Dan's POV

I pulled my sunglasses down over my eyes as I walked out of the local Starbucks and onto the Columbia University campus, a salted caramel macchiato in one hand, a small folded piece of paper in the other.

I'm assuming the barista who had been eye-fucking me the entire time I was in the shop had decided to slip me her phone number. As kind of a gesture as it might have been, I slipped it into the first bin I saw without even opening it.

You're probably thinking wow, that's rude. You're a twat. You're probably right. It was rude, and perhaps I am a twat, but I could tell, in those fifteen minutes of being visually undressed and violated, that I wasn't interested.

Not because she was unattractive; she was definitely attractive. More so because I could tell that if I had an actual conversation with her I would probably want to chuck myself in front of a moving automobile, because that probably wouldn't be as painful as listening to her talk.

Oh come on, surely I can't be alone in getting those kinds of vibes from people. I know you've looked at someone before and thought to yourself that looks like the most annoying person on the planet.

Even if she didn't look annoying, she definitely looked like a teenager. Although I might not look much older, bloody dimpled baby face of mine, I am.

I'm 25 and from what I've been told, I don't look a day over 17. At work, I've actually been confused as a student. Several times.

Twice that day and I was sure it would happen again, as that was where I was heading. Back to my classroom, to teach. That was still so bloody bizarre to me. You have no idea. This time last year I was one of them. A lazy, slightly immature, internet addicted grad student.

Okay, so the only thing that had really changed was the fact that I wasn't a grad student, or a student at all. I was still lazy, immature, and a hardcore internet junkie.

It was actually kind of shocking that they hired me, to be honest. I wanted to ask the dean if he had a few screws loose or something, but my brother Phil advised against it.

I was teaching lower level Philosophy and upper level English at one of the finest Universities in America.

Which lead me to one question: What is my life?

Really though. I was foul-mouthed, sarcastic, and one of my favorite pastimes was provoking people. I'm not sure why, but I loved verbal confrontation. Nothing too serious, of course, as I'm not really someone who's looking for an actual physical fight.. but I love pissing people off and making them feel stupid.

Why would they even consider me? I have no idea. But they did and now I'm here.

Since the Starbucks was on campus, it didn't take me long at all to get back to the Philosophy building. That was literally the name of the building, by the way. Philosophy. There was even a replica of The Thinker outside of it.

I stopped by my office to get my briefcase and a copy of my lecture notes that I probably wouldn't use. Monday I had a very detailed lecture I was going to give involving the sayings of Voltaire, but a very frustrating student got me started on something else entirely. Odds were, she would do it again; if she even showed up, that is.

I believe the odds were against me on that one, though, since I'd met her roommate who most likely went back to her and told her all about what I'd said about our... interesting first meeting.

That was actually a great example of my love of provoking people. She had showed up late, which could have been easily overlooked if I could actually stand the thought of rich entitled twats running around doing whatever they please with mummy and daddy's money. Obviously I couldn't.

Apparently I had misjudged her, or so she said; saying that she had a crap job she had to work late at night. I still think she was out partying like the majority of her classmates. The only difference was, they had actually managed to make it to a 2pm lecture on time, whereas she looked like she had literally just rolled out of bed.

After locking my office up I made my way up the stairs and to the lecture room, which was almost deserted. In front row at the bottom of the stairs I could see the back of a girl's head and I knew without seeing her face that it was Sydney Knight, the girl I'd gotten into it with on Monday.

I pulled my shades off of my eyes and checked the time on my phone. She was about twenty minutes early and had all of her things neatly sorted out in front of her.

Smartass.

"I see that you've gotten yourself a new alarm clock," I commented as I walked by where she was sitting, centered in the room right in front of my podium.

I pulled the strap of my bag off of my shoulder and turned to face the podium that I used to lean on more so than lecture behind. There was a gift bag sat on top of it with tissue paper sticking out of the top of it. Stuffing my briefcase away, I picked the bag up and eyed it as I took a sip of my coffee. Professor Howell was scribbled across a piece of the tissue paper but there was no note or anything saying who it was from.

I sat my coffee down and reached into the bag and pulled out the contents. Which was a bottle of KY warming lube and a fleshlight.

