Yep. Just as she’d suspected. The last roommate was conveniently out too.
Silence stretched in the room as the minutes crawled by. Ten twenty-five. Riley stared at her lap.
“The dorms… they lock the main doors really soon,” she murmured. It was the gentlest possible way to say, You need to leave. Any later, and he’d be trapped inside. University locked the dorms promptly at 10:30 PM.
“Mm-hmm,” was his only response.
“Mm-hmm?” That noncommittal sound sent a fresh wave of panic through Riley’s already frantic heart.
‘Wait… is he actually planning… to spend the night? Here? In my room? No. No way. That’s crazy! Why on earth would the boss stay…’
But then the voices from the messages replayed in her head, all three roommates, gone for the night, their sudden, perfect excuses lining up flawlessly.
Arranging all three absences at once? Magically fulfilling their biggest wishes right now? Who else had the power and resources to pull that off except the man in front of her?
And if he’d gone to that much trouble to clear the room… Why would he just leave now?
‘But still… No, no, no, absolutely NO! It can’t happen! Her classmates were right here!’ The rooms next door, the one directly across the hall, girls from her own major lived there!
This felt like playing with fire in the most dangerous, forbidden territory imaginable.
Alex turned his head, studying her for a moment.
Then, a slow dawning expression spread across his face, exaggeratedly understanding. “Ooooh,” he drew out the sound. “Right. Got it. You’re trying to get rid of me.”
“No! That’s not…” Riley stammered, flushing. What could she even say? Because, deep down, that was exactly what she’d meant.
This was the girls’ dormitory! If the big boss actually stayed… well, even a child could guess what might happen next.
She wasn’t that clueless girl anymore, completely unaware of the world. Ever since that day in the stairwell, she’d frantically devoured information online back in the safety of her dorm.
Following suggestions from forums, she’d even found and read a few… specific kinds of novels.
Titles like “The Billionaire’s Reluctant Secretary,” “Forbidden Lessons: The Professor’s Desire,” and “Power Plays: When the Boss Wants More Than Business.”
Reading them made her face burn and her heart race. She only dared do it late at night, curtains drawn tight around her bed, huddled under the blankets in secret.
And inevitably, as she read, her mind would cast the big boss and herself in the starring roles.
Disturbingly, the situation right now felt ripped straight from the pages of “Forbidden Lessons: The Professor’s Desire”.
The setting: a girl’s dorm room. The time: late, past ten. The roommates: conveniently missing. The only difference was the ‘teacher’ was her ‘boss’.
She could even picture the chapter title clearly in her mind: Night in the Girls’ Dorm.
….
The scenes from the novel swirled violently in Riley’s head, churning her already frayed nerves into a frenzy.
“Alright, fine. I’m going,” Alex said abruptly. He stood up smoothly and headed for the door, hand reaching for the lock again.
He moved with such casual finality it shocked a cold sweat out of Riley. “Wait!” she cried, scrambling forward in panic. She threw herself between him and the door, physically blocking his path just as he started to pull it open.
The door swung shut again with a soft click as she slammed her body against it.
With both hands pushing against his chest to hold him back, she had to awkwardly use her hip to nudge the door fully closed.
Alex looked down at her, his expression perfectly innocent. “Problem?” he asked, knowing full well what the problem was.
“People are out there! Classmates!” Riley whispered frantically, her voice trembling with residual fear. “You can’t just walk out now! It’s too dangerous!”
Just outside in the corridor, someone was still jumping rope. The steady, rhythmic thwack… thwack… thwack of the rope hitting the hard floor echoed clearly. They’d been out there for ages.
Even worse, Riley knew the girl in the room directly opposite hers – someone in her actual class – often left her door propped open.
Riley had risked a glance when the boss first arrived; the door was closed then, meaning the girl wasn’t home.
But who knew if she’d come back since? She could be back right now, door wide open, ready to see everything.
It wasn’t that people were glued to her dorm room window, but a guy strolling out after lingering too long? That’d definitely turn heads. This was a girls’ dorm, after all—no boys allowed, especially not past curfew.
If he had to leave, he should’ve been smart about it. She could peek outside first, make sure no one was around, and then he could sneak out, maybe throw on a hoodie or something to blend in. But no—he wasn’t even trying to hide. It was like he wanted to get caught.
“You’re scared your classmates will find out I was here, huh?” Alex said, his voice low and teasing. He gazed down at Riley’s wide, innocent eyes and stepped closer, nudging her gently back.
Her hips had been grazing the door, but now she was pinned against it, the cool wood pressing into her spine.
“You—” she started, but his lips crashed into hers before she could get the words out. This wasn’t their first stolen moment—last time, it was the shadowy hospital stairwell, a thrill wrapped in silence.
Now, it was her dorm, with students laughing and shuffling just beyond the door. The risk felt electric.
Unlike the eerie quiet of the stairwell, where every whisper bounced off the walls, here the chatter outside muffled their secret, the closed door a thin shield against the world.
Riley pushed against him, her palms flat on his chest, but Alex wasn’t having it. His hands found her waist, pulling her in tight until their bodies locked together, the heat between them sparking.
She shoved a little harder, but his kiss deepened, insistent, and soon her resistance faded. Her fingers, once fighting, curled into his shirt, clinging like she didn’t want to let go.