Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 36132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“Are they gone already?” he asked a moment later.
Shawn glanced at them again. “Nope.” An amused smile lit his face. “Derek just walked over to them. Mila failed his class, you know. She has to retake it, and Derek hates when he has to waste his time on students who’ve already failed once. The poor girl looks terrified.”
Christian turned his head.
Sure enough, Professor Rutledge was looming over Mila, a scowl on his face as he berated her for something. Mila was nodding so quickly one might think that her head would fall off if she didn’t stop. Christian would have smiled if his gaze wasn’t helplessly drawn to Alexander again.
Alexander was watching the exchange between Mila and Rutledge with an indifferent expression on his face, his hands in the pockets of his gray coat. His coat was unbuttoned, and the blue shirt tucked in at his flat stomach was an almost perfect match for his eyes.
“You’re staring again,” Shawn said, elbowing him, and Christian averted his gaze. Shawn chuckled. “Not that I blame you. He’s ridiculously handsome. Though, personally, Derek is much hotter.”
Christian gave him an incredulous look.
“He is,” Shawn said, smiling. “He’s got that ‘tall, dark, and scary’ thing going on.”
Christian snorted. “Scary? Definitely. Serious question: does he criticize you during sex too?” Christian did his best to imitate Rutledge’s voice, “Your performance is subpar, Wyatt. Make an effort to squeeze you muscles around my—”
Laughing, Shawn pulled him into a playful headlock.
Someone cleared their throat pointedly.
His neck still wrapped in Shawn’s arm, Christian looked up. His grin disappeared as Alexander’s eyes met his.
They were cold as ice.
Shawn released him, and they both straightened up.
“Hey,” Christian said, trying to sound casual and indifferent. He wasn’t sure how successful he was.
“Hello,” Alexander said, his face blank. His eyes flickered to Shawn. “You won’t introduce me to…your friend?”
“Sure. This is Shawn Wyatt. Shawn, this is Alexander Sheldon.”
“Nice to meet you,” Shawn said, reaching out to shake Alexander’s hand.
Christian looked around. “Where’s Mila?”
“She went with Professor Rutledge to get her assignment.”
“Ah,” Christian said, lacing his fingers together in an attempt to keep his hands still.
Alexander had a very odd expression on his face: tight, almost pained.
The silence stretched, becoming awkward.
But Alexander didn’t move, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders straight and his eyes on Christian.
Shawn coughed. “So where do you work, Alexander?”
Alexander looked at Shawn. “I own a small company that provides translation and linguistic validation services.”
“Sounds interesting,” Shawn muttered.
Alexander’s gaze returned to Christian.
Several minutes passed in silence, Alexander’s eyes filled with something Christian couldn’t put his finger on.
It was the most awkward silence of awkward silences, and Christian scrambled to think of something to say. He tried, but couldn’t.
His lips parted slightly and he took a greedy gulp of air.
Alexander’s lips pressed together. “See you,” he said stiffly and strode away.
“Well, that was weird,” Christian said, slumping back in his seat.
Shawn had a strange look on his face. “Okay, my experience with men is very limited, so I might be totally wrong, but he looked at you like he…”
“Like what?”
Shawn appeared a bit uncomfortable. “Like he wanted to lick you from head to toe.”
Christian groaned. “Don’t say stuff like that to me. I’m just getting over him.”
The look Shawn gave him was skeptical—annoyingly so.
“I am!” Christian said. He pursed his lips. “Besides, even if you’re right, it doesn’t change a thing.”
He looked towards the parking lot where Mila was climbing into Alexander’s car. “He has a girlfriend,” he said flatly, watching the car pull away. “He won’t leave her.”
Shawn slung an arm around him and squeezed his shoulder. “Fuck him, then. He’s just a guy—okay, a very hot guy, but just a guy. Look around. Half of the school wants you. You can have any of them.”
Christian forced out a smile. “Yeah. You’re right.” Rutledge was walking towards them. “I know I’m irresistible and all, but you’d better stop feeling me up before your hubby kills me.”
Shawn laughed. “Derek’s not my husband.”
“Come on. He pretty much is.”
Rutledge came to a halt in front of them and regarded them with a raised eyebrow.
Grinning, Shawn leaned even closer to Christian and winked at Rutledge.
“He’s like a brother to me,” Christian said, just in case.
Rutledge looked at Shawn flatly. “If you’re done trying to make me jealous, let’s go. The new babysitter is supposed to arrive in an hour. We don’t have much time to get home.”
“Not your husband, huh?” Christian murmured as Shawn stood up.
Shawn gave him a sheepish look and followed Rutledge to his car.
Christian watched them go. They didn’t touch—they were in public, after all, and relationships between professors and students were frowned upon—but their body language betrayed them. The way they leaned towards each other, the way Shawn smiled at Rutledge, the expression in Rutledge’s eyes... Only a blind person wouldn’t see that they were totally crazy about each other.