"Awww. Did a student give you a present, Professor Howell?" she asked, pretending to be completely oblivious about what was in the bag. "That is so sweet. I bet the girls are practically launching their vaginas at you."

I looked up from the bag to Sydney and my eyes got pretty wide; up until then, I hadn't really looked at her and now that I was, I was quite taken aback by her appearance. She actually looked put together and not like she had only rolled out of bed fifteen minutes ago. Her hair was down and curled instead of up in some kind of chaotic mess on her head. Her makeup wasn't smeared and she wasn't wearing worn clothes, but a sundress that came down past her knees even while she was sitting.

I was so distracted by that, that it took me a few seconds to realize what she had said to me. I managed to shoot her a smirk as I held the fleshlight and lube up before dropping it back into the bag. "I'll take that as a compliment," I responded as I folded the top of the bag down and shoved it inside of the podium where my briefcase was stuffed away. "Even if it's extremely inappropriate."

"I've always found that people who can be open about sexuality and not see it as inappropriate are the most fun. Perhaps instead of you giving me some sort of insight during this course, I can give you one." She grinned at me as she raised her Starbucks cup to take a sip and I saw written across it in very large black marker 'Tuesday' with a little heart next to it.

It was Wednesday.

"We'll see," I couldn't believe I was actually capable of brushing her comment off so easily. Okay, so I didn't really brush it off, but I definitely made it seem that way. I was very intrigued by her, to be honest, but I couldn't let that be known. "Also, I am actually very open about sexuality, if you must know, but I find that's something that shouldn't be discussed between two people in our situations," I stated as I picked up my coffee to take a drink of it. "I'm more interested in getting an insight into your mind, Ms. Knight. Not your knickers."

"What knickers?" she responded quickly with a completely straight face as she sat her cup down on her desk again. It barely took a second for her to start laughing. "I'm sorry. I had to say that. I promise I'm not a total slut bag in heat. I'm just fucking with you." She crossed her legs and leaned forward on her desk. "So, we've got about 15 minutes left. What is it that you'd like to know about the mind of Sydney Knight, Professor Howell?"

I cleared my throat as I shuffled towards her desk and took a seat on the edge of it. I chose to ignore her comment altogether because that might annoy her more than actually pressing on about it. "What you're doing here would be a nice start," I answered neutrally. "And by here, I mean in my classroom, and by what, I mean other than being a particularly large pain in my ass."
"I'm in your classroom because this class is on my schedule," she answered, smirking at me. "Sorry, you made that too easy. Honestly? I don't know what the hell I'm doing yet and I know that gives you more fuel for your fire against me but it's the truth. I thought I wanted to do graphic design but, let's face it, every fucking body and their Mom majors in that. So, now I'm sort of all over the place. I'm in dance here and a film class and your class," she laughed, shaking her head. "My schedule is pretty a.d.d."

I raised an eyebrow at her as I took another drink of coffee. I was judging her and it was obvious. "Hmm," I lowered my cup and tapped my finger against it. "And how old are you?" I tilted my head.

"I'm 22. Judge away," she replied, extending her arms and waving her hands towards herself like she was welcoming it.

"Do you realize that you're only three years younger than I am, and I've got a masters degree?" I stated. "You might want to get your priorities sorted a bit, or you'll be my age with your a.d.d schedule and still slaving away at your shit job."

She didn't even flinch at my words. Instead she laughed. "Wait, wait. You're 25? You barely look like you've been through puberty. If you weren't so fucking tall I wouldn't have thought you were past 16."

How did I not see that coming? "How clever," I responded, trying not to smile. It was a decent effort and it made it look like I was smirking at her and not as amused as I didn't want to be. "You seem to be thoroughly interested in anatomy and physiology. Have you thought about looking into that, or are your rude comments supposed to be as juvenile as they sound?"

"They're supposed to be as juvenile as they sound," she responded, winking at me after. "How about you? Did you take a class on how to be an asshole or is that just a natural trait of yours? I'm guessing both because you're so good at it." She tilted her head and had the sweetest smile on her face like she hadn't just flat out called me an asshole.

"Actually, it's all natural," I returned the smile without hesitation. "No amount of study could perfect such a skill." I let my gaze linger on hers as I raised my cup to my lips. I don't know how she was doing it, but she was getting under my skin. "I would offer to give you a lesson but it seems as though you've nearly mastered it yourself. Too bad you can't get by in life on annoyance alone. You'd be absolutely set."

