I spent the whole night tossing and turning, stuck between wakefulness and sleep. I had Isobel on my mind, and she was doing dirty things to me with her mouth.

When I woke up, I was tired like I hadn’t slept at all. Tired, edgy, eager for sex, aching as if I hadn’t had a release just yesterday.

But I had to deal with this. This was a very dangerous game to play, and with someone like Isobel being the other contender I was in deep shit.

I arrived at my office earlier than usual. I needed to talk to her. I hoped that I would catch her before my class began. I had a feeling that she would be there early, too. She had instigated it, yesterday. I wasn’t complaining, but it couldn’t happen again.

Isobel was waiting outside the lecturing hall when I arrived, and I allowed myself a moment to stare at her. She wore jeans that were so tight they traced her perfect ass, a blouse that hung loose with a scoop neck – enough to get my imagination going without being risqué. She leaned against the wall with one leg bent and her hip jutted out. Her black hair was pulled back from her face, accentuating her delicate features. I noticed her mouth, and my dick twitched, remembering how her mouth had felt.

When she looked up at me, her green eyes were piercing. She smiled.

“Morning,” she said.

“Come into my office,” I said, walking into the lecturing hall. She followed me into my office, and I closed the door.

When I turned, she was leaning against my desk, and she looked edible. I could take her right now, right here. We would have time. But I had to talk to her. I had to keep it in my pants and be reasonable.

“I can’t do this,” I said.

“Do what?” She gave me big, innocent eyes.

“This thing we’re doing. Yesterday… we can’t do this.”

Isobel nodded slowly. “Can I ask why?” she asked.

I laughed without emotion. Where was I supposed to begin? It wasn’t just the age difference or the fact that she was my TA.

“Look, I have a daughter,” I said.

Isobel didn’t look as shocked as I’d thought she would be. “Are you going to tell her what we did?”

“God, no,” I said.

“Then it doesn’t matter, does it? How old is she?”

Her logic made sense, but I needed to keep my head straight.

“Thirteen. Beth will eat you up,” I said. “She will chew you up and spit you out before you know what hit you. I have my hands full with one woman as it is. I don’t need another.”

Isobel didn’t look nearly as taken aback by the news as I thought she should be. She leaned against the desk, her arms folded over her chest, her eyes sparkling.

“Besides,” I said. “There is a rule about fraternizing with my students, here.”

“I’m not your student.”

“You’re my TA. Somehow I don’t think the council will see it any differently.”

Isobel shook her head.

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” she said. She said it very seductively like it was our secret and the look she gave me was one that made me want to have this secret with her.

“And Beth?” I asked.

“I don’t mind that you have a daughter,” she said. “We all have secrets, don’t we?”

I nodded, wondering if she had a secret, wondering if she knew anything at all about real life at her age. Isobel stepped away from the desk, closing the distance between us and my cock hardened. She was getting closer to me, and my body responded to her.

“Come on, Professor,” she said, getting closer and closer. She pushed her body up against mine, and I felt her tits against my chest. Her hand landed on my hips, and she gyrated her hips against mine, rubbing herself against my hard dick. “Don’t you want to teach me a lesson?”

She kissed me. I wasn’t going able to say no to her. I didn’t want to. I wanted to fuck her so badly. But she was a virgin – hard to tell with her advances, but I believed her. I wasn’t sure why, but I did. If we did end up doing it, I wanted it to be special for her, something she didn’t regret.

Which meant that it couldn’t just be a quick, no-strings-attached fuck. It had to be a little more meaningful than that. I didn’t want the woman to fall in love with me – didn’t women fall for their first? But I couldn’t be a complete ass, either, no matter how attractive it seemed. I wanted her virginity, though.

Maybe, that made me a dick already.

I broke the kiss, taking her by the arms and holding her away from me. If I didn’t, I would do a lot more.

“Come to dinner at my place,” I said. “Tomorrow night. Meet Beth.”

Isobel frowned. “Why?”

“Because I want you to meet her before we do anything.”

She blinked at me, confused, but nodded.

“Okay,” she said.

“And get out of my office before I change my mind, and we do something serious, now. The class will start soon, and it will be great if I don’t stand up there in front of everyone with a roaring erection in my pants again.”

She smiled and nodded, leaving my office. I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. Shit, I was in trouble.

After my classes, I called Liam. We’d been in the Army together once upon a time, and even though he was quite a bit older than I was, we made time to catch up. We went to each other for advice, and God knew I needed some now.

“I can tell you one thing,” Liam said when I explained. “You can’t refuse what’s right in front of you. You’ll just torture yourself and end up doing it, anyway.”

I chuckled. “You sound like you’re talking from experience.”

“You have no idea. The way I see it, she’s not in high school or anything, and you’re not her teacher. You’re both consenting adults as far as I can tell – her even more than you at this point – and she’s just your TA. Let go of your reservations and rules. Live a little.”

“And what about Beth?” I asked.

“That’s one thing about having kids I’ve learned just after I had to take care of Kenna all by myself,” Liam said. “If you don’t live a little for yourself once in a while, you’ll disappear. You can give your kids the world but don’t lose yourself in the process. Fuck who you want, live in the moment. If you give yourself space to breathe you end up being a better father, too.”

I sighed. My daughter was older than his, but he knew what he was talking about.

“Thanks, man,” I said before we ended the call. It was great having friends I could turn to about this. But, even though Liam’s advice had been great, I still had to make these decisions alone.