CHAPTER 3

It was Thursday night, and I was going through the submissions. So far, it was all run-of-the-mill stuff. Nothing terribly interesting, only one paper clearly scraped together the morning it was due. But then Autumn’s was the next in the stack.

“Ah, let’s see what she was complaining about,” I hummed to myself.

I’ll tell you right now, I am sure as shit glad that I didn’t read it when she gave it to me. The scene started in the gym. I think I got to about the second sentence when I felt my heart skip a beat. ‘She was running on the treadmill, looking out the window…’

It’s okay. It’s not about that day. She probably goes to the gym a lot. I mean, she does have that body… I kept reading. ‘As the evening went on, it started getting darker outside. It was harder to see out the window because it was reflecting the light from inside the room…’

The realization hadn’t sunk in yet. At least not to the forefront of my mind. But my pulse kept speeding up anyway. My eyes leapt down the page, paying no attention to mistakes in her writing. I dimly thought ‘at least she is doing a good job creating suspense…’

She talked about how her body felt. How she felt energized as she ran. How she got hot and what the sweat felt like on her skin. It was painting a vivid picture… One that I had no trouble imagining. My mouth began to dry out as I read on, the image of that sexy form jogging in front of me.

Then the important part came. ‘After awhile, she could see everybody behind her just by the reflection in the window. That’s when she noticed someone. Someone staring at her…’

Ah fuck. I’ll tell ya, I don’t think I was ever as interested in a student paper as I was right then. I flew through the words, dread creeping over me as I did so. She wrote about recognizing the man staring at her. About him being a teacher. One of her teachers. She said she decided to run a little bit longer, just to see how long he’d watch. She described getting a little thrill out of it. She wanted to keep going, but she was getting tired. So she *was* showing off…

Finally she gave up, and stretched to give him a good view. She was going to smile at him, but when she looked over, he was staring at the ground. Then she felt embarrassed, so she just left…

I put the paper down, my hands actually trembling. Okay, how the hell do I deal with this!? I drummed my fingers on the table, thoughts racing through my mind. She knows… She knows I was checking her out… My own student! As nervous as I was, I suddenly realized, maybe even a little pale-faced, that a lot of blood was rushing between my legs. Oh my god, I’m fucking hard!?

I needed to think. I put the paper aside and picked up another one, trying to push the thoughts out of my head. Although I technically read all the words, not one of them registered in my brain. All I could think about was Autumn. Tight little ass, tiny little shorts Autumn. Perfect smooth legs, skimpy sports bra Autumn. That fucking showoff knew exactly what she was doing…

I got up from the table and began to pace around the room. Okay, time to get a hold of yourself. I needed to blow off some energy. Maybe I should go to the gym… Maybe she’ll even be there… My thoughts were frantic. I stopped in my tracks and let out an exacerbated sigh. I could feel it, but I had to look down anyway. There was a huge tent in my slacks.

I felt frustrated and a little ashamed. Shoving one hand in my pocket, I tried to readjust myself to make it less noticeable. The attention felt good, and I thoughtlessly tugged at the base of my cock. Good god, this is pathetic. I have to end this right now.

Back to my table, I pulled her paper in front of me. Red pen out: time to kill this thing. “Autumn, I am afraid there is not much of an actual ‘encounter’ taking place here. Your characters never actually meet. It is almost as if the protagonist imagined the whole thing. While perhaps an intriguing premise, you may want to start again.”

There, that’ll make her write something else. I read back over my comment. *Intriguing premise?* Why the fuck did I say that!? I thought about crossing it out, but that would look ridiculous. Nothing to do about it now. I fidgeted in my seat, realizing I was in no condition to grade the other papers yet.

I went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. Water dripped back down as I leaned over the sink, feeling almost dizzy. Calm down. I haven’t done anything wrong. I am overreacting. But damn it why I am so fucking hard! I could not shake the image of Autumn out of my head. I saw her standing in front of my desk, that cute little pout when she gave me her paper. Tummy peaking out from under her shirt...

What the hell would I have done if I read it… with her right there? Would she have stood and watched me? I probably would have even told her to take a seat… Next to me even! What if I got hard, right next to her? She must know… She would maybe even touch it… Oh god, that would be so wrong…

I didn’t even realize it, but I had shoved a hand down my pants and was slowly jerking myself to these anxious thoughts. But I didn’t stop once I grasped this. Instead, I undid my slacks and pushed them down, giving myself better access. I clenched my eyes shut and shook my head in disbelief at myself. I bet this is what she wanted… If only she knew what I was doing right this second… Autumn you hot little tease… I can’t believe I’m even thinking about you…

And with that, I came. All over the bathroom sink. My entire body tingled from the sudden sensation. When I finally came around from my high, my eyes slowly fluttered open. What the hell did I just do?