"As would you, Professor Howell. If anything I can tell that you and I have that in common," she responded before taking another sip of her own coffee. "Oh!" she grinned as she leaned back and crossed her arms. "I heard you met my roommate. She said you had wonderful things to say about one of your students."

I honestly don't know why I hadn't expected her to bring that up. I should have known that she would. "I wouldn't say that they were wonderful things," I countered, a crooked grin on my lips. "But yes, I believe I met her."

"I wouldn't say they were either," she responded, raising an eyebrow. "But don't worry. I won't tell on you. You're too much fun to fuck with."

My lips parted to retort but I was silenced by the sound of the door in the back of the room opening, a group of girls walking through it.

I looked from the door and back to Sydney as I got up from the desk I was sitting on and cleared my throat. I could feel her eyes on me as I turned away from her and headed to my podium to sit my cup down and grab my notes; though, I already had no intention of using them.

"Good afternoon Professor Howell," one of the girls seated near Sydney greeted me and I shot her a half smile before my eyes lingered back to the girl who was just as good at dishing smartass remarks out as I was.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Hendrix," I responded, shifting my eyes back towards the girl who was smiling at me.

I tried to make myself look busy with the papers in my hands but I couldn't stop from looking up from them every few seconds to see that Sydney was still watching me, a smirk curving her lips.

How was I going to deal with her distracting me for the next four and half months?

I waited until a minute after 2 to quiet down the classroom so I could begin my lecture. All eyes were on me and this was quite how I liked it. I folded the papers up and traded them for my coffee before pacing around the room.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," I quoted, my eyes scanning the students who were seated in front of me. "This is quite obvious, but I'm going to ask anyways, as I have little faith in the minds of others," I said, and there was a shrill of laughter from most of the students. Had they no idea I was literally bad mouthing them? Well, I guess I was attempting to be humorous too. "Does anyone want to tell me what that means?"

My eyes lingered around the room and there were no hands in the air. "Oh, Christ, come on. You can't all be that simple... Please tell me you can't."

"It's obvious, actually," Sydney began speaking, sounding completely confident. "It's about freedom of speech. It's basically saying that while someone might not like what another person has to say, they believe that person has the right to say it."

"Precisely. A great example of this would be, that, I disapprove of you speaking without being called on, but as a human, you still have a right to speak... However, next time, Ms. Knight wait until I give you permission."

Why did I just do that? It would set me off so badly when people did that to me... Oh, that's probably why. I wanted to push her buttons.

I looked away from her and to the class as a whole again. "Now, does anyone know who said that?"

Ms. Hendrix's hand shot into the air and I nodded towards her for her to answer. "Volair!" she smirked at me.

I returned the smirk and shook my head at her. "It's Voltaire, actually, and no. That's a common misunderstanding, quite like everything else is to you," I stated and the class as a whole started to laugh.

Ms. Hendrix was one of those girls like the girl in Starbucks. You could tell she was daft by looking at her.

"Ah, look at you Ms. Knight, punctual and obeying the rules," I smirked at her as I gestured towards her. "Let's hear your wrong answer."

She gave me another of her very sweet smiles. "First off, thanks for calling on me. I enjoyed my little trip down memory lane back to kindergarten when I had to wait for my teacher to say my name after I raised my hand so I could speak like a good little peasant. Second, it was Evelyn Beatrice Hall who also wrote Voltaire's biography."

Wow. I was actually impressed and I'm sure my expression showed it. "It's my pleasure as always, Ms. Knight," I smiled at her. "And that is actually correct," I gestured towards her. "Hall's quote was misunderstood to be Voltaire's because she said it in reference to his beliefs about freedom of speech."

The rest of the hour I had with my class went on in the same manner, with me spouting things out at my students, and Sydney participating and making sassy comments at me before and after answering questions and making statements.

By the end of it I was even more impressed and definitely more intrigued. It seemed as though there was so much more to her than what she had showed and that she had more potential than even she knew.

"Before you go, I want everyone to remember that your essays on freedom of expression are due Friday, no excuses," I stated then swatted the air dismissively and the quietness in the room faded into chatter as they all stood to excuse themselves.

