made matters worse by making a massive fool out of myself.

Before I could muster up a response, Edwin stepped back and glanced over at my friends, who were still sitting at the table outside. They seemed to be looking around in mild confusion, likely wondering what was taking me so long. "Your friends are waiting for you."

I nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah. I should go."

"I won't interrupt your vacation again," he said, gesturing for me to go. "But please, be more careful with random men at the club. Although, I must say...

He paused again, shaking his head and chuckling slightly. "That was quite the beating you gave him. Good for you."

I blinked, realizing he thought I had physically fought Jake off. "Oh, um, yeah. I guess I did." I said, smiling slightly.

Edwin nodded approvingly. With that, he picked up his coffee and turned to leave. "Don't forget about your assigned. reading for when we return to class.

"I won't"

I watched, wide-eyed, as he walked away. In fact, I couldn't even rip my eyes away from his broad back until he was out of sight, and even then, I couldn't look away from where he disappeared until the barista called out our order.

My mind was still reg from the conversation when I returned to our table.

"You good?" Tina asked as I shakily set our tray down with our various pastries and coffees.

I nodded. "Sorry for taking so long." I mumbled as I sat down.

Tina's eyes widened when she saw my earring still sitting on top of my coffee cup. "Your earring! Where did you find it?"

I swallowed hard, almost having forgotten about it until now. "Oh, it was... in my purse." The lie felt heavy on my tongue, but I couldn't bring myself to explain the truth right now.

As we ate breakfast, I couldn't stop thinking about how relieved I felt knowing Edwin wasn't in a relationship. It was ridiculous, I knew. I might not have been his TA anymore but he was still my professor, still off-limits. But the knowledge that he hadn't been dishonest with me made my heart flutter.

If he was single, and if our interactions from the past two days were any indication....

Then did that mean that someday-maybe, just maybe, once I was finished with his class-we could have a chance?

The rest of the vacation passed in a blur, the days spent laying in the sun and splashing in the ocean. After a couple of days, I managed to push away the thoughts of Edwin and simply focus on my trip with my friends, although it was no easy feat- 12%

21-15 Mon, Sep 16

especially when nighttime would roll around and I would find myself tossing and turning in bed, imagining the sensation of his hands on my waist again.

But, before I knew it, we were packing up the car and heading back to campus. As we pulled into the parking lot outside the dorms, I felt a bit of sadness that the vacation was over-but also a bit of excitement to get back to school.

"Home sweet home." Tina said as we hauled our bags out of the car..

We said our goodbyes, promising to meet up for dinner later in the week. I trudged up to my dorm room, dropped my bags on the floor, and flopped down on my bed with a sigh.

After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, I reached for my laptop to check my email. As I scrolled through the notifications that had piled up over the week, one caught my eye It was from the new professor I would be TAing with for the remainder of the semester.

"Dear Miss Thatcher,

I hope this email finds you well and that you've had a restful spring break. I'm looking forward to working with you this semester. Please stop by my office on Monday at 2 PM so we can discuss your duties and schedule. For now, I'd like you to get started on grading these papers from my introductory class and familiarize yourself with my syllabus. Also, I'd like to write up my lesson plan for next week..." "Damn," I muttered to myself, scratching my head. "So much work already..."

you

teaching

I closed my laptop and lay back on my bed, thinking about the upcoming weeks. Now that I was no longer Edwin's assistant, the remainder of the semester would be.. different. Clearly it would be busy, if my new professor's first email was any indication. I'd have a lot less free time, that was for sure.

But maybe that was for the best; it would keep my mind off of other things.

As I unpacked my bags, though, my mind couldn't help but wander back to the conversation with Edwin at the cafe a few days ago. The relief I had felt when I realized he wasn't in a relationship, the way my heart had raced when he had touched!

my arm.

It was all so complicated, and st**, and confusing.

But maybe it didn't have to be. Maybe having a new professor to TA for was exactly what I needed. A chance to focus on my studies, to put all this drama-including my brief tryst with Professor Brooks-behind

me.

I picked up a framed photo of me and my friends from the beach, smiling at the memory. Then I placed it on my desk, right next to my textbooks and laptop.

"Time for a fresh start," I muttered to myself before plopping down to get to work on my assignments.

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