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ARIZONA POV

I laid awake in bed listening to the sounds of morning traffic, the bright sunlight that shone through my blinds had woken me far before my alarm had been due to and after several failed attempts to get back to sleep I had given up. The busy day ahead of me was making me feel overwhelmed, the light pounding in my head caused by the alcohol of the previous night only adding to my discomfort.

I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and started to rifle through my draws in the hope of finding some clean running gear since I hadn't made time to do laundry this week and was relieved when I found a matching grey sports bra and leggings. I tried to get a run in every morning before work, it helped to wake me up and feel ready for the day ahead also knowing I was running home to coffee was motivation enough for me to leave. I pulled my hair up into a tight bun that sat on the top of my head, grabbed a hoodie from my closet since March in Seattle wasn't the warmest of months and slipped my feet into my already laced running shoes.

When the cool air hit my face I immediately felt better. I had got back into running after my ex and I broke up, I didn't used to be a morning person so waking up early enough to exercise and get ready for work always felt impossible to me, but since living alone in a new city I had been getting to know myself all over again and found that morning productivity made me feel accomplished. It took time apart from my ex wife, Mia, to realise how trapped I had felt in our marriage; I had lost a huge sense of self over the years. After finding out she had cheated on me many times over the length of our marriage, I filed for divorce without a second thought. The love had faded for the both of us over the years, it took her betrayal for me to gain the courage to feel like I could leave and thankfully it was an amicable divorce. Everything had been agreed and settled by the time I was offered the position in Seattle and since moving I hadn't heard from Mia. I had hooked up with a few people since the breakup but hadn't felt ready to get into something serious, I had taken the time to focus on myself and I couldn't be happier with my decision to do so. My passion for my work was back, I had built some strong friendships and I was happier and healthier than I had been in years.

The sound of my feet hitting the ground relaxed me, I didn't like to listen to music when I ran as I preferred to use the time to let myself get lost in my thoughts. After a run I always felt a sense of clarity, although today I felt something persistently popping in and out of my head without invitation; Eliza. Yesterday had been confusing, I had found myself looking at her differently and I had definitely crossed some boundaries last night when I saw her at the bar. She was a beautiful young woman, I had been impressed by her intelligence from the moment I had started teaching her class but during our last few interactions Eliza had been full of a confidence I had never seen in her before. I was attracted to her and for some reason I kept convincing myself that because she only had a few months left of being my student it wouldn't be a big deal if I flirted with her. Even after seeing her leave with another woman last night I was convinced she was interested in me, the excitement I felt when I thought about her was overwhelming and I couldn't get enough of it.

I sprinted the final hurdle of my journey, my senses overwhelmed by the smell of coffee waiting for me as I pushed through the front door. Rounding my kitchen counter, I grabbed my favourite coffee cup and proceeded to fill it to the brim with the fresh brew. I moved over to the couch, reaching for the paperwork on the coffee table before putting my feet up. I scanned over Eliza's essay which I had read multiple times already, she was writing about PTSD and I was particularly interested in the part on veterans and how she wrote about the lack of help offered to soldiers once they've returned.

Finishing the rest of my coffee, I placed my cup on the counter and made my way back upstairs to get ready for the day.

ELIZA'S POV

"How was your night last night ladies?" Amelia asked as she brought our coffees over to the table.

"Uh, don't," I replied. "My head is banging." I pulled my hood up over my head in an attempt to shield myself from the sun, pouting my lips at the two women in front of me as I continued to feel very sorry for myself.

Amelia pulled me into her side and squeezed me tight, letting me go when I released a loud sigh. "Come on, give me some goss."

"Really wasn't the most eventful, we both had too much to drink and that's about it," Maggie explained before taking a sip of her iced coffee.

Amelia rolled her eyes at the both of us, if we had turned up with stories of an event filled night she only would have got mad at us for having a good time without her.

"Oh you know what, there was one thing," Maggie said raising an eyebrow at me. Fuck, did she see us? "Guess who we saw flirting with some woman at the bar."

"Who?" Amelia asked excitedly.

"Professor Robbins."

Amelia looked between the two of us open mouthed. "I didn't know Robbins was gay. Did you?" She turns to me.

"How would I know Professor Robbins was gay?" I felt the heat crawling up my neck.

"Uh, duh because you're gay Eliza. Aren't you supposed to have some kind of radar or something?"

I laughed nervously. "I think you mean gaydar, but no I didn't know."

"Yeah she was talking to some hottie at the bar who we suspected was her-"

"Maggie met a guy!" I interrupted in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

Amelia slapped Maggie's shoulder. "You met a guy and didn't tell me?" She rested her chin on her hand and narrowed her eyes in Maggie's direction. "Tell me everything."

"I would barely say I met a guy. He flirted with me for half an hour and then we left, I wasn't particularly interested in him."

"You girls are so boring," Amelia whined. She started using her straw to try and get the whipped cream that had settled at the bottom of her glass. "So I spoke to Link last night..."

"Okay, that's good I'm glad you guys spoke, how did it go?" I said giving her a gentle nudge.