Of course, Sydney took her time and was the last student to finally get her things together. I watched her as she stood and walked towards the door without saying anything and I thought she was going to walk out without speaking but she paused and turned around to look at me with a grin on her face.

"You know what quote I really love, Professor Howell? Oscar Wilde said I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself." She pulled her sunglasses off of the top of her head and put them on before waving. "Have a great day!"

Phil's POV

I glanced up at the clock after what felt like 5 minutes and was shocked to see that almost an hour had passed. I let my class out early because I knew they all needed to do some research for their essays that were due on Friday and honestly that class was full of people who got on my nerves.

I'm a wonderful teacher already.

A good thing about that day was that it was Wednesday.

My phone vibrated and I pulled it out of my pocket to see that it was a text from Dan.

Someone either left behind the most offensive ass gas on the planet or took a large shit in the upper tier of my classroom. Terrified.

"Oh Jesus," I said aloud after reading the text. I couldn't remember the last time I got a normal text from my brother. He could never just say something like a sane human being.

I was about to text him back but I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I leaned forward so that I could see and that's when I realized that I was fucked.

The disappointment that I knew was written all over my face when the person walking by was not Brighton gave me that realization. What the actual hell was I doing?

I took off my glasses and covered my face with my hands as I leaned back in my chair. How was I supposed to ignore the fact that this incredibly gorgeous girl was having an effect on me and not just in the way of making my dick attempt to fight it's way out of my trousers every time she smiled.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" I heard a voice, her voice ring from the direction of my office door. "My boss kept giving me things to do and then I forgot that your text said to meet you here and not in your classroom." I looked in her direction to see that she was dressed in some sort of business formal outfit with a skirt that showed her legs and a pair of heels that made them look amazing.

I managed to tear my eyes away from her to look down at my computer monitor. She was literally only 1 minute late. "Brighton, you're only a minute late," I laughed. "It's okay, really. Come sit." I gestured towards the two seats in front of my desk before shrugging out of my blazer and letting it lay on the back of my chair.

Her heels clicked as she walked towards the seat I had offered her, she too shrugging out of the jacket she had been wearing before sitting down in front of me and crossing her legs. "You look stressed," she commented with a laugh. "Having bad encounters with the weirder film students?" she asked with a dimpled smile.

No I'm just having issues with thinking of you like an obsessive freak.

"My last class is just rather difficult," I answered with something more appropriate that wouldn't send her running out the door as I put my glasses back on. "How are things since we last saw each other?"

She sighed loudly and leaned her head back before speaking. "Stressful!" She groaned. "I'm taking too many classes and working too many hours. I literally fell asleep today on a filing cabinet at work," she laughed as she shook her head. "And I'm pretty sure I've gained at least five pounds this week because all I ever eat are Ramen noodles because I can't afford anything else and I probably shouldn't have said half of that to you, I'm sorry." She rambled but was smiling the entire time. Like her situation was laughable.

It wasn't laughable at all. In fact, it really, really bothered me. I could not stand the fact that she was having to work so hard she was exhausted and she wasn't even able to eat the right kinds of foods for someone who had such a fast paced life.

"Well, how about I make your night a bit better?" I asked as I picked up my phone. "What is your favorite kind of food?"

"That's really sweet, but you don't have to get me anything," she shook her head at me before looking down at her purse, fishing something out of it. "I've got dinner," she held up a cup of noodles and looked from me to them and let them drop back into her bag.

I looked at her like she was crazy. "No. You're not eating that." I shook my head and laughed. "I'm your boss, right? So, I'm going to use that card. Part of what you have to do for me tonight is share a meal with me. Do you like mexican food?"

"I love Mexican food," she sighed and I think a bit of drool might have even dribbled off of her lip. "Fine, fine. You win. I'll eat the good stuff instead of my noodles," she said it like it was going to be torture but started smiling. "Thank you," she paused and glanced down at her hands then back up at me, "my taste buds, stomach, and hips really appreciate your generosity."

Hips. Did she have to say hips? Thank God I was sitting at a desk.

