It's a Friday Afternoon and I have my first class since I last saw Mr. Grayson. Well, since I last saw him in real life anyway. These past few days it seems my dreams only consist of his muscular upper body and his long brown mane that my fingers simply cannot resist being entangled in. His cold, strong hands and his—

"Nailea, youre here", I'm snapped out of thought when Kayden sits down next to me with a wide grin on his face. Sweet Kayden. Hes wearing his usual pale colored long-sleeved crewneck and a pair of khakis with some plain white sneakers.

"Yes, of course I'm here. Why wouldn't I be?", I ask him

"I thought you had been avoiding me...since I made you uncomfortable the other morning after I picked you up. I felt terrible and I just hate not speaking to you", he frowns. The poor thing. I adore Kayden, I really do. But sometimes he can come off a little toodesperate.

"I haven't been avoiding you Kayden", I assure him

"Well why haven't you been answering my calls then?"

"Oh, my phone has been off. It's my birthday week and you know how my mother is. Shes rather consistent with her communication during this time", I sigh, "I've been avoiding my mother's calls not yours"

"Oh", he says, looking slightly disappointed for some reason. "So, were fine then?"

          I giggle. "Yes Kayden. We are just fine. I should actually be the one apologizing for being such a pain. You practically saved me and I acted so ungrateful. Im sorry"

"Its fine. Im just happy to put that entire mooring behind us, he breaths. Agreed?"

"Agreed," I smile

          Only a moment passes by and Mr. Grayson walks into the room, thieving all of my attention. He's dressed neatly in his usual white dress shirt and blazer. His at-tire is always the same yet it never seems to get any less attractive on him. Not even in the slightest. He offers me a warm smile before standing in front of the class and carrying out his lesson. If I tell you that I'm able to focus on the work while he caresses each word that leaves his mouth so perfectly...well, I'd be bloody lying.

          I squeeze my thighs together beneath the table and chew on my lower lip. Oh, Mr. Grayson, what are you doing to me? And how? The truth is, I'm incredibly attracted to this man and at this point, what Daisy said earlier doesn't sound so pain-fully impossible anymore. Maybe I should offer Mr. Grayson my indecent proposal? It wouldn't be like I'm his mistress. I'm his student assistant, if anything I'd be assisting his needs while his wife isn't around to do so. Right?

After his lecture, I walk up to Mr. Grayson confidently. Ready to give him my proposal.

"Miss Tembo." He looks pleased to see me

"Good Afternoon Mr. Grayson"

"I'm glad to see you back in class", he smiles, "I hope we can work well with each other now"

"Honestly, I'd love nothing more", I smile back

"Well, I had better leave before I lose the last bit of self control that Im holding onto for dear life right now."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not easy for a man to be around something that he wants but can't have Miss Tembo", he says to me in a low husky tone before lowering his lip to take in a sharp breath.

          His sentence makes me gulp. "You want me then?"

You can have me any way you like, I imagine myself saying, take me right now Mr. Grayson! Right here, right now. I don't care for consequences I just want to be bloody yours!

"Any way that I can have you Miss Tembo, he replies. Standing, sitting....bending over"

My breath quickens and I gnaw anxiously at my lip. If only he knew how terribly I ache for him.

"I'll see you around Miss Tembo"

I smile and nod before leaving the classroom and walking back to my dorm room.

***

By the time Sunday rolls in as abruptly as it always does, Daisy has fully persuaded me into going out with her for my birthday. Which, I find rather silly because my birthday is on Monday anyway, but, nonetheless, I'm determined to have a good time. I think I've quite earned it. Theres a weird way that I so desperately need Daisys approval on who I am. Im certain it isnt healthy but for some reason, I keep coming back to it. 

          In a few minutes, Chase and Asher are knocking on our door, here to pick us up. I watch closely as Daisy excitedly runs to open the door and kisses both boys passionately, one after the other. I cringe at the sight of them being interchangeably affectionate with each other.

          "C'mon birthday girl! This is going to be such a great night", Daisy smiles. "I can feel it"

          The club is loud and sticky when we arrive. I'm already regretful of my decision to be here. Asher brings all of us drinks and though I'm hesitant, I am technical-ly 21 years old in less than 3 hours. What's one drink?  We spend our time laughing and drinking and dancing the night away. Kayden joins us as well after about an hour, bringing a case of beers for him and the boys. For the first time in my life, I feel like Im part of a real family.

          As I gulp my 6th margarita of the night, I realize that I might have over done it just a little bit. I suddenly hear the gang yell happy birthday to me and realize it must already be past midnight. I'm officially 21 years old. Now what?

          "Happy Birthday Nailea", Kayden shouts to me over the blasting music. He puts his arm over my shoulder and gives me a soft side hug

          "Thank you!", I hiccup, pulling away from his grip. It makes me feel uncomfortable to get too close to Kayden physically.

          "Nai! Nai! You should totally call your boyfriend Nai", Daisy giggles. She must be more drunk than I am. No surprise there. "call your boyfriend Nai! Call the professor"

           I barely do any sort of thinking at all before pulling out my phone and start to scroll through my contacts. I can't even remember saving Mr. Grayson's number on my phone but for whatever reason, here it is. My screen litters with notifications from my mother texting me obnoxiously. I should probably call her.... maybe later when I'm not so wasted. Otherwise, I'll probably say something I'll regret.

          I tap on the contact and Mr. Grayson picks up the phone after only a few rings. "Hello?", he answers, seemingly shocked to hear from me

          "Hi...hello, it's me", I slur

          "Miss Tembo?"

          "Why don't you call me Nailea? That's my name. My name is Nailea not Miss Tembo. So just...just call me that"

          "Well, I prefer to call you Miss Tembo"

          "Mhm"

What even is this dreadful conversation anyway?

          "Are you alright? You sound kind of odd", he says worriedly

          "I'm fine", I hiccup, "I just want you Xavier. I want to see you again...forever"

          "Where are you Miss Tembo?", he pauses before correcting himself. ".... Nailea. Where are you Nailea?"

          "Much better", I giggle again. "I'm at the bar. But I hate it and I want to take a nap now. It's too sticky and hot in here"

         "Would you like me to come get you?"

         "Yes Mr. Grayson. Please come get me", I hang up.

***

          When I wake up it's...quiet. Almost too quiet. By now Daisy should be blast-ing Christina Aguilera through her speakers, screaming along to Lady Marmalade and getting her morning yoga done. I open my eyes and immediately remember this place. How did I end up in Mr. Grayson's room? Wearing only my bra and panties.

         I glance at the bedside table where I see a birthday card. It reads, "Happy 21st! You're finally legal". I sit up and pick up the card, looking inside only to see that it has been signed, -X. How did Mr. Xavier Grayson know it was my birthday? Did I tell him last night? How did he even know where I was last night? How did I end up here? What the hell even happened last night?

         A million questions swim through my mind making me nervous and even more uncomfortable than I already am right at this moment. Suddenly the bedroom door swings open and Mr. Grayson strolls in with only a towel wrapped around his waist. His messy long and dark hair is still damp from a shower and his muscles are almost glistening. His bare chest makes my heart do summersaults into my stomach. How inconsiderate of him.

          "Good morning Nailea", he says. Since when does he not call me 'Miss Tembo?'

          He comes and sits down on the bed, right next to me, and his glorious scent makes love to my nostrils. "I hope you like the card. You did force me to stop in the middle of the road just so I could get it for you on the way over to my house last night", he smiles

Oh no. Why do I have such a habit of completely embarrassing myself in front of this Man?

          "Oh my gosh," I cringe. "Please tell me that was the most embarrassing thing I did last night"

          "You did nothing embarrassing. You were more entertaining than embarrassing. I must say though, you're much more of a freak when you're drunk", he calmly tells me

          Oh man, we had sex? Again! Nailea, who the hell are you? because at this point, I don't even know anymore.

          "Oh. Is that your thing then? You're into necrophilia?", I joke

          He stares at me surprised and almost offended, "You were very receptive Nailea. Trust me. But if I was out of line, I apologize"

I didn't even know he was capable of apologizing for sleeping with me. It's sexy though. He's sexy.

          I shake my head, "I'm only joking."

          "Do you remember what you told me after you finished?", he changes the subject

After I finished? What century is this? I giggle lightly under my breath and shake my head no.

          "You more or less just confessed your never ending love to me", he grins devilishly at me, licking his lips.

         "I... I don't know what to say", my nose wrinkles.

         "It's alright. I'm quite interested in your offer"

Oh?

          "You would like for me to be your mistress?"

          "I would like for you to be mine", he murmurs, giving me a sharp shiver down my spine

          "Oh", is all I'm able to get out of my mouth

          "Of course, this would have to be a secret. Nobody can know what we do or what we discuss which means we can only meet here or out of town if at all youd want to be a bit adventurous", he says seriously as though hes done this before manymany times.

         "I'm okay with being a secret", I hear myself say

          He smirks. "I'll head to the kitchen to make us some breakfast. You can go ahead and take a shower. You might as well start to get comfortable around here" He winks.

          I smile. "Uh....where's my dress?"

          "You threw up all over yourself, I had to throw it away. I can get you a new one after we eat but for now you can wear one of my t-shirts. Have your pick of whichever youd like"

          I nod my head thank you and cringe inward. He saw me throwing up all over myself and he still wants me to be his? He still wants to make me breakfast? Damn. This is too good to be true if you ask me. Way to good. There has to be some kind of downside to all of this. Whatever it is, thats going to have to be a discussion for another day.