"He told me he isn't cheating on me," she looked up at us. We both looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. "He um, he told me that I make him feel claustrophobic and that he thinks we should have some space."

"Oh Amelia," Maggie reached across the table and grabbed her hand.

"Yeah.. so he's moving his stuff out today and is going to stay with a friend for a bit. I don't know what I am supposed to do, I can't afford to live in the flat by myself." A couple of tears slid down her cheeks as her voice cracked. We both huddled in to hold her hands and I wiped away a couple of stray tears from her face.

"Well, if you'd like a roommate I was going to look for somewhere to stay once we'd graduated but I could move it forward a few months instead?" Maggie said with a small smile.

Amelia pulled her into a tight embrace and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. "Are you serious? Because I'm going to be a mess for the next month and could really use a friend around me at all times."

Maggie released a deep breath. "I can't say it's going to be easy to live with you, but what can I say I am a great friend and I want to be there for you."

Amelia smiled, her eyes still full of tears. They embraced once again and both turned to look at me.

"So we've been talking and we think we know the perfect girl for you to date," Amelia said.

Maggie guided us to seats at the front of the class, we lost track of time at the coffee shop and the only available seats left were right at the front or right at the back.

"Maggie, can't we sit at the back? I don't want to be right at the front." I was hoping to avoid Professor Robbins eye today, I wasn't looking or feeling my best and was in the mood to be invisible.

"No Eliza why would we sit at the back, we won't be able to see the screen."

I shook my head in annoyance. "Come on Maggie please just this once," I pleaded.

She gave me a small nod but before we got the opportunity to move the classroom door opened and Arizona walked in. She immediately made eye contact with me and I could've sworn she gave me a little wink. Great, I thought, so much for staying invisible today.

Maggie and I took our seats at the front and pulled out our laptops. I watched the blonde over my screen as she removed her jacket, my breath caught at the back of my throat at the sight of her low cut slightly see through white shirt, I could see her black lace bra poking out slightly and licked my lips at the sight of her skin. She walked around her desk, lifting herself up to perch on the edge causing her leg to show through the slit in her skirt giving me a perfect view of her, my mouth was now completely dry and my teeth were clamping down tight on my bottom lip terrified I would let out a moan just at the sight of her. Normally she would sit behind her desk so I would wait in anticipation every day to check her out when she would get up at the end of class, but today.. she is trying to kill me.

I had seen much more of her body last night, the dress she been wearing had shown off her delicious body of which had caused me to wake up last night to my panties soaked through. But seeing her like this now, in class in front of everyone felt, arousing. I turned my head to look at everyone else to see if they too were having a reaction to our professor but everyone else had their heads in their books or their eyes attached to their laptops. Turning back to face the front our eyes met once again, she smirked at me raising her eyebrow slightly before continuing to speak to the class. Fuck, she had definitely just caught me staring at her.

I watched as her lips moved, opening and closing, occasionally her tongue would poke out to wet her lips between sentences. She said something about using the next ten minutes to research and stepped down to sit back behind her desk. Having not listened to a word she had been saying for the last twenty minutes I turned to look at Maggie who was frantically typing on her laptop, I tried to get a look at her word document to gage the subject matter but the screen moved onto a new page just as I got a glimpse. "Maggie. What are we doing? My hangover is so bad, I completely checked out on what she has just said."

"She's just told us to do some research for our essays," Maggie replied not taking her eyes off her screen. "She was saying she knows that we are all stressed about them so we can use the last 30 minutes of class to research and she won't be setting us any additional work outside of class." I was relieved to hear that, my essay was already taking up too much of my headspace.

Turning back to my own screen I saw that I had an email notification. When I opened my inbox I saw an email from Professor A. Robbins sitting at the top, my heartbeat increasing as I read the name.

Eliza,

Regarding yesterday's conversation; I am available today at 1pm to discuss your research, come by my office then if you are available.

Arizona

She wanted me to come by her office today, I was not prepared for that. I know that it was just a conversation about my essay topic but.. it isn't just a conversation about my essay, is it. It's a one on one private conversation with my hot professor. I look up from laptop and see her staring at me, her head tilted to the side and her eyes were questioning. I tilted my own head and smiled, giving her a nod to indicate I had read her email.

"Right class, that's enough for today. I have looked over everyone's essay so if you would like to pass by me as you leave I will return them back to you. If you have any questions about my notes please don't hesitate to contact me."

Taking my time to pack up my bag, I told Maggie that I needed a word with Robbins so she headed out before me. I hung back until the rest of the class had left and made my way towards her desk, clearing my throat to get her attention.

"Eliza," she looked up at me with her magical smile. "Will I be seeing you later?" She stood up and rounded the table, handing me my essay. As I took the paper I felt my fingers brush her own, my eyes widened and my breath caught in the back of my throat.

"Yeah, yes I will come by your office at 1," I stammered. Her hand lingered for a moment before pulling away. I attempted to pull myself together and gave her a smile before I started towards the door.

"You know if you bring coffee it'll definitely earn you some brownie points," Arizona called after me.

I wonder how many brownie points I need for her to kiss me. My head went into overdrive as I left the room, the next few hours were going to be unbearable.