I managed to order our food and I ordered way too much on purpose so that she would have enough leftovers to take home for her and her roommate. I was trying really hard not to think about the fact that all she had to eat was ramen. I kept picturing her sitting in some sad, tiny apartment with hardly any furniture and no heat.

I was probably being over dramatic with that mental picture but it was happening regardless.

"Okay. Tonight we're going to be preparing files for all of my new students. It will be simple. We're just going to start placing their work I have so far in folders that are labeled with their last name and which class period I have them in," I told her as I began flipping through some papers I had on my desk to make sure they were divided the way I wanted. I placed them all into 6 piles on my desk; one for each class I taught everyday.

"There are folders in the closet right there. Would you mind grabbing them?" I asked her as I pointed to my left. I definitely could have gotten up and got the folders myself but the brain below my belt told me that I should watch her walk by.

"Sure," she grinned at me before standing. She turned around to sit her purse and jacket down and I had a very nice shot of her bum before she turned to face me again and move around my desk to get to my closet. "This is actually what I do at work. File things. I'm actually kind of a pro," she stated as she looked over her shoulder at me. I had to subtly make it look like I wasn't staring at her ass while she dug around. Though after giving me another smile she turned her attention back to what she was doing.

"Ugh, I can literally feel these bloody underwear lowering my sperm count," I heard Dan- I heard Dan... "Jesus on a boat, my balls have no room to breathe!" He said as he stuck his hand down his pants. "What were you staring at? It's like-" he stopped abruptly as Brighton stepped out of my closet, her arms full of folders, his hand still down in his trousers as he adjusted himself.

"Well this isn't awkward," Dan laughed, slowly pulling his hand out of his pants.

Brighton's eyes were wide as she moved her hand to cover her mouth, as if it would somehow hide the fact that she was laughing.

I just shook my head. Our parents got married when we were 9 and through all of our years together I had witnessed Dan be one of the most awkward human beings I had ever met which said a lot because I'm incredibly awkward. This situation did not surprise me at all.

"Please tell us more about your balls, Dan. I'm sure Brighton wants to hear," I laughed as I leaned back in my chair and smirked at him. "Anything interesting happen in your classes today?"

"Why yes, actually," Dan began as he took the empty seat beside Brighton's. He pulled his bag over so that it was on his lap and opened it before pulling out a small blue gift bag. "One of my lovely students got me a fleshlight and a bottle of lube," he sat the bag down on my desk and pushed it towards me.

Brighton, who was only then starting to sit down snorted loudly before howling with laughter. "I can't believe she actually gave it to you," she managed to say from behind her hand, which was, once again, covering her mouth like it would hide her amusement.

Dan tilted his head a bit to look at her, "I can," he responded then turned his attention back to me.

I was in complete shock. It took one ballsy person to actually give their teacher a fleshlight and lube. "Okay, I have to meet this girl," I laughed, shaking my head. "She sounds like she's hilarious. I just want to put you two in a room all alone with no escape and see what happens."

I also wanted to put myself in a room with Brighton and with no escape so I could see what happened.

Holy fuck. I had to stop thinking that way. What was wrong with me? I never got like that over anyone apart from Sarah Michelle Gellar.

"She's amazing," Brighton spoke up, obviously calmed, though he face was a bit red from laughing so hard. "She's probably one of the funniest people that I know, and one of the nicest u-"

"The nicest?" Dan interrupted her, an eyebrow raised as he laughed.

"-unless you cross her," Brighton finished. "She has a temper, but she's never lashed out at me before," she shrugged. "I've seen her do it to other people though. It's terrifying."

I looked over at Dan and laughed. "You probably clash with her because she's like you. You realize that, right? You've probably finally met your match which I'm sure infuriates you."

"You're probably right," Dan shrugged. "But it's also entertaining. If she infuriates me, I know I do the same to her."

"Oh you do," Brighton grinned. "She's not going to back down, you know. I haven't known her long, but I know her well enough to know that much at least."

"Who said I wanted her to?" Dan responded and Brighton shrugged. "Anyways, I figured I'd let you keep her little gift," Dan smirked, glancing back in my direction.

I shook my head slowly and smiled at him. "Oh no. That's from her to you. All yours, brother. I have no need for it."

"I feel like I should exit the room," Brighton laughed, looking between Dan and I then at the bag that was sitting on my desk.

