She walked back to her room, closing the door out of breath.

“Where were you for so long? Why are you so out of breath? What happened?“

“Don’t be mad at me…”

“What happened?”

“The funeral was for Josh’s dad. I met his wife. I feel sorry for her, stuck married to a man she doesn’t love all for a bunch of money later on.  I went with Josh to his apartment to talk…”

“You fucked him…” Maddie sighed.

“No. I kissed him, but that was it. Well, that’s where it stopped. I’m not gonna lie, he was so vulnerable with me, I don’t know if it would’ve been all out or something slow. He said he’s not that guy, but to just go at it after his dad died…”

“People grieve in different ways. His apparently is trying to bang student ex lovers.  The guys won the game, in case you forgot they had a game…”

On cue, Justin called. Her stomach knotted as she picked it up. 

“Hi babe,” she answered. 

“Hi! Just got back to my hotel room after the game and a celebratory dinner with the team.  I wanted the first person I called to be the woman I love.”

“Maddie told me you guys won, congrats.  I was at a funeral after going to see Dad.”

“For your friend’s dad?”

“Yeah…”

“I’m glad you went, for support.  Was he a great guy?”

“Yeah, really great.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, I can’t wait to hold you…”

“I miss you too.  You going to sleep now?”

“Yeah, been a long day. I’ll see you soon. Love you babe.”

“Love you,” she said before hanging up. She flipped onto her bed. “Fuck… why does he do this to me?”

“Justin or Josh?”

“Josh. Things were fine, then I kissed him, I’d have let him do more…”

“You got caught up in a moment,” she said softly.

“Don’t tell me I’m the only one that did our boys wrong?”

“Oh you are, but I’ve been in that situation before. Not with a professor, mind you, but still. You just gotta be strong enough to walk away, and you were, you did.”

“I almost didn’t, I almost cheated on Justin. I technically did with the kiss…”

“That’s as far as it went. Tell him about it if it’ll clear your conscience.”

“He’s going to sleep, I’ll tell him tomorrow when I go with his parents to pick him up at the airport.”

“Did they text you or something?”

“No… they were at the funeral. I guess their dads knew each other.  Their moms did a fundraiser thing together.  So that was awkward, right in front of Josh, too. Just played it off like I heard and came to support my professor, not that we’d been fuck buddies before I started dating Justin…”

“And after, can’t forget that…”

“I feel bad enough, don’t make it worse.”

“I’ll stop when you stop kissing or fucking him.  Justin is perfect for you. He worships the ground you walk on, you’re gonna move in together…”

“I know. I’m gonna go to sleep, I have no idea what time his parents are coming to get me, so I gotta make sure I’m ready wherever.”

“A couple more weeks and he won’t be your teacher anymore, you’ll barely see him on campus.  Just stay closer to Justin than to Josh.”

…

Jenny woke up the next morning, taking a shower before starting her day.  She got back to her dorm room, checking her phone.  She had a text from Justin.  

Hey gorgeous, getting on the plane now.  We’re supposed to land around 11, Mom and Dad wanna take us to lunch after you guys get me.  I’m so glad I get to see you soon.  Love you

She saw a missed call from Lynn, calling her back.  “Hi, Lynn?”

“Hi Jenny.  Justin’s supposed to land around 11.  We’ll get you around 10:30?”

“Yeah.  I’ll grab breakfast since it’s still early.”

“Nothing too heavy, we’ll go to brunch at the Fairmont.”

“I should dress nice then,” Jenny said.

“He’ll be in casual stuff, you’ll be fine in whatever.  He’ll just be to see you.”

“I know. See you at 10:30.”

“See you soon, darlin’.”

Jenny pulled her hair into a loose braid, pulling on a grey sweater and jeans with her black ankle boots.  

“Looking cute for the in laws…” Maddie said, lying in bed, slowly waking up.

“More for Justin than for them.”

“Why, you gonna fuck him right in the airport?” she laughed.

Jenny chuckled.  “As if.  Though he said last week that he’d fuck me in front of a packed stadium at half court if he got the chance, show the world I’m his.”

“Ok, why does that sound hot?  I’d wanna watch, see what you’ve taught him…”

“Wasn’t much to teach, he knew everything but the last part, and that’s easy enough, just different positions…”

“Most of which I’m guessing you learned from the professor, he won’t look too kindly on that,” Maddie teased.

“Well, I’m not his to worry about anymore.  I doubt he’d be at the game anyway.”

“Are you kidding?  He’s been at every game so far.  Either watching you or keeping an eye on Justin.  It’s like he’s obsessed…”

“How do you know this?  Shouldn’t you be watching Jeremy?” Jenny wondered.

“I can do both.  You’re my best friend, I gotta keep an eye out.  Never know what could happen with him, the hold he has over you.”

“He tried to do something the first home game, sat right behind me.  Caught me off guard as I headed back from the locker rooms.”

“Locker rooms?” 

“Justin said he was gonna have me meet more of the guys, then we had a quickie in the women’s locker room.  Josh caught me on my way back, apparently I hadn’t fixed my hair well enough, seemed too goofy happy.”

“Seeing as he’d made you look and feel that way, I could see how he’d read it all over you even if no one else could.  Good thing you’d just had sex with Justin, not wanting to be put under his spell.  Damn, that sounds hot though, gotta tell Jeremy to try that out sometime…”

“Why do you think we’re moving in together?” Jenny giggled.

“I volunteer to apartment sit when you go on vacations…”

Jenny smiled, giving a soft laugh.

