Chapter Twenty-Nine
Noah
It was damn near impossible to focus on anything with Iris around. That much I knew when I found myself looking up every few seconds to lock eyes with her from across the room. No matter how hard I told myself not to look, I still found myself looking at her with a pang of desire in my chest.
Her dainty little feet were bare today, a flip flop dangling between her toes as she crossed her long legs to get comfortable. It was warm enough outside now to wear sandals around campus, and I couldn’t wait to see Iris in something else besides her usual attire of leggings and shirts. Of course, she looked beautiful. She looked beautiful no matter what she wore.
Not seeing one another was going to be hard. I’d never felt this way about a woman, and I didn’t plan on questioning it, either. I wanted to jump in and never look back, but there were a few weeks left for us to get through. I could handle it. I could handle not seeing her outside of class.
A smiled tugged at Iris’ lips when I found my gaze settling on her again. She pouted her lips at me in a quick kiss before focusing back down on the text that a student was reading out loud. Tease. She was a tease, and knew it too.
I sighed when I felt blood pool down to between my legs. There was no use in trying to keep myself distance from her. It was impossible because I wanted her close to me at all times. I wanted to see what other mischievous smiles she had hidden.
I dismissed class shortly before nine o’clock. A few students lingered to talk with me about their papers before the classroom emptied out except for me and Iris. I didn’t waste any time by grabbing her by the waist. She tasted deliciously of coffee and sugar when I kissed her deeply.
She pulled back a moment later with a gasp. “Did you miss me or something?”
I rested my forehead against hers. “More than you know,” I whispered against her lips and reluctantly stepped back in case someone stepped into the classroom. “When can I see you again?”
“Noah,” she started, shaking her head at me. “We agreed to see each other after I graduated, remember?”
“I honestly can’t wait that long,” I told her and motioned to the bulge in my pants. “Look at me. This is going to be torture trying to stay away from you.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. I glanced up at the clock above the door to make sure we still had time to get to our other morning classes.
“How about Wednesday?” she asked, eventually. “I have tons of homework to do over the next two days. Your class included.”
“Right. Don’t slack off, either,” I warned, wagging a playful finger at her. “No amount of amazing sex will get you off the hook with me.”
Iris laughed lightly as grabbed the door handle. “Wednesday then,” she said, disappearing out of the classroom without looking back.
I sucked in a couple of deep breaths to cool myself down before exiting the classroom to go to my next class. The rest of the morning passed by without a hitch, and I was thankful to return to my office for a brief period of silence.
“Knock. Knock.” Kale popped his head into my office, looking around briefly. “Are you busy at the moment?”
“Just finishing up some test grades,” I said, twirling a red pen between my fingers. I motioned for him to come in, but he stayed in the hallway with his head extended in my office. “You can come in if you want. You don’t have to hide out in the hallway.”
“I was actually thinking that maybe we could get something to eat,” he suggested. “There’s a little grill off campus that I think you’d like to try out.”
“Okay,” I said, slowly. Something was off from how he was acting, but I shrugged it off at the thought of getting off campus for a bit to clear my head. “Let me grab my stuff and lock my office up while we have the time to go.”
Fifteen minutes later, Kale pulled up to a small restaurant that smelt heavenly of barbecued ribs and garlic bread. I groaned when my stomach grumbled hungrily as I took in the menu of delicious food.
“I say we go here all the time now,” I told him. “Forget that shitty dining hall food we’ve been eating for the past few months.”
“No kidding,” he said. “I come here on the way home to grab food. I don’t ever have the time to cook.”
“I just suck at cooking,” I said, and ordered a half rack of ribs when the waitress returned to get our order. Once she left to put our orders in, I looked at Kale to find him staring at me with knitted eyebrows. Wariness filled me. “Okay. I don’t like that look on your face. What is going on?”
He played with his straw for a moment. “I don’t mean to put you on the spot because I consider you a close friend of mine, but I have to tell you something that the other professors are saying.”
I kept my face neutral as possible despite my heart threatening to pound its way out of my chest. I had promised Iris that no one would find out, but if people were starting to suspect something, we really had to cool it down even more.
“Miles told me I’m starting to be ‘too popular’ with students,” I said. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?’
“No. That’s just jealousy from the other professors. There’s a rumor going around about you and your senior student, Iris Paige.”
I stiffened, appetite gone now. “About what?”
“A student told another professor that she’d seen Iris leaving the English Department the other night, and then you leaving not long after. The both of you looked a bit flushed, from what I heard,” Kale said.
He leveled a serious glance at me. “It’s none of my business, Noah, but is there something going on between you and her? I don’t want to see you lose your job over this.”
My skin felt hot to the touch when I reached up to rub at my forehead. I should’ve known that someone would’ve seen Iris leaving and then me, too. I was the only one in the building that night, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out she had been there at the same time.
“Nothing,” I gritted out between my teeth. “There is nothing going on between Iris Paige and me. I don’t know why people are saying that.”
Kale stared at me hard for a moment. “Look, man. I’m your friend, and I’m not going to rat you out to Miles if you want to tell me about what is going on. I have nothing to gain by running to the dean over it. It’s none of my business, but it’s rather obvious too that there is something going on between you two. It’s clear as day, actually.”
It was tempting to tell him the truth. I was balancing on a delicate edge of a knife – either way, I knew I’d be nicked or stabbed no matter what I said to anyone.
“There isn’t,” I insisted. “Nothing is going on.”
He didn’t look he believed me. “Okay. I’m just telling you that if there is, be careful. It’s none of my business, but-”
“You’re right,” I cut in, staring him squarely in the eye. “It’s no one’s business about what I do outside of the classroom, but I wouldn’t put my job or her future on the line for a fling.”
The lie tasted bitter in the back of my throat. The waitress returned with our order of food, but my gut churned painfully when I glanced down at the ribs. I pushed the plate away and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill to cover my half of the bill.
“I need some fresh air,” I told Kale, standing from the table. “Thanks for warning me that rumors are starting to go around.”
“Noah-” he started, but I didn’t give him a chance to say anything further.
Guilt filled me when I left him at the table. I had to get outside to get fresh air in my lungs to think clearly.
All I could think about was how shit was about to hit the fan, and no amount of lying would protect Iris and I from the consequences of what we had done. If people were talking about us, that meant we were already crucified before Miles even had a chance to ask about what was going on himself.
I dragged a hand down my face as I strode down the sidewalk in the direction of PHU. Thirty minutes of walking in the fresh spring air would hopefully clear my mind by the time I got back to campus to assess what could happen if people talked. I wanted to believe that Miles would ask me first if something was happening, but I had my doubts that he would. He was already angry about me not wanting to coach the rugby team.
I needed to find Iris and warn her before Miles had a chance to get to her.