I laughed as well as I reached into my back pocket to get my wallet. "I do actually need you to exit the room but only to go to the second floor and get us some sodas from the drink machine before our food gets here if you don't mind?" I pulled out a few dollar bills and held them out for her hoping she didn't feel like I was treating her like some peasant but I actually wanted to speak with Dan quickly.

"He's lying. He just wants to pocket the lube and fleshlight without you seeing," Dan told her as she stood up.

She rolled her eyes at him as she bent over the desk to take the money from me. "Not at all," she smiled at me then turned to walk out.

Dan leaned back in his chair and watched her as she left. "So what did you order us to eat?" he asked, finally looking at me again.

"I basically got everything on the bloody menu," I answered quickly. "I really just wanted to talk to you about something. I don't know how much you've actually talked to Sydney but apparently those two are like seriously struggling. They're living off ramen. That's it. I mean, I know college people joke about that but it's honestly not healthy and pretty damn sad."

"Your fatherly instincts are on overdrive," Dan laughed, but when he didn't see any sign of amusement on my face, his smile fell. "You're being serious.. Alright," he cleared his throat and sat up in his seat a bit. "Are you sure, though? They go to Columbia. Usually poor people can't really afford an Ivy league university, Phil."

"That's exactly why they can't afford anything else, Dan. They're going to an Ivy league school and they're both paying for it alone. I mean, Brighton has a scholarship and gets money from the school but that's barely enough to cover a light bill much less buy groceries and other things. From what I understand neither of them have financial help from anyone. It makes me feel like some kind of ungrateful brat. I suddenly have an urge to call my Mum," I responded sighing as I rubbed the side of my face. "I just hate the idea of those girls working their asses off and still having nothing."

He sighed and ruffled his hand through his hair. "Okay... Well, you're telling me this for a reason, obviously. What do you want to do?" he asked, moving his hand from his hair and gesturing towards me. "Her roommate might be a pain but I don't like the idea of anyone starving."

I glanced towards the door to make sure Brighton wasn't about to walk in. "I have an idea of something we can do but I'll tell you about it later because I'm sure she'll be back soon. Are you eating with us?"

"Nah, I think I'm going to go home. I need to test this bad boy out," he said as he leaned forward to grab the bag he'd sat on my desk.

"Sydney will be glad to know you're putting it to use, Mr. Howell," Brighton had perfect timing.

Dan laughed quietly as he stood up from his chair. "Yes, well, I'm sure you'll let her know that too," he told her as he moved so she could get around him and back to her seat. "You two have fun with dinner. Also, be careful, Carne asada gives Phil horrible gas," Dan winked before excusing himself from the room. However he poked his head back in and looked at me. "Will you be late getting in?"

"You never know. We have a lot of filing to do," I told him before glancing over at Brighton and smiling. "I'll bring you some food. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be just in time for your second dinner."

"Brilliant," Dan beamed before actually leaving.

Brighton was still looking at where he had been standing before she turned her attention to me. "I got you a Coke because I had no idea what you drink," she spoke up as she raised her hand to offer me the bottle. "Also, your brother.. he's quite a character," she laughed. "I know you guys aren't actually related but it's so weird that you've grown up together. You're so different."

"Coke is perfect. Thank you very much," I said as I took it from her. "And yeah, we are very different and it's weird because he's pretty much been my best friend since the day I met him and he was wearing a Pokemon t-shirt," I laughed. "But we are complete opposites. Do you have any siblings?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm an only child. I don't have only child syndrome though," she chuckled. "I'm not spoiled or anything, like a lot of people assume only children are. I always wanted siblings. Like I think about my future and having kids and stuff. My poor children won't have any aunts or uncles on my side of the family," she poked her bottom lip out and pouted. "And I won't get to be an aunt, well maybe I'll be an aunt, but I don't think it would be the same as being an aunt to my brother or sister's kid."

Before I could respond my phone started vibrating again and I looked to see that it was an email sent to the staff about something I half way read and reminded myself to read again later. "Sorry about that," I told her as I sat the phone on my desk again. "Shall we start our work before the food gets here?" I asked as I picked up a permanent marker for her to label the files with and waved it around.

