HUNTER 

I watched her walk away; I watched her leave this time; it was not as final as I expected, but why would it be? 

I would have to see her five days a week, would have to see her every day.

When I waited patiently for the very late PA I had been waiting for, I’d never expected Lexie to walk through my door, fuck; she looked even more delicious than she had last night.

I should have listened to her, should have let her resign, drop my class, but the stubborn bastard in me didn’t want to, mostly because I wanted to look at what I would never touch again; she was a temptation that I would never feel again, but oh did I fucking want to, she’s all I had thought about all morning, I had replayed the events of the night in my head over and over again, I never expected to see her again, and not as my student and PA, fuck, she was going to torment me. 

I had unwittingly just agreed to let her.

I thumbed a text.

I have sent you an email; please go over my notes, and we will discuss them tomorrow.

Hunter? Professor Brooks?

Yes, Miss Mcvay?

How did you get my number?

You are my PA. Is this a trick question?

No, sorry, sir, I will do as you ask.

Excellent, Miss Mcvay.

Shit, why did my cock throb every time she called me, sir? 

I wanted her on her knees calling me sir, shit, no, don’t think like that, I couldn’t have illicit thoughts about Lexie—not now, but it didn’t stop the images of her body that ran through my head, her sweet little gasps as I played with her body or the way her body fit snugly against mine as if she had always belonged there. 

Shit, I had to get it together, and of course, I had just lied to her; I had gone through her file to find her number, didn’t need an email trail of our conversation, just in case she said something inappropriate but, of course, I knew she wouldn’t, I guess I just wanted to see if she would text me back. 

She did; shit, this girl was making me crazy.

All Day I had thought about her, I couldn’t get her out of my head, I needed a drink it had been a long day, maybe I could wash away the thought of her I thought as I locked my office door and left the building that had destroyed my astounding illusions of the girl of my dreams.

Stepping outside, I couldn’t believe it; there she was, the one I couldn’t touch; I should have walked past her, kept walking to my car where it was a safe zone, that’s what I should have done but that’s not what I was doing as my feet moved towards her, while in my head I was screaming “turn around, go the other way, do not approach the temptation.” 

Shit, she should have come with a warning label.

“Lexie?”

She turned, and I almost melted as I looked into those beautiful chestnut brown eyes of hers that had captivated me since I had first seen them the night before.

“Professor Brooks.” She looked surprised, shit that made two of us.

“Lexie, you can call me Hunter.”

She lowered her eyes to the ground, “It wouldn’t be proper, sir.”

“I’m pretty laid back; all my students call me Hunter, but if it makes you feel uncomfortable—.”

“It’s not that.” I hear her mumble.

“What is it then?”

“I—.”

“Lexie, I don’t want this to be awkward.” 

Finally, she looks up at me and smiles, and the awkwardness falls away like magic.

“It is awkward, isn’t it.” She laughs, and it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

“It doesn’t have to be.” She eyes me curiously.

“No?”

“No, we can just pretend we never met; start tomorrow on a clean slate.”

I couldn’t pretend I’d never met her, I was trying to give her comfort, but as I looked across at her face, all I saw was disappointment, which surprised me because wasn’t she the one who only wanted a one time deal with no strings attached, if I hadn’t been her professor I would have probably never seen her again. 

No, that was a lie, I’d already decided that I was going to try find the mystery girl that had fallen at my feet, even though she had said she only wanted one night, in that one night my obsession had grown.

I would probably always wonder about the mysterious girl who fell into my lap that night, but now that I’d found her it was bittersweet, maybe if things were different I tell myself. Still, I was her professor, and the relationship would have to be strictly professional, so I guess her threat of a one time deal became my reality.

“Do you think that’s possible?” She whispers.

“Absolutely.” I smile while lying to her.

“Why are you out here in the dark alone, Lexie?”

“I was getting some air; I’m going to walk to my apartment—.”

“You most certainly are not.”

“Excuse me?”

“I can’t let you walk alone.”

“I’m twenty-one Hunter; I’m sure a few blocks down the street won’t kill me,” she smirked.

“Do you know how irresponsible it would be of me to leave you out here alone? It’s not safe, come on.”

“What?”

“I will give you a lift home.”

“I don’t think that’s wise, do you?”

“I won’t tell if you won’t.” I winked; shit, what was wrong with me? I tried to be funny, but it all came out a little more seductive than I intended.

She was looking at me, shit, well like she looked at me last night, I had to make a mental note not to flirt with her, but it was inevitable; just looking into those eyes had me thinking of all the things I wanted to do to her, each little nibble on her lip as she nervously looked at me had me throbbing, it shouldn’t be like this, but I had a feeling it would always be like this. 

Here I was offering to be alone with her in my car, in a tiny space alone; I could barely control myself out in the open; how would I control myself in my car.

“Come on then.”

“Honestly, Hunter, I’m fine.“

“Yes, I know, but I’m still not taking no for an answer.“

She shrugged as she walked with me to my car; okay, I could do this, the ultimate test, I could get her home safely, not touch her, maybe not speak to her, it wasn’t far, it wouldn’t take long then I’d be home free, to get out of the danger I was putting myself in, yes I could do this I told myself.

