Doing the Dean

A Claybourne College Story

By Mia Watts

Resplendence Publishing, LLC

Resplendence Publishing, LLC

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com

Doing the Dean
Copyright © 2012 Mia Watts
Edited by Darlena Cunha and Liza Green
Cover art by Adrian Nicholas

Published by Resplendence Publishing, LLC
2665 N Atlantic Avenue, #349
Daytona Beach, FL 32118

Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-60735-581-6

Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized
reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted
work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement,
including infringement without monetary gain, is

investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up
to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of
$250,000.

Electronic Release: September 2012

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places and occurrences are a product of the
author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is
purely coincidental.

Prologue

September 24

th

…

“Here to start the year off right is our very own Dean of

Students and host of our Meet the Faculty event, Dr. Julian
Rickman.”

Julian took a fluted champagne glass to the front of the

sunken living room as the subtle applause broke out. He stood on
an elevation, the wide hallway behind him. He smiled and lifted his
glass.

“Thank you for being here on the cusp of another fantastic

Claybourne College year!”

The faculty cheered. Someone whistled. They all smiled up

at him, and, for a moment, it felt surreal. Two years ago, he’d been
in the right place at the right time and was promoted to Dean as the
youngest on staff in Claybourne’s history. Not that forty-three was
young, but he’d felt like an imposter. Of course, that feeling had
long since subsided under the mountain of college business and

paperwork. He smiled back, meeting each set of eyes in the room.

“I’m honored to welcome you as you begin the task of

educating our new round of students and the ones you tried to
educate last year,” he teased to their laughter. “Now I know we’re
already several weeks in, but I was assured you could use the
break after the whirlwind of class startup. Am I right?”

The sliding glass door opened and three men stepped

through, trying to be quiet. One of them took three champagne
glasses and handed two of them to the others.

Not noticing them, the group applauded.
“Excellent! Then Faculty, meet staff. Staff meet the resident

assistants. There’s plenty of refreshment in the dining room through
the French doors. Please help yourselves and thank you for making
Claybourne College the best little college in the nation.”

He lifted his glass. One of the three men turned. Julian’s

gaze snagged on a pair of light eyes behind dark framed glasses.
The man smiled sheepishly and lifted his glass in the same salute as
all the others. Julian tore his eyes away, uncomfortable with the way
the silent exchange made his pulse kick up.

“May we continue to deserve the title.” Julian took a drink

and smiled to the guests.

He stepped off the ledge. His mind went to the man with the

glasses, but he decided to take his time. At least until he had
something to say beyond, hello, and until he had the atypical flutter
in his belly under control. He’d never seen this one before. The man
seemed young to be a professor, but there were teacher assistants
and resident assistants on the guest list too.

His eyes strayed to the area around the sliding doors. He

caught sight of the blond gleam of short, parted hair and the

charcoal suit-coated shoulders. Julian relaxed and put his attention
back on the head of the Biology department who was discussing the
need for an atomic microscope.

“We’ve always used the one at the University, Eric. I don’t

see that changing soon,” Julian told him distractedly. He clapped the
man on his upper arm. “Besides, no business talk. We’re at a social
event.”

Eric didn’t seem soothed, but he moved on.
Julian headed toward the blond, deciding to greet him and

the group he’d come in with. Unfortunately, the other guests
conspired against him, stopping him several times along the way for
a greeting, a thank you, a promise that he’d make time in his
schedule for a talk.

He hurried through all of them, excusing himself only to find

that the man had disappeared. Julian visually searched the room.
Not a sign of the blond head, though he noticed the other two men.

Weaving his way to them, he put on a welcoming smile.

“Hello. Welcome. I’m Dr. Rickman, Dean of Students.”

“Joe Finkle. I’m the RA at Smith Hall.”
“Nick Horsten. I RA for Wexler Hall.”
Julian nodded. RAs, not professors. None of the RAs hired

on this year were older than thirty, and most were young enough to
be his son. The butterflies in his belly died like leaden pellets.

He smiled tightly. “Enjoy the party, gentlemen. Make sure

you hit the food table in the dining room.”

He nodded at them as he departed and resolutely pushed

the blond from his thoughts.

Chapter One

February 27

th

…

“Wow, who’s that?” Griffin Sizemore muttered under his

breath as the opposing team ran past to take the field. Absently, he
took a long drink from his water bottle and put it under the bench
behind the backstop where their team gathered to play the first
inning.

The tight gray baseball pants of the man he admired

stretched across a perfect ass. Griffin dragged his gaze upward to
broad shoulders and inky hair. The man on the pitching mound
turned. Streaks of white touched his temples. Otherwise, the man
appeared ageless.

He’d seen that man before. Months ago at a dinner party,

that man had given a toast. Whoever he was, he was a faculty
member at the right hand of the Dean of Students who threw the
party. He hadn’t stuck around to find out when he realized they’d
been spotted entering the party late. He hadn’t wanted to appear

rude to the Dean of Students.

Whichever subject that man taught clearly wasn’t in the

doctoral program or Griffin would’ve had him by now. In so many
ways. Over a desk. Under a library table. On his knees… He was
getting hard just thinking about it.

