He rolled his eyes with a smile. “Boring. My mom still treats me like I’m a baby.”

“You’re her baby.”

“Okay, but still…” he said. “Anyway, I’m happy to be back.”

“You say that now, but I remember your schedule this semester.”

His smile turned to a cringe. “Yeah, I might have gotten carried away during registration in the spring.”

“That double major is gonna be tough,” she said.

“He’ll be alright,” a voice said from the door.

She turned to see Alejandro leaning against the doorjamb. It had barely been four hours since she’d seen him last, but it felt like forever. She took him in — his new gray three-piece suit and crisp white shirt — and there was something about the sight of his mustard-colored tie that reminded her of this morning. Maybe it was because it matched her dress, or because she’d held onto the knot while riding his lap in his bedroom — their bedroom now. She’d almost made him late.

“What’s up, Doc Mendoza?” Jerome said.

“Nothing much. I just came to see Dr. Evans, only to hear her trying to poach you from me. Still.”

Deja rolled her eyes and pressed print on the document on her laptop. “I wasn’t poaching, I was just letting my advisee know that double majors are difficult, but of course, he can manage.”

“Our advisee,” Alejandro corrected.

“So y’all are still together,” Jerome said. “Hector owes me twenty bucks.”

Deja’s mouth fell open. “Get out,” she laughed at Jerome.

Alejandro stepped aside for him to leave, patting him on the back as he passed.

“See you at your office hours, Doc,” Jerome called over his shoulder.

Alejandro stepped into her office and took up the seat Jerome had just vacated. He sat regally, straightening his pants before he sat, and as he crossed his legs. He straightened his tie, and Deja could have sworn that his fingers caressed the piece of fabric slowly, as if his brain was taking the same trip down memory lane hers had.

“Behave,” she whispered, her eyes darting to her open office door.

He smiled at her. “I can. I will.” He licked his lips as if he was tasting her.

She swallowed a groan. “You need to leave, too,” she whispered in a shaky voice.

He burst into laughter and stood. He leaned over her desk, and she met his mouth with her own without thinking, not caring, in that moment, who might pass to see their chaste brush of lips.

“I’ll tell you what I was just thinking at home tonight,” he whispered in a deep, seductive voice.

The frisson of desire that laced through her at his voice, at his words — especially “home” — made her smile so hard her cheeks hurt. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, tasting him again. “Please,” she whispered back.

He moaned softly. “Yeah, I need to leave now.”