The Professor's Girl | 18+ | COMPLETE |

+ chapter 11 +

Sarah knew something was up. She knew it in the way that all naturally nosey people know it: they just have some kind of supernatural sense for juicy gossip. She had been texting me in an effort to meet up for days, and I finally gave in Sunday evening. We met at the Leaf and Bean, a small coffee shop downtown in between a florist and a book shop. It was one of those places that played acoustic indie music and always had at least one or two beanie-wearing bespectacled individuals sitting in a cushy chair with their Mac laptop.

Sarah tried to be sly, asking coy "how-are-you-holding-up?" questions as we ordered our lattes. But I could tell by her tight smile that she was nearly exploding with curiosity. It gave me such a thrill to know I had this secret, especially when I sat down and my bottom burned softly at the contact with a hard surface. I tried to hide the irresistible urge to bite my lip behind my coffee cup as I thought of Kahlan's firm hands, his commands, the perfect control with which he brought my body to complete submission.

He had been right, too. With the rush of hormones flooding through my veins after our tryst, sharing another hour laying at ease in bed with him, I had felt strong. I had felt sexy and powerful.

"So where have you been, Lizzy?" Sarah said suddenly, snapping me out of my daydreams. She had been saying something about a hot guy in one of her classes, or at least I thought she had. Now her smile was frozen on her face, halfway between concern and fascination. I feigned confusion.

"What do you mean?" I said innocently, sipping my coffee.

"You've just been so hard to get ahold of lately," she said, shrugging as if it didn't really matter. "Ever since we out to Bailey's I haven't really seen you." Her eyes suddenly widened, and she looked at me in horror. "Oh my god. Oh my god. You're not back with Jay are you?"

"Oh god, no, no, Sarah," I said, probably looking like I had swallowed a lemon. "It's nothing like that. I'm just busy with classes is all."

With her fear calmed, she narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. "Oh really? At midnight on a Saturday?"

I blinked dumbly. "What?"

"Oh god, Liz, I'm sorry, this is gonna make me sound like a creep!" Sarah scrunched up her face and said softly, as if ashamed. "After I texted you asking if you wanted dinner last night, I decided that I'd just go drop it off at your house since you didn't answer. It was only because I still have your key anyway and I know you haven't really been eating or cooking or doing . . . anything really." She was leaning so far forward she was out of her seat, her eyes wide and her whisper almost a hiss in her excitement. "I wanted to wait a little bit for you to get home so I stayed and played with Charlie. And you still weren't home at midnight, Liz!"

I laughed nervously. My dear friend was slightly crazy, I would admit it. But at least it was a caring kind of crazy. "You waited at my house until midnight?"

"Well I fell asleep," she said with a little pout. "But Liz, you can't try to tell me that you were "studying" or that you went out by yourself, without me. Who is it Liz? Please tell me, it's driving me crazy! You know I won't judge you, you can get with whoever you want! Is he older? Younger? Married? Or- oh my god, is it a woman? Did Jay make you go lesbian? Not that I'd blame you." She shrugged. "Whatever you want to do, girl." Finished, she sighed, slightly red in the face from her outburst, and waited patiently for my response.

"I don't think you can just "go lesbian," Sarah," I said. "But that's not it." I pressed my lips together, carefully considering just how much I could say. "Okay . . . it is a guy-"

Sarah squealed. "Oh my god I knew it! Who is it? Do I know him?"

The thought fluttered into my head that Kahlan would probably consider it naughty to be telling someone about us. That made me think of the spanking he would probably give me for something like this. I squirmed and let out a quick sigh. Sarah's eyes widened.

"Are you . . ." a slow smile spread over her face. "Are you in love Lizbeth?"

"No!" I said quickly. For some reason the question made me feel anxious. It wasn't about love. It was just about sex. Mutual pleasure. Fun. That was all I wanted from Kahlan.

Right?

"You've met him before, but you might not remember," I snickered. "The guy from the bar, Kahlan. We just really hit it off and have been . . . spending time together." I shrugged, just to show how cool and detached I really was.

"Ooo, yeah, I could totally tell he was your type," Sarah said. "He has that weird, sexy librarian thing going on."

Oh girl, you have no idea.

"Well that's sweet, Liz, I'm proud of you," she smiled, extremely pleased with herself for finally getting the information she wanted. "Already getting back out there. You should bring him out with us sometime-"

"It's not really that serious," I said, stuttering in my rush to convince her that it really, seriously, wasn't that serious. "We're not dating really, it's more of a friends with benefits thing."

Sarah paused, giving me a little frown. "Oh. Okay. That's different for you." She tried to mask her confusion with another smile. "I always took you for the long-haul commitment type. But I mean, taking a break from relationships after a break-up is good for you! And you still have to get dick somehow right?" I laughed along with her, and though I had managed to convince her, I felt a hell of a lot less convinced myself.

+++

a/n: I'm sure Liz can definitely keep up the friends-with-benefits thing. She's definitely not in love. Definitely. Not.

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