Deviation (A Defined Series Book 1) by M.C. Cerny Page B

dings with a text.
       EW: Hey, smarty pants. I’ll see you tomorrow. XOXO
     
       It was so cute, I had to reply.
      Maybe I won’t wear any behind my podium.
       EW: I think you want to get caught. :-)
       Only with you, babe.
       She doesn’t reply so I let her go and use the pent up energy to sprint home, running some extra miles and working up a good sweat in the cool November air. I order takeout and pick it up, walking back home. Before Edith came into my life, I didn’t know what I was missing. I turn in early, sending Edith a good night text and awaiting Tuesday’s arrival.
    ***
    “Hey, professor.” I turn around and find Daniel just inside my office door.
       “Just the man I was looking for, Mr. Munson.” Daniel is wearing some kind of shiny fabric slacks that were dry cleaned too many times, aging the poor kid at least twenty years. It makes me wonder if that’s what got him the position under my predecessor to begin with. 
       “I wanted to let you know I’m available to proctor the exam next week. I was able to take my Calculus exam early, so that frees up my time to proctor the Statistics one for your second block class.”
       “Excellent. I didn’t know who was doing it yet and Dean Andrews said he had several people available if you were not here for your own exams.” I shuffle some papers and find the stack of the last set of quizzes he’d graded for me before Thanksgiving. “Too bad you can’t enter the grades, too!” I laugh. “I’ve got an awful lot of papers to sort through this weekend.”
       “Oh, you know…university policies. They can be such a drag, right?” Daniel looks at me for a second, a strange expression on his face. It makes me feel guilty for the policies I am breaking.
       “Oh, yeah. I suppose.” I try brushing off the feeling I have, but Daniel has this intensity about him that just plain irritates me. I attempt to ignore what he might have been implying.
       “Well, I’ll see you in class,” he says, leaving my office.
       I reach into my drawer as he shuts the door on his way out. I pick up my cell phone and stare at it before sliding my finger across the screen. I shake off the feeling, thinking it is impossible for Daniel to suspect something between Edith and me. We are very careful and it is just my guilty conscience playing with my mind. Besides, Daniel has been tutoring Edith twice a week for the last few weeks. If he didn’t figure it out the one time I stopped by the library to drop off her sweater that she had left in my car, which I lied about and said she left in the classroom, I am sure we are pretty much in the clear.
       I try calling Edith to check in, but her phone is off, as usual. She still isn’t used to taking calls on it. No matter. I’ll see her soon.
       In class, I review the exam materials and sneak glances at Edith, who is rather attentive to my lecture. She is passing my class and will do better on her exam next week, if she doesn’t let her nerves get the best of her. It’s easy to admire how much hard work she puts into everything, and I will be both glad and relieved when she graduates.
       “Daniel will hand out the last review guide. Use this to study and you should all be fine. I’ll also be dropping the lowest two quiz grades to help average out your final scores. See you Thursday.” Murmurs of “thank you” echo from students exiting the classroom and I wait for everyone to leave until it’s just Edith and me.
       “Finally. I thought they’d never leave.” I walk up the risers to where Edith sits in her seat, her books on her tabletop. Her hands are folded in her lap demurely as she smirks. Brat.
       “So impatient, professor…” Edith rolls her eyes at me. I’m betting that is something Shelby taught her.
       “That doesn’t sound like a student who studied, Ms. Willows.” I lean over her table, pushing her back into her chair and sliding her offending book away