Once I was in the car, my wish for silence never came; I heard her huffing and puffing as I pulled near her apartment, the streets were quiet, not a person in sight, and I watched as she stared out of the window with a long lost look.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Lexie, if something is bothering you—.”

“If I’d have known, I would have never—.”

“I know.”

“I mean, you didn’t even want to—this is all my fault.”

“Hey, look at me.” She shakes her head and continues to stare at the blanket of blackness.

“I should go.”

She’s right, of course, she’s right, I should just let her go, but she looks so sad, and I don’t want her to be sad, she’s much too beautiful to ever frown, so I do what I know I shouldn’t do, I reach over and gently tip her chin until she’s facing me and staring into her warm chestnut eyes, I fucking melt.

“This is not your fault Lexie.”

“But—.” I see the fresh water fill her eyes.

“I shouldn’t be saying this, not now.”

“Saying what?”

“I did want it; you don’t know how much I wanted it.” 

Fuck, why did I say that but it’s like I have no control; words spill out like a fucking tornado.

“You did?”

“I was sad when I found you had left.”

“I left a note—.”

“I know.”

“Then, when I saw you today, I was happy.”

“You was?”

“Well, yes and no.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I was happy to see you again and sad that I’d never—.”

“Never what?”

“I—it doesn’t matter, I just want you to know I wanted it as much as you, I’m as much to blame as you are, if not more.”

“Hunter—.”

“We can’t talk about this again, though, Lexie.”

“Can I ask you something?” I nod at her, not daring to speak because I’ve already said more than I should have.

“If I wasn’t your student—.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t know the question.”

“Yes, Lexie, if you weren’t my student, I would have come looking for you and made you mine.”

I hear her gasp, and I’m fucking kicking myself; it was true, but shit, I was never supposed to tell her that.

“But you are my student, Lexie.” 

“Tomorrow is a clean slate?” She asks me.

“Yes, tomorrow is a clean slate.”

“So, get anything off my chest right now?”

“I guess.”

She lifts her hand and grazes it across the stubble on my face, and as her fingertips glide ever so lightly across my face I shudder beneath her touch, I want to tell her to stop; I want to say to her that her small touches are pushing me over the brink of losing control, but I’m frozen, lost in the moment, her face is so close to mine, I feel her sweet breath massage my face, “we shouldn’t do this.” I finally hear her mutter.

“I know,” I say while bringing my hand around her throat, pulling her closer as my lips enclosed around her sweet plump mouth; I devoured her, stole her breath and breathed life into her once more, lost in a sea of her kisses I finally knew what it feels like to fall. 

As she stole my breath with each kiss, I’d never been more satisfied to fall; our mouths crashed together in a heated battle of lust and want, pulling her further into my body; I finally felt the feeling of losing control. With her, I relinquished it all as I fell deep in a sea of her everlasting kiss.

Breathless, we parted, and I missed the touch of her lips pressed against mine, missed her breath breathing life into me.

“Hunter?” I caressed her face as I looked longingly into her brown eyes, secretly wishing she was mine but knowing I couldn’t have her.

“Clean slate.” I smiled.

“But—.”

“I think it’s clear that I want you, Lexie.” She nods. “But I can’t have you.”

“Hunter—.”

“Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.”

“You kissed me—.”

“I know.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know.”

“You should get going before someone sees you.”

“Really?” She scowls. “That didn’t seem to concern you when you had your tongue down my throat.”

“Lexie—.”

“No, why do it if you’re going to act like this?”

“I lost control; now go.”

She opens the door as she takes one last look at me, and my stomach drops as I watch her walk away, but that’s all I would ever be able to do, watch her walk away because I couldn’t keep her or make her mine but as I watched her, I wished I could because, with each stolen kiss, she had breathed new life into me.

Shit, I was in trouble.

I had tasted her once more and she was fucking delectable, I wanted to taste every inch of her body, mark every curve, watch that blush crawl up her face and make her mine, but I couldn’t do that, I couldn’t have her and it was fucking killing me.

How had I allowed this to happen, shit, I’d come here to work that’s it, no funny business, just play the boring professor and go back home in the summer, clear my debts and come back and work again in the fall, I had it all planned out, this was my last chance saloon, to get my life together, to finally get it right—then I’d met her and complicated my life.

Fuck—my life was already complicated, I didn’t need this, why did my dream girl have to be a student, she did things to me that no woman had ever come close to doing, but I knew I couldn’t have her, I knew I had to let her go, just watch her from afar like a stalker, but I wasn’t a stalker, I was—well I was in deep shit, if this got out I’d lose everything, that wasn’t an option, no, no matter how much I wanted her, I had to let her go.

Sighing with disappointment I drove away from the girl that would forever haunt my mind, to go back to my apartment that was now filled with the memory of her, her scent was still all over my apartment, if I closed my eyes I could still see her pressed up against that fucking wall, still taste her as my tongue travelled up her soaking lips, everything in my apartment was a reminder of her.

That’s all I could have of Lexie Mcvay—a memory.

But oh what a fucking memory it was.