Count to three: My affair with my dynamics professor (teacher x student)

Chapter 36

After stepping out of the shower, Inés wrapped herself in a soft hotel robe, the plush fabric a temporary cocoon against the chill in the air. She adjusted the belt around her waist, her movements automatic as her mind wandered back to the mess of the night before. It was only a matter of time before she had to face it again. She had to go over to Kristoffer's room.

Her footsteps were quiet as she moved through the suite, the long hall separating the two rooms. She didn't knock—just opened the door softly, stepping inside, the familiar scent of the hotel room wrapping around her. There was no surprise in seeing the scene before her, no shock. Their clothes were scattered haphazardly across the floor, reminders of last night. Her dress, still wrinkled from being torn off, was bunched near the edge of the bed. Her heels had been abandoned near the wall, one of them halfway under the nightstand.

Kristoffer's side of the bed was a disaster: the sheets twisted, tangled, like the aftermath of a storm. He lay on his stomach, completely naked, his muscular body sprawled across the mattress. The sheets barely covered his lower back, revealing the bare skin of his shoulders, his hair mussed from sleep. In that moment, he looked so vulnerable, so far removed from the man who ran a successful pharmaceutical empire and commanded a room.

Inés bent down, her fingers brushing the floor as she collected her clothes, the fabric cool against her skin. She gathered her heels, the thin straps of her panties tangled in the mess of her dress. She glanced back at Kristoffer, who was still lost in sleep, his breathing slow and deep.

She wasn't sure what she expected to feel, but it wasn't this quiet sense of resignation. She started to collect his clothes as well—his shirt, his trousers, the discarded belt—and began folding them neatly, the rhythm of her movements almost soothing. Her thoughts drifted again, but this time they were sharper, more purposeful, as if the simple act of cleaning up was somehow grounding her in the moment, pulling her away from the whirlwind of emotions swirling in her chest.

Kristoffer stirred just then, a low murmur slipping from his lips as his eyes fluttered open. For a moment, he just lay there, blinking at the ceiling, his expression a mix of confusion and laziness. As he shifted to prop himself up on one elbow, Inés froze for a second, her hands still holding the last of his shirt.

"Morning," Kristoffer's voice was thick with sleep, his eyes still half-closed, the usual edge of control absent in his demeanor.

Inés didn't answer right away, her gaze moving to his face, trying to gauge what was there. Her own words seemed lost in her throat for a moment, too heavy to speak. She finished folding his trousers and laid them gently over her own clothes, her movements deliberate.

Kristoffer's gaze followed her eyes, the fog of sleep still lingering. He rubbed his face with a hand, groaning softly, clearly not yet fully awake.

When she finally spoke, it was with a quiet tension in her voice, barely above a whisper. "We should go have breakfast," she said softly, her voice a little more distant than she intended. "It's until 10. We've got some time."

Inés turned away, needing the space. She adjusted the robe around her shoulders and walked toward the door. She could already feel the shift in the air between them, but she wasn't ready to confront it just yet.

Breakfast. It felt like the smallest of escapes, a fleeting moment before the flight, before everything else came crashing back.

Inés walked back into her room, the weight of the morning still heavy on her shoulders. She stood in front of the full-length mirror, her fingers brushing through her damp hair as she prepared herself for the airport. She didn't want to think too hard about what lay ahead, so she focused on the simplicity of getting dressed.