“I don’t drink a lot. If I do, I make sure that I get the drink myself or right from a bartender. I know enough people through Ginger that I’ll be watched out for. Don’t worry,” she said, giving me a puzzled look. “I didn’t think you’d be like this.”
“Like what?” I asked, my irritation rising.
“Controlling,” she muttered as I shot her a dark look.
“Hardly. I'm cautious. People get hurt on college campuses all the time, Elena. Forgive me for not wanting that to happen to you.” Even I was surprised at my words as she blanched.
“I know that. We both do, and we’re careful.” She moved closer to me, throwing an arm around my neck. “I wasn’t meeting anyone before this party, and I won’t be now. I have you.” She kissed my cheek. “I have never had a guy worried about me before. It’s different, and it came out wrong…what I said.”
“So did mine. I did sound like a controlling ass,” I admitted as I found Elena’s lips with mine. We kissed slowly at first but like always it heated up as she moved over my lap. We didn’t see each other that much, and we made every moment count, making most of the time about our pleasure. Elena had come a long way in the weeks that we’d been seeing each other, asking to try things, and getting comfortable in her own skin.
We started on the couch with her riding me wildly, without abandon. I ended it with her on her knees on my bed, fucking her from behind with the ever-present goal of getting her to squirt like before. She didn’t stay through the morning anymore as much as it bothered me, but it was smart. I always got a text when she got home, and we’d sometimes talk until we fell asleep.
She continued to excel in my class, and I checked with her to make sure that she was in the others as well. Elena worked a lot from my place when we weren’t in bed, and I enjoyed her being in my space. She fit here.
The party came up in a week, and I pushed away from the dread that came along with thinking about it. I talked to Marie about it, and while she saw my point, she also thought that Elena deserved to get out and have fun. Maria reminded me that I started being a man whore back in my own college years and pointedly asked if she thought that Elena was the same way.
Point taken. She wasn’t, but that didn’t mean the guys at the party weren’t like me.
I went out with some friends that night. I didn’t see Elena every weekend anyway, but tonight I gave in to their need to catch up. We met up at a corner bar, and I ordered a beer as I glanced at the game on the TV. The guys talked about their jobs and flavors of the week as I responded and laughed, thinking more about the party. It was at one of the wilder frats, and they had quite the reputation.
“What about you, Liam? Any cute college girls in your life?” Jared asked as I sipped my beer.
“You know that’s against the rules. No way, Jar. I am just keeping busy teaching and hitting the gym,” I replied, waving my hand in the air. “I’m boring.”
“You’re not boring. You have more numbers that any of us with those smoldering eyes.” Jared heard a girl say that to me once and would never let it go.
“Jesus Christ. That was years ago,” I groaned as I glanced at the score again. “I’m getting old now. The young ones don’t want me.” I knew that was a lie, thinking back to Thursday night with Elena. She was into me, and the sex hadn’t cooled down yet.
“Teachers?” Ted quipped as I gave him a dark look. We all knew how it went when the pretty teacher became obsessed with me five years ago, not wanting to let me go. She worked in another state now, thank fuck.
“Fuck that.”
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and reached for it automatically. I glanced at the screen, seeing that Elena sent me a photo of her smiling on a balcony. She told me that she was safe, but all I could think about was how the guys there must be looking at her. I would have eaten her up at their age. Hell, I was doing that now.
I shook my head and shoved the phone back into my pocket as Jared frowned at me. “Who was that?”
“Just a friend, Dad,” I joked as I reached for my beer again. “Jesus.”
We ended up ordering some appetizers and another round of beer. I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I made a point of not drinking too much so I could get anywhere if Elena needed me. I didn’t do that too much anymore anyway.
I headed home after midnight, feeling good to drive as I told them goodbye. I walked to my car, sitting inside while I checked my phone again. I didn’t hear from Elena again tonight, and it worried me a bit.
I drove home and parked, walking to my house. My phone went off in my pocket, and I grabbed it to check the screen. It was Elena, and she asked if I was home. I told her that I just got here and even offered to come and pick her up. She agreed, and I wondered what was going on. I asked where she was and she told me that she would wait at a coffee shop with Ginger. The cat was out of the bag there, but like my sister, it was safe.
I grabbed a ball cap from the house before driving the few blocks to the shop to see the girls sitting by the window. Elena glanced up at my blue Cherokee, and I saw her smile. She reached across the table and she and the redhead stood to walk out with us. “Would you like a ride home?” I asked her as she glanced at Elena.
“That would be great,” Ginger said, getting in the back while Elena got in the front. We talked further in there on the way to the dorms, and I liked her a lot. She was clearly concerned about her friend and checking up on me, reaching forward to touch my shoulder before she got out of the car. “Thank you, Liam. I wasn’t sure that I’d like you once I heard the story about this. I do, though. You make my girl happy.”
Ginger got out of the car after hugging Elena as I pulled my cap forward a bit and sank back into the seat. I didn’t want to be recognized, and I hoped that none of the students saw my car often enough to know who I was. I made sure that she got into the building before pulling away and reaching for Elena’s hand. “Are you okay?”
Elena
I held onto him as we drove to his house, wondering what to say. The party had been everything that he expected, and I didn’t want to prove him right. “I’m fine. Just tired and I wanted to see you.”
“I wanted to see you. I thought about you at the bar,” He told me, revealing that he did miss me in his own way.
“Did you have fun?” I asked as I looked over at him.