Free Beautiful Burn by Adriane Leigh

Mel's accusatory anger
was the last thing I could bring myself to deal with. I was trying to
focus on myself, eating healthier, taking vitamins, and seeing our
couples therapist for private appointments. I didn't even know if Mel
knew I was still seeing Dr. Warner, though he'd already told me she
wasn’t. It didn't matter, I wasn't going for us, I was going for
me. And while I hadn't yet told the therapist about Auburn, I'd told
him everything else. It was the one time a week I could vent about
Mel, divulge that my parents' perfect marriage had left me feeling
with much to live up to and like a failure if I signed on that dotted
line, and how the adjustment of all of it left me fearful and
anxious.
    I was glad that I
could finally get back to running and settle into some sort of
routine. Running had always been my outlet and I hadn't even realized
how much I'd missed it until I'd taken a break from it these last few
months.
    When I reached the
one mile mark my muscles screamed and my body swayed with weakness. I
reluctantly slowed my jog to a walk, disappointed that I couldn’t
run the three miles that I'd been running each day this spring. I
stopped at one of the boulders dotting the path and stretched my
legs, keeping my muscles loose as I gazed out at the west bay where
Auburn and I had rowed our first night together. I stretched my arms
behind my back, pulling at my sore shoulders in the hopes of staying
flexible for the way home. After a few minutes of stretching and
realizing that my body would not take any more of a beating today, I
turned for home, taking it slow and getting lost in my thoughts the
entire way.
    I
wanted to give Auburn everything, but I could close my eyes and see
the headlines. High
School Teacher Seduces Student. The local news would have a field day. The media attention in our
small state alone would prevent me from getting a job. I kicked at a
rock on the pathway as I tried to figure out some way to have it all.
I'd been working on my doctorate in the hopes of one day working as a
professor at the local college, maybe if I buckled down I could
breeze through the remaining classes in a few years and start as an
adjunct professor, leaving me free to date Auburn, free from scandal
and gossip.
    A few weeks ago I
would have said I didn't know what my future held and that fact shook
me to my bones and left me paralyzed with anxiety, but with time,
that feeling had dissipated. Auburn had said it was our time, but I
still couldn't shake the memory of the look of quiet disappointment
on her face. There'd been more she was saying, something that left me
with the sense that I didn't have the time with her I thought I had.

seven
    I sent her
an email the following morning.
    Meet me tonight
at the entrance to the resort off of highway 31.
    I reclined back in
my deck chair basking in the warm morning sun with a cup of coffee
and a baseball hat pulled low over my eyes. The chime indicating a
new email sounded a minute later.
    Uh…ok. What’s
there? w as her reply.
    It’s a
surprise. 8pm. I briefly wished I could just
text her, but I wasn't ready to take that risk yet.
    Yes, Sir. s he
answered.
    The blood pumped a
little slower through my veins, thick with the insinuation of her
reply.
    I sat outside the
entrance of the Pines Resort off of highway 31 later that evening.
Auburn pulled up a few minutes after me and stepped out, tucked her
phone in the back pocket of her black shorts and stepped up to me.
“I'm all yours,” Her hand dusted down the front of my jeans. The
short shorts she ran around in always left me clutching at control,
but her hands on my cock had me on the edge of exploding.
    “ Get in.” I
growled, gesturing to the other side of my old Blazer. I hopped
behind the wheel, adjusting the painful ache between my legs, and
drove a few yards along the shoulder before pulling into our
destination.
    “ We're going to
the drive-in?” She grinned and looked at me, then back to the
drive-in