He didn't know how he was going to face her in a few hours. Chris knew that even briefly entertaining the idea of anything happening between himself and Stephanie was wrong, but that hadn't stopped him from thinking about it all day after their little meeting in the weight room the day before...

Talk about risky! If that coach out there hadn't blown that whistle when he did, Chris knew that he would've gone entirely too far. Hell, kissing the girl on her neck had been going too far, way too far, and he knew it. It was like his mind had been screaming for him to stop and think twice, but his body had apparently had no intent to listen.

If only she wasn't his student... Age wasn't really the issue here. She was 18, and he'd be turning 24 in a week. There weren't that many years between them... It was just that irritating little fact that he was her teacher, he was supposed to be this figure of authority...

Nowhere in his job description did it say that he was allowed to practically grope one of his students. This would get him fired for sure, and he knew it.

And that was why he was going to end it before things went too far...again.

The question he had to ask himself, though, was how was he going to end something that he really didn't want to end?

Three hours later, he still hadn't figured out how he was going to end it. What was he going to say to her when she came into his classroom? Third period was going to begin soon, and she would be there, and he wouldn't know what to say to her. He was supposed to be prepared for this kind of thing. He was supposed to be-

"Mr. Irvine, I'm glad that I caught you alone," Stephanie said, coming into the room and interrupting his thoughts. "I really need to talk to you."

"Stephanie, I can't... Look, about yesterday," he began, standing up as she approached his desk. He walked around to the front of his desk and leaned against it, looking at her. "I got kind of carried away, and I can't... I'm not supposed to..."

"But you wanted to...and you still want to," she said knowingly, stepping closer to him. She looked down, then back up into his eyes. "I just wanted to apologize for yesterday because I started it, and I realize now that I could've gotten you into so much trouble, because of where we were... Anyone could've walked in at any given moment. It was a bit risky."

"So we're seeing eye to eye in this situation?" he asked. "We both agree that nothing like what happened yesterday can ever happen again between us?"

"Now I can't agree to that," she said, shaking her head. She smiled at the look on his face. "I can only promise to be more discreet... Either way, I'm going to end up in your bed."

"You're one bold young woman," he said, looking at her with both eyebrows raised. "But you know what? I like that." He noticed other students coming into the classroom and stood up fully, straightening his tie a little. "We'll pick up this conversation later, after class."

"We most definitely will," she replied with a smile. She turned around and walked to her desk in the back of the classroom, with him watching her the entire time.

Class passed by much too quickly in Chris's opinion. Before he knew it, it was the end of the period, the bell was ringing, and everyone was leaving. As the last few students made their way out of the classroom, he leaned back a little in the chair at his desk and observed the one student who was still in the classroom.

"Picking up where we left off," Stephanie started, making her way up to his desk and leaning against it. She looked down at him as he looked up at her curiously. "We already know what this is going to lead to..."

"No, I don't know, enlighten me?"

"Oh, I think you do know," she insisted, smirking a little at him. "It's obvious that I want you, and most of the time, I get what I want, Chris. It's only a matter of time before I'm sneaking out of class to meet you in a deserted area of the school and we-"

"Absolutely not," he interrupted, the visuals of what she was suggesting already filling his head, and boy were they detailed images.

"What?" she asked, taken aback.

"We will never meet up anywhere on school grounds for that reason," he said affirmatively. He wanted to laugh at the look on her face, she looked so shocked at his words. "What, did I shock you?"

"So what you're saying is...you really aren't interested in this fire between us?" she wanted to know. "Because I know you felt something yesterday in the weight room, the way you touched me..."

"That's really not what I was saying at all," he said, standing up. He was facing her now, only a few inches away. He looked around her and smiled, remembering that he'd locked his classroom door at the beginning of third period.

"Then clue me in, because I'm totally confused now."

"I'm confused, too, if we're being honest here. One day, I'm just your dorky Creative Writing teacher, just doing my job or whatever, and the next day..." His voice trailed off as he remembered yesterday for what had to be the thirtieth time. "And the next day, I'm practically about to take my student in the weight room, risking it all..."

"Were you really going to take me?" she asked in a low voice.

"God, I swear, Steph, if that coach hadn't blown that whistle when he did, your ass would've been mine," he said huskily. "Literally."

"It still can be," she told him, her voice still low. "Right here, right now, on this desk, or-"

"What'd I say? Absolutely not."

"So you want me but you don't want me," she said slowly, trying to understand. "It doesn't make sense to me."

"I want you, Stephanie, but I can't take the risk of having you at school," he explained. "It's just too risky, understand?"

"So how..." She sighed a little, blowing a few strands of her hair out of her face. "I just don't get what you're saying. You want me but you don't want me here, so it's like impossible. There's no way."

"There's always a way," he assured her, daring to sneak his arm around her waist and quickly pull her to him. Their bodies pressed tightly together and he smiled at the look of surprise on her face. "When I say not here, I mean that we could get together outside of school..."

"Outside of school? I didn't think about that," she said, smiling up at him. She reached up to run her fingers through his hair and shivered when his lips pressed against her hand.

"What do you say we trade cell phone numbers, and I write you a pass to class?" he asked her, his arm still around her. He made no move to let her go.

"That's fine with me, if that's what you want to do," she agreed. They stood there for a minute before she started laughing. "You just have to let me go first..."

"Oh, right," he said, blushing a little. He pulled out his cell phone and they traded numbers, and he wrote her a pass to her next class since she was undoubtedly late now. "Here, here's your pass," he said, holding it out to her.

"Thanks." She took the pass from him, then impulsively kissed his cheek, letting her lips linger for a minute. She pulled away and headed over to the door. "Next time, those lips are mine..."

He watched her leave, then sat down at his desk and leaned back in the chair. He laughed a little to himself.

So much for ending it.