“God, I’d do him in a New York minute,” Griffin breathed.
“Who?” Tony asked, coming up beside him.
He could already see the mirth in Tony’s eyes. He could

almost hear the jokes at his expense later, and Griffin smiled,
looking forward to it. The kid had transferred to his dormitory at the
beginning of the first semester, and it hadn’t taken long for the two
of them to hit it off. Sometimes Griffin tried to play down their
friendship, thinking it might look like favoritism for the Resident
Assistant to spend his free time with one of the guys. Yet no one
seemed to mind and that fear had fallen to the wayside.

It also meant that Tony knew him well enough to tease him

about his taste in men, which Tony thought wasn’t high enough in
standard.

“You don’t mean Professor Laraby on third, do you? You

could do so much better than him,” Tony said, scoping out the other
team.

“Hell, no. I mean the hottie on the pitcher’s mound.

Seriously, have you ever seen a better-looking man? Whatever he’s
teaching, I need to audit that class.”

Tony laughed sharply. “The pitcher? You’re hot for the

pitcher?”

Griffin glanced at Tony. “What? Still think I can do better,

or did I finally overshoot?”

Tony kept laughing. He looked at Griffin, laughed harder

and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye with the back of his
hand.

“Batter up!” The umpire called.
Tony swatted Griffin on the butt and jogged to the plate. He

was still grinning as he hit the pitch into left field and took a base.

Griffin was sixth to the plate and they only had one out. The

faculty team hustled across the field admirably, but it was obvious
that this game would be a landslide loss for them. Griffin took the
bat, making an elaborate show of knocking the dirt off his cleats
and settling into the batter’s box.

The pitcher barely looked at him, much to Griffin’s

annoyance. He’d thought, okay maybe it had been an elaborate
dream he’d fostered over the past months that the look exchanged
between them at the welcome back party had held a kind of sizzling
energy. Now he wished he’d stuck around to find out—hindsight
being all twenty-twenty and shit.

The pitcher threw low and hard. Griffin swung and missed.

The umpire bellowed the strike, lifting every nerve ending Griffin
possessed. He wanted to hit the ball out of the field. He wanted that
pitcher’s cool reserve to flush or falter. He wanted a goddamn lifted
eyebrow or something that said, hey, I see you.

The second pitch was a little higher. Griffin swung and

tipped it into a foul ball. He ground his teeth. At this point, he
wouldn’t even impress a proud mama at a little league game.

“C’mon Griff! Stop daydreaming,” Tony shouted behind

him.

“Watch the ball! You’ve got this!” Another player cheered.
Griffin tuned them out. He forced his eyes to watch only the

ball, the wind up, the toss and not the muscled thighs tightly encased

in Lycra, or the tanned arms with man-tendons flexing beneath the
skin. Damn!

Griffin swung. His bat connected, miraculously. The ball

shot into right field, proof that he’d swung early. He tore off to first
base, sliding in just as the baseman pocketed the right-fielder’s
throw. And now Griffin was met with another challenge—the fine-
assed view of the pitcher from this angle.

He groaned.
“You okay?” The first basemen sounded concerned.
Griffin spared him a smile. “Just thinking about how I almost

tanked the last hit.”

His base-mate laughed. “Thought we had you on that one.”
Griffin kept his eyes on the next team member to bat. He

rocked foot-to-foot, led off the bag several side-steps. The pitcher
peeked over his shoulder, just like a professional and for some
reason that made Griffin chuckle, pleased.

The bat connected off the pitch, and Griffin raced to second

base. The outfield looked like a comedy of errors, so he rounded
and took third too.

There wasn’t a bad angle on the pitcher, Griffin realized.

Not one. If the good Lord above had any mercy, he’d see to it that
the man signed up for the faculty football team. That faculty member
was some prime tackling real estate. God, what Griffin could do to
him under a pile-up.

The rest of the game went the same. Not once did the

pitcher give him any indication that they’d seen each other before.
Tony still wouldn’t spill the beans on what was so funny, but he
periodically grinned like an idiot with a secret.

The bottom of the ninth had Griffin taking over third base.

Maybe he couldn’t get to third base with the pitcher, but at least
he’d have the pitcher on third base. It was a verbal play that
amused him, anyway.

He waited the whole inning and finally, the pitcher made it

on base.

“Hi,” Griffin said with a smile.
The pitcher glanced at him then looked back again as

though trying to place him. “Hi.”

“Come here often?”
The pitcher chuckled and shook his head as though he

couldn’t believe the blatant flirtation. “Not as often as I should.”

“I’d be happy to coach you off hours,” Griffin offered,

following his line of conversation.

The bat cracked, returning both their attentions to the game.

The pitcher took off at a sprint, making it easily to home base
before the batter got the final out on second.

The teams converged on the backstop. Tony jogged over

to him.

“I saw you talking to the pitcher. Did you get his number?”

Tony asked.

“No, sadly.”
“I could help you with that.”
Griffin opened his mouth to protest, but Tony wasn’t

listening and the kid’s next words shut him up anyway.

“Dad! Dad!” Tony shouted at the collection of faculty.
The pitcher separated and walked over. His eyes met

Griffin’s, and he seemed to tense cautiously.

“Looks like you owe me dinner,” Tony announced. He

turned to Griffin. “We have this thing that if we have to play each

other, the losing person buys dinner. And since