Professor's Pet (mxb)

Chapter Fourteen

Finn's POV
Since Aidan told me I needed a man to control me, the temperature of his house had risen twenty degrees and didn't seem likely to cool off. I couldn't even resist the fantasies flooding through my mind—vastly different, but all including Aidan 'taking me in hand.'

We moved from the kitchen to the backyard. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to go home, but I didn't get that vibe from Aidan. He cleared off the dishes and led me to the porch outside. I plopped down on a chair and Aidan tossed a tennis ball for Jack to retrieve.

"Your yard is huge... you have enough room for a pool down there!" I pointed at the ridiculously large expanse of grass he had beyond his porch. "And you'd still have room for Jack to run!"

He laughed and leaned back, lounging like a model. He looked delicious, with the sun lighting up his eyes and allowing me to see through his white shirt. "I don't like pools, but it's a good idea. I thought about it, oh, a decade ago."

"When you were married?" I blurted.

Aidan wrinkled his nose at the topic, but he didn't falter. "Yeah. I figured I'd build one if we had kids."

My heart picked up at that. It wasn't even an overly romantic thing to say, but something about it charmed me. Maybe because he clearly put thought into being the best father he could be to his kids. It was a shame his life took such a turn, since it seemed he had a really bright future at one point.

Instead, he was left with a big and empty house, reminding him that at one point it could have been full. It was no wonder he had rough edges.

"Want to tell me about it?" I asked, feeling like I was navigating a mine field. I didn't want to step on a topic that would make him explode. "You don't have to, but I kind of want to know more about him."

To my surprise, he shrugged easily. "Not much to say. Pretty sure you know him."

"Wait, what?"

"Sure. You're a sophomore, aren't you?" At my nod, he continued. "Most sophomores take his class. It's always in the writing department...I believe it's Writing 106 this semester? We get shifted around often."

My jaw dropped. "Wait...there are more than one professors who teach that class, right? So it's like a one in seven chance that it would be..." I hesitated, almost not wanting to say it. "Professor Lincoln?"

Aidan raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yup, that's him."

My literal entire world crashed down on top of me. Aidan's ex-husband was my writing professor? No wonder Professor Lincoln always got snippy when Jerry and I whispered about Aidan in the back of class. Oh...Oh, wait... "Um. That's awkward."

Aidan snorted. "No kidding. It was really cute when we were in love. Now we tend to avoid each other. It's not too hard, considering I'm in the STEM department and he's in the air-head department."

"No...I mean, yeah. But like, two of my friends are in that class? You know Jerry and Vivian?" Aidan shook his head no even though he definitely knew of them. He'd met them, even. "Well, we sometimes...I mean, it shouldn't be a shock to hear that your students talk about you. Um. Well, writing is kind of where we do our talking...oh wow, no wonder Professor Lincoln is always such a cranky bastard during class. We all hate him."

Aidan chose to give me an amused look. "What kind of talking?"

I blushed, but it was too late to go back now. "Well, you know. I mean you have to know that you're very..." I gestured at his body and he chuckled. "Well, my friend Jerry thinks you're super hot. Since writing comes right after chem, it's kind of fresh on the brain."