“I’m sure you do.  Get your own place with Jeremy…”

“We’re not like you two, we’re not that serious yet.”

“I’ve only been with him for like 6 weeks…”

“And you’re planning on living together and marriage,” Maddie countered.

“Not like we’ll get married next week or anything…”

“Still, you’re ready to go from playing house at his dorm room every night to putting both your names on the lease of an apartment. That’s pretty damn serious.”

“It just feels right, you know?  He took his time pursuing me.”

“Making sure he thought you were the one before fucking your brains out,” Maddie sighed. “Seriously, it’s like a romantic comedy.  Josh is the guy in the way of the hero getting the girl.  Now you’re together and building towards your happily ever after.”

“I’m gonna go grab breakfast before they pick me up.  See you later.”

She left the dorm to grab a quick bite and a cup of peppermint white hot cocoa.  It was a quiet Sunday morning on campus, most people still asleep, but things were open just in case. 

Jenny enjoyed the quiet, nervous about how she was going to tell Justin that she’d kissed Josh. Well, that she’d kissed someone else. She prayed he’d never find out who it was, afraid of how he’d react.  She worried that because he was their teacher, it might upset Justin more, even though she tried to end things the second she realized he was their professor, especially once she found out he was married.  

She headed back towards the dorm, waiting on the sidewalk closest to the dorms for Lynn and Paul.  A white BMW X5 pulled up, Paul driving, Lynn smiling and waving softly to Jenny.  Jenny got in the backseat, sitting behind Lynn.

They made the short drive to the airport, taking more time to park than to drive there.  Paul found parking, all of them walking towards the arrivals area near the baggage claims.  Some of the other team parents were there waiting, Lynn and Paul talking to them.

“We just want to see them, they’ll all get on the team bus and head back to campus,” one parent said.

Another was like Lynn and Paul, picking their son up for lunch before he went back to campus or his apartment.  The parents commiserated about how grown up the boys were, not really needing them anymore.  Jenny smiled, knowing her mom and dad would be joining right in with stories.  

Slowly the stairs from the gates had crowds of people coming down, Jenny was hopeful to see Justin come into view at the top of the stairs any minute.  She began to see familiar faces, recognizing Jeremy, knowing how excited Maddie would be to see him.  She still wasn’t seeing Justin, wondering why he’d be so far in the back.

The ding of the elevator door pinged, the door opening as no one paid attention.

“Jenny!” a voice shouted.  She turned towards the voice, her eyes widening.

“Justin!”  He was sitting in a wheelchair, holding a pair of crutches.  “What happened?”  She looked at his parents.  “Did you know?”

“No.  Justin, what happened?  Why didn't you tell us yesterday?”

“I didn’t want to worry you while you waited for me to come home,” Justin shrugged.

“So when you say the team went out to dinner after the game…”

“Oh, we did.  I sprained my ankle in the 3rd quarter, plenty of time to be seen by our team doctor and everything.  No need to go to a hospital.   This makes things look worse than they are,” he said, patting the wheelchair.  “They made me use it in the airports so I’m not walking on it as much.  I can use the crutches and be fine after about a week to walk on it more.  No practice for a bit, doing some stretches and things to help keep everything around it loose.  Gives me more time to study now.  If I follow doctor’s orders, I’ll be in playing shape for Hawaii.”

“I’m just glad you’re ok,” Jenny sighed, hugging him close.  She took control of the wheelchair, pushing Justin as far in it as the airport would allow.

“I’ll go grab the car, you guys wait here so Justin is in the wheelchair as much as possible.”

“I’ll be fine, but whatever, Dad,” Justin laughed.

“Besides the obvious, how did the game go?  Any big moments for you?”  

“Besides me tripping over a player from the other team?  It turned the tide for the team, Jeremy stepped up his game once they knew I was out.  You should text Maddie, she’ll be proud of him.”

Meaning she’ll blow him into next week, Jenny thought with a smile, Justin giving a knowing smile to keep things clean for Lynn.  

Paul soon pulled up with the car, Jenny helping Justin stand and get into the car.

“We can do brunch at home if you want, Justin,” Lynn suggested.

“I’m fine, Mom.  I just gotta be careful of my ankle.”

“I’ll get food for you,” Jenny smiled, taking his hand in hers.

“Where are we going?” Justin wondered.

“Sunday brunch at the Fairmont,” Lynn smiled.  “One of your favorites.”

“Ever since they closed down that driving range.  GREAT Sunday brunch buffet…”

“The one by the hospital?  We would go there once a month or so after church when I was in middle school and high school!  Crazy how we’ve lived here our whole lives and are just running into each other.”

“It’s a big city, lots of cities around it, odds are we didn't run in the same circles.”

“Oh, speaking of which, we saw Jenny yesterday at Roy’s funeral.  We got to see Josh again.”

“Again?  When did you see him before?  Who is Josh?” Justin asked.

“His son, your music theory professor…” Lynn said.

Jenny tried not to blush or freak out, wishing she could slink down into the seat and disappear.

“Why were you at the funeral?  You said it was your friend’s dad…”

She sat for a second, her mind racing for an answer.  Suddenly, something hit her.

“Heather,” Jenny blurted.  “I’m friends with Heather… I didn't realize Josh was her brother, I’d never been over to their house, she always came to my house.”

Justin didn’t seem to give it another thought, squeezing her hand as they rode in the car, Jenny sighing in relief to herself.  She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep this up, and hoped she wouldn’t have to after finals.