"We probably should," she responded, reaching out for it. "Although, as distracting as you are, I'm not sure that we'll get a lot done," she grinned and pulled the cap off of the marker.

Wait, wait. What did she mean by that? Was I distracting in an annoying way or was she saying I was distracting in the same way she was distracting me? Oh hell. I sounded like a 15 year old girl in my head.

"Me?" I pointed at myself, wide eyed. "You are the distracting one, ma'am," I accused as I picked up a stack of papers and sat them down in front of myself. "Not that I'm complaining. I couldn't ask for a better work study person."

"Oh yeah?" She raised an eyebrow while picking up one of the papers. "Well I couldn't ask for a better work-study boss, even if you are distracting. I try to focus, but you make it impossible," she went on teasingly as she filed the paper away and started to grab another. "Oh listen to my lovely accent whilst you try to point out grammatical errors. Would you fancy some tea and crumpets?" She mimicked me with a laugh.

I had to laugh. Her accent was spot on but the face that she made while saying it and the fact that something like that could distract her amused me. "I have never once offered you tea or crumpets. I don't really eat crumpets and I'm a coffee kind of guy anyway," I responded, grinning at her. "Perhaps you could listen to my lovely accent sometime whilst having a cup of coffee? And I mean outside of this office, by the way."

Brighton looked up at me with a surprised smile and tilted her head a bit. "Are you asking me out to have coffee with you?" She sat the marker down and folded her hands and got a very serious look on her face as she leaned forward a little. "Will there be doughnuts?"

I leaned forward a little as well which only left inches between us. She smelled so amazing. It took a lot of willpower to keep from closing the space between us and figuring out what her lips tasted like. "Yes and chocolate ones," I whispered back.

"Phil Lester?" A voice from the doorway interrupted the little moment and I turned to see a younger guy standing there with 5 bags of the food that I ordered. We both walked over to take them from him and I paid for the food. You don't want to know how much it all cost me but I honestly didn't care. I had a reason to keep her with me for a bit longer and I knew for a fact that she would have a good meal that night.

After I paid the guy, I closed the door and made my way back over to my desk before clearing some space for us to eat. "Have whatever you like since I apparently ordered everything they have," I laughed as I peeked into one of the containers I'd pulled out of a bag. The food smelled so amazing I thought I might pop a boner right then.

She picked up one of the bags and started pulling things out of it, however she stopped when she picked up a styrofoam container and pulled the lid off of it. "Queso!" she gasped and sounded very excited. "I haven't had cheese in like a month!" She laughed as she sat the lid down and then pulled out what was a bag of tortilla chips. "I think I'm going to have to ask you out for coffee now as a thank you. This is amazing."

Seeing her so excited over cheese was both incredibly cute and also sad. How the hell long had they been going without enough money to buy some bloody cheese? I tried my best to stop looking at her like little orphan Annie or something.

"If you ask me out for coffee then that's 2 coffee outings we'll be going on. You asking me doesn't cross out me asking you," I informed her before taking a bite of my quesadilla.

"Then I guess it's a good thing that we both like coffee," she grinned at me before picking up another one of the bags. She pulled out a box and her eyes got wide when she opened it. "You got chicken burritos!" She looked up at me, "I could could kiss you on the mouth right now!" she said rather quickly then kind of froze up. "Wow, I'm sorry. That just flew out before I could stop it."

"If we weren't on campus right now, I would welcome it," I responded before even thinking of what I was saying. I cleared my throat and chuckled. "Sorry. That just flew out before I could stop it."

"Well," she started, dipping a chip into the queso, "in that case. If we weren't on campus I would do it," she smirked at me then took a bite off of her chip. "And I could have stopped myself from saying that, but I didn't."

You know how when you really, really like someone they can say certain things or even walk into the room and you get butterflies?
Yes. Men get butterflies.
Well, I was having some serious butterflies at that moment. How the hell could this absolutely incredible woman want to kiss me?

"Well, if we weren't on campus I probably- no, I would have already beaten you to it and kissed you first," I told her before taking another bite of my food.

She let her elbows rest on my desk and leaned in towards me grinning, like she was amused as she lifted up my tie. "Well, if you did, I would be grabbing your tie and pulling you closer while my hand slipped from your cheek, into your hair and I kissed you back."

