"What?"
"Based on your level of chagrin, I must be close." Clarity clapped her hands in delight. "I can just see it now. You alone in your place, the music turned up, dancing around in your underwear, free as a bird."
She held up her hands and undulated her hips in a jerky, awkward rhythm. Clarity giggled, but bit her lower lip in a ridiculous expression and continued her impression of me.
"Really?" I asked.
"What, is it more like this?" Clarity bopped her bare shoulders up and down in a clumsy and silly dance. She did her best bad dance moves through the dry leaves in between bursts of giggles.
"You look ridiculous," I chuckled.
"This is you," she waggled her eyebrows at me and danced over closer.
"Fine," I said, tossing the rented tuxedo jacket on the dry ground. "I know you think you're all gorgeous in that dress but this is what you probably look like when you dance." I clapped my arms straight to my sides and swayed like a stiff board.
"No!" Clarity smacked my arm.
I caught her hand and spun her in a circle. We shuffled through the fallen leaves and laughed.
Clarity wrapped her other arm around me as we danced and our smiles brushed together. The kiss was so natural, so easy, that neither of us paused. She leaned up as I pulled her to me and our lips explored happily before a deeper hunger took over.
I pressed into the kiss and felt Clarity open to let me in. She tasted of fresh fall air and laughter. Our tangled bodies kept swaying to unheard music while the faint trace of her tongue strummed up a cacophony inside me.
We heard the running footsteps too late. The jogger, in neon pink shorts and loudly beating headphones charged around the corner and under the shadow of the tree.
"Whoa, sorry lovers!" she called out with a surprised giggle. "Aren't you both dressed a little too fancy for a roll in the leaves?"
Clarity and I pushed apart as my heart exploded in fear. The runner circled around us at a quick pace, enjoying her opportunity to tease two people in a vulnerable situation.
"Please, don't stop on my account. You're probably going to get a better workout than me tonight." She cat called and ran another laughing lap around us.
I recognized her and fought the urge to hide my face. The girl peered into the shadows with a teasing look that froze as she made out our faces.
She skidded to a stop and turned around. "Wait a second. Are you kidding me? Give me one good reason I shouldn't go straight to report this to the Honor Council."
"What? Libby, you know me. It's Clarity. I helped you with that Aristotle paper, remember? Can't you just pretend you didn't see anything?" Clarity asked. She clutched her fingers together and held them out beseechingly to Libby.
Libby crossed her arms. "And what exactly am I not seeing? It looks a lot like you're making out with a professor in the bushes. God, you should be glad I got here when I did or you were going to break all kinds of rules. Isn't that a little out of character for you, goodie-goodie?"
"Yes, it's all my fault. I've, I've been drinking but you're wrong, he's not a professor, he's—"
I cut Clarity off before she could lie for me. "Libby knows who I am."
"I sure do, Professor Bauer," Libby snapped.
I snatched up my rented tuxedo coat and marched through the leaves to where Libby bounced near the sidewalk. I caught her elbow in a hard grip and pulled her farther down the sidewalk away from Clarity. "A word, Ms. Blackwell?"
Clarity wrapped her arms around her waist and backed away to the far curve of the sidewalk, out of ear shot.
Libby yanked her elbow from my grip and hissed up at me. "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. You're torturing me. Did my roommates tell you my regular route, or have you been watching me?"
I suppressed a disgusted shudder as Libby licked her lips. "This has nothing to do with you, Libby, and you're going to keep it that way."
"Am I?" Libby put her fists on her hips. "I think it has everything to do with me. You're trying to make me jealous, aren't you, Ford? Two years apart and you're losing it. Well, you don't have to pretend to be a cruel ex-boyfriend anymore. You don't have to hide in the bushes just to get my attention."
I wrapped my fingers into fists. "I am not your ex-boyfriend, Libby. You need to get that straight. We made a mistake. I was a new professor and you were a wild freshman. Just because we slept together a few times does not mean we had a relationship. It was a mistake, and it's time you let it go."
"Let it go? I remember you really let go on the floor of your apartment. We couldn't even make it to the bedroom. So hot."