Free Underneath It All by Scheri Cunningham

"Good morning, Ms. Ellerby." Paige looked up to see Joseph standing in the door. He was leaning against the door frame, holding two cups of coffee. He had an intense look in his eyes and Paige had the impression he'd been standing there for awhile.
    "Hey," she said and put down her grading pen. She'd already been at school for over an hour trying to finish up the tests she gave yesterday. Hardly any of her students had passed and she was in a bad mood. Seeing Joseph made her feel better. And the coffee was the icing on the cake.
    He strode over to her desk like he owned the place. She loved how cocky he was because she knew that inside he was a ball of mush. He cried at movies and books. He loved puppies. He was thoughtful and generous; take this cup of coffee, for instance. But, on the outside he was all alpha male: muscled, short cropped hair, chiseled jaw, and very commanding. The students loved him, too. Paige had seen the way they looked at him.
    Joseph set her cup of coffee down on the desk and sat himself on the edge.
    "Thanks so much." Paige took a sip and it burned her tongue. "I really needed it this morning."
    "You look it," Joseph said. He touched his face just under his eye and opened his eyes wide. He mouthed the word "huge", teasing her about the non-existent bags under her eyes.
    "Oh, stop!" Paige said and swatted him on the knee. They both laughed and sipped at their coffees. She noticed him run his fingertips over the spot on his knee where she'd touched him.
    They fell silent. This had been happening a lot lately. They never used to have trouble coming up with things to say. They'd been friends for years and chatted constantly. They spent time together at school, went to movies together, and watched football every Sunday. Things had been different lately; things had become a little awkward between them. Joseph had broken up with his girlfriend a couple weeks ago and things had gotten increasingly strange between them ever since. There was a lot of tension in the air.
    Paige looked up at Joseph and caught him looking down at her cleavage. He suddenly looked flustered and tried to pretend he had been looking at the tests on her desk. Paige blushed and went right along with his attempt to cover it up. Inside though, her stomach leapt to her chest. She didn't mind his having a look.
    "OK, then," Joseph said and stood up. "I have to get going." Paige was relieved he had decided to leave. The heat between them had become intolerable and the students would be arriving any minute.
    "Listen, come find me in my room during prep. I want to show you something," he said as he walked to the door.
    Paige looked at him funny and Joseph laughed. "It's not as strange as you think. Just come find me, OK?"
    Paige smiled and laughed along with him. "Sure," she said, "see you then."
    He walked out and Paige watched him leave. She had always had a crush on him but she kept it in check since he was already dating someone else when they met. It was getting harder and harder to keep her crush under wraps lately. She took a good long look at his ass while he walked away from her. She licked her lips imagining what he'd look like in his boxers.
    Paige tried to get the image out of her head and went back to grading papers. She had to laugh at herself. What was she going to do about it during school, anyway? It's not like she could just walk over to his room, straddle him in his desk chair, and kiss his face off. The thought of it made her throb between her legs. She couldn't go too far into that fantasy; it might be hard to come back from it.
    "Mr. Lowry is hot, you should date him!" Paige looked up to see Aliyah waltzing into the room. She was always early for homeroom. Paige's breath caught in her throat. She suddenly felt as though she'd been caught doing something naughty. It felt like a student had just walked in on her bent over her desk with Joseph behind her. But, no, that was just in her imagination. Aliyah knew nothing of her