Oh fuck.

She was going to make me explode.

I took her hand in mine before she could move it away from my tie and I kept my eyes on hers as I lifted it to my lips and brushed them over her knuckles before placing a kiss on the top of her hand. "Remind me to get you off campus as soon as possible."

Five and a half hours later which was an hour and a half past how long Brighton was supposed to work with me, I was finally on the lift headed up to mine and Dan's flat. Well, our apartment since we're in the states and that's what they call it.

I unlocked the door and walked in to see Dan perched on his red bean bag chair completely captivated by a video game. I was not shocked by this.

"I'm home," I informed him as I sat one of the bags of food down on the table. I forced Brighton to take home the rest. I ended up having to use the whole I'm your boss thing to get her to do it. "Do you want me to pop your food into the microwave?"

"NOOOOOO! YOU FLOPPY BALLSACK!" Dan screamed at the tele before groaning loudly. The music of doom started to play and I knew he'd lost at whatever he was playing. With a sigh he sat the controller down and looked over at me. "I was talking to the game, by the way, not you," he informed me, like I didn't already know that. "Why are you in such a good mood? You never do things for me."

I shrugged as I popped the container into the microwave. "No reason. I just had a pretty good day." I turned to face him once I got the microwave going to see that he was looking at me like I'd grown a penis on my forehead. "What?" I laughed as I took off my jacket. "I'm heating up some food for you. It's not that big of a deal. Jesus on a boat."

He raised an eyebrow at me and pushed himself up off of the bean bag. "I don't believe you," he responded, walking towards the table in the dining room.

I looked down at the stack of mail sitting on the counter and noticed a package arrived from Amazon. "Oh awesome! That game you got for you and Oliver to play came in."

Dan tilted his head and blinked a few times. "Yeah I know, I'm the one who signed for it. Stop changing the subject," he said as he pushed the box away. "Did you do sex to your hot work-study student or something?"

I looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to actually have sex with a student on campus, Dan? I didn't take the job to live out a porn fantasy."

Not that I hadn't thought about it because I had. More than once. But I wasn't stupid enough to do it.

"Though I wouldn't be shocked if you did something like that with a certain student who is so far under your skin it's ridiculous." I had to joke with him about it because his reaction to her was just so hilarious.

Dan rolled his eyes, "Again, Philip, you're changing the subject," he said, sounding just like his father. "You also sounded slightly defensive, by the way. Like youare living out some kind of porn fantasy. It's okay if you are, I won't tell on you," he smirked. "Besides, she's not even one of your students, so is it really even a porn fantasy?"

"It might not be a porn fantasy but it's a damn good fantasy. I mean, come on, Dan. Tell me you haven't once thought about bending a hot girl over your desk and fucking her brains out? None of my students do that for me but Brighton-" I trailed off and shook my head. "No words."

"I'm not saying I haven't," he shrugged. "But the thing is, Brighton's not one of your students," he repeated with emphasis. "She's not completely off limits, or even off limits at all, I don't think. If you want to bend her over a desk, or any surface for that matter, you can."

I don't know why I ever had any hesitation in letting Dan know that I was attracted to Brighton. He was a rebel at heart. You couldn't give him any rules because he would break them just to argue with you about how stupid they were. I guess I was just being paranoid because I had thought about that quite a bit.

"Well, it's nice to know you're so supportive, brother," I replied as I walked past him and patted him on the back. "Too bad Sydney is a student but, you know, I don't think the school would be able to do a thing about you bending her over furniture that isn't on campus." I stopped by the living room and gestured towards it with my arm. "And would you look at that? We have so much furniture!"

I probably knew Dan better than he knew himself. In all of the years that we'd spent living together I figured out how bloody picky he was about any female that he got close to beyond friendship. It took an act of congress to even grab his attention. I knew the instant he spoke of her in my classroom that she'd grabbed his attention. He could barely focus on me for 2 minutes let alone continue thinking about a girl 4 hours after she left his classroom.

"That's true, but if they found out I'd probably get fired." What's funny is that he didn't sound like he cared about getting fired. "I'm not sure if my job is worth trying to fuck that smartass into submission."

"Oh God," I laughed as I walked down the hall. "This is going to unfold into a very interesting story. I can tell already."