04

#####04

« We should get you to bed, » was the last thing I heard him say as he removed the belt from around my wrists. All the liquor, adrenaline, and raging hormones were catching up with me swiftly. I was only barely aware of him scooping me up in his arms before I was sleeping like a baby.

I woke up in the morning to my blaring alarm. I had to avoid the temptation to throw my phone across the room just to shut it up, my head pounding mercilessly at every ring. I moaned, rolled over, and stuffed my head under the pillow.

What day was it ? What had even happened last night ? Why, oh why, did I drink so much ?

Then a whole mess of information rushed back to my poor, alcohol-soaked brain. The bar. Kahlan. The belt. The way his tongue had . . . oh, god.

It was the first day of classes.

I tried to fling myself out of bed, but my head swam and I had to stop and stay sitting at risk of throwing up all over my carpet. Charles poked his head in the door with a little mrrow ?, likely concerned that he had yet to get his breakfast this morning.

« Sorry, Charlie, » I moaned, holding my aching head. Why had I even let Sarah convince me to go out ?

Then again, if she hadn’t I wouldn’t have run into Kahlan. I wouldn’t have brought him back to my apartment, and we wouldn’t have . . . I got goose bumps at the memory. Damn. I had rarely managed to orgasm with Jay. In fact, trying to cum during sex with him was more of a chore than it was worth and he had never seemed to care one way or another, so I had usually just faked it. But with Kahlan . . . god damn, I couldn’t have stopped myself if I had tried. It was like my body had been perfectly under his control. Just thinking of the way he had bound me up, helpless with my legs up and exposed to him, was actually getting me all hot and bothered again despite the horrible hangover.

And I had been too drunk to even get his number. Damn it.

That was when I noticed that my bedside table had been mysteriously cleared of mugs. Only a single glass of fresh water and a small hand-written note remained. I drank the water thankfully, draining all of it before I picked up the note.

I hope this helps with the headache.

Thanks for a great night.

If you want more like it (when I don’t have whiskey-dick, ha), just text me anytime.

Kahlan’s phone number was scrawled at the bottom. My heart skipped a beat. That had been whiskey-dick ? What the hell was he like normally then ? I stuffed the note in my pocket to put in my phone later, knowing I was running out of time. I couldn’t be late on the first day of classes.

One quick shower later and I was on my way to campus with a makeup-free face and my messy hair thrown up in a ponytail. I had put on a pair of stretchy skinny jeans for the first time in days and a loose white t-shirt. So much for being that super-prepared girl for the first day of class. I had tried really hard to be that girl my whole freshman year, and it had honestly been exhausting.

The campus was packed. There were easy-ups around every corner where eager smiling ASB members waited to direct nervous freshman around the massive campus. I was luckily already familiar with nearly every building except for the obscure computer science labs that were tucked in the far back corner. I luckily had time to grab a quick coffee at the Starbucks inside the library before dashing over to Advanced English Literature.

The auditorium was large, with seating for at least a hundred students. Blackwood University was known for its writing programs, so a good number of their student body (including myself) was involved in either a writing or English major. The seats were slowly being filled, and I paused at the top of the auditorium to figure out where I wanted to lay my claim for the rest of the semester.

« Hey Liz. »

Oh no. No, no, no. It was Jay, about to walk into the classroom. Even worse, he had Heather with him. Gorgeous, absolutely-looked-ready-for-the-day, blonde, perky-breasted Heather. My stomach flipped over. I felt nauseous immediately.

« Hey, » I said, my voice cracking. He brushed past me with a tight uncomfortable smile, and he and Heather took seats at the very top of the auditorium. No way was I going to sit through this whole semester with them anywhere within my field of vision. I walked all the down to the lowest row, and took a seat just to the right of the professor’s desk. My hand shook as I tried to take a casual sip on my macchiato. I just had to ignore him.

Minutes ticked by and the auditorium was nearly filled, still with no sign of the professor. The conversation had begun to reach a crescendo of noise when a door slammed above, and « Good morning class ! » quieted the talk down to mere murmurs.

« Sorry about my late arrival, I had a long night. » Shoes tapped down the long auditorium steps. His voice sounded young, and strangely familiar. « I’m sure you all know the drill : one too many drinks and suddenly you’re waking up in a stranger’s apartment. » That got a few chuckles from the crowd, including me. Who the hell was this guy ? I turned, just as the professor reached the bottom of the stairs and proceeded to his desk.

Oh. No. Oh my god.

« With that being said, welcome to Advanced English Lit. I’m Kahlan Travis, you can call me Mr. Travis, Mr. K, Kahlan, I really don’t care as long as it isn’t « douchebag. » I’ve been called that one few times. »

More giggles. My mouth had dropped open and I couldn’t seem to pick it back up off my desk. Kahlan was dressed in grey slacks and a maroon collared shirt, his blonde hair combed but still loose and wavy. His eyes roamed over the classroom, surveying us, until they came to me.

He dropped his briefcase a little too hard on the desk. I snapped my mouth shut, wanting to melt under the desk. Kahlan quickly made a point to look anywhere but at me.

« Okay, » he said softly, hissing between his teeth. « We’ll start off with a little icebreaker. Don’t worry, I’m not going to be taking roll call, there’s way too many of you in here. Let me just tell you a little bit about myself. » He casually seated himself at the edge of the desk, and his eyes flickered over me again, then quickly away. I couldn’t stop staring.

« As I said, my name is Kahlan Travis. I graduated from right here at Blackwood majoring in English, and I am actually still a Blackwood student. » He looked at me again, as if to make a point. « I’m now working towards my Masters, in hopes of becoming a professor fulltime. That being said, me teaching this class does count towards my graduation, so if you could all please be respectful of that and not mess it up for me. » He gave one of his charming, half smiles. He had really worked the crowd. Just glancing to my left I could see the adoring looks some of the girls – and a couple of the guys – were giving him. My stomach squeezed again, but this time it was with a strange possessiveness.