PROFESSOR

I met this cute man at a rooftop bar downtown on a Friday night that already felt a little dangerous. The kind of night where the air was warm and the city lights looked like they were made for bad decisions. I was out with two girlfriends, half-listening to their gossip about some guy one of them was seeing, when I noticed him across the outdoor seating area. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair with just enough silver at the temples to make him look expensive and experienced. His watch caught the string lights every time he lifted his glass. He looked like the kind of man who didn’t need to try hard—like things just came to him. Our eyes met once. I looked away first, pretending to be interested in whatever my friend was saying. The second time, he held the contact a beat longer, and something low in my stomach tightened. The third time he raised his glass in a small, private toast and I felt heat slide down my spine. I didn’t smile. I just let my gaze linger, then turned back to my drink like I wasn’t already wondering what his hands would feel like. He didn’t come over right away. He waited. Let the tension stretch. My friends eventually went inside for another round of drinks and to “give me space,” which was their not-so-subtle way of saying they’d noticed the eye contact too. The second they disappeared, he appeared beside my table like he’d been invited the whole time. “Is this seat taken?” His voice was low, controlled, the kind that didn’t need to raise itself to be heard over the music. I told him it wasn’t. He sat. Up close he was even better—clean-shaven, sharp jaw, eyes that looked like they already knew too much. We talked about nothing important at first. Travel. Wine. The way the city looked from up here at night. But every sentence felt loaded. His knee brushed mine under the table and stayed there, warm and solid. When he asked what I did, I gave him the vague version—graduate school, still figuring things out. He didn’t push. He just watched my mouth when I spoke, like he was already deciding how he wanted to use it later. An hour passed without me noticing. My friends texted to say they were heading to another bar and I should “be safe.” I typed back something noncommittal and slipped my phone into my bag. He noticed. “You don’t have to stay,” he said, but the way he said it made it clear he hoped I would. I didn’t pretend to hesitate. “I want to.” We left together. The elevator down from the roof felt too small and too slow. He didn’t touch me in it, just stood close enough that I could smell his cologne—something dark and expensive—and feel the heat coming off his body. Outside he opened the door of a black car that was already waiting. I didn’t ask whose it was. I just got in. His place was a sleek high-rise apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows and the whole city spilling across the bed like it had been arranged for this exact purpose. The second the door closed behind us he had me against it. Mouth on mine, one hand already under the hem of my dress, the other braced beside my head. He kissed like he meant it—deep, controlled, no rushed teenage energy. Just deliberate hunger. I made a soft sound against his mouth and he answered by sliding his hand higher, fingers brushing the edge of my underwear. “Tell me if you want me to stop,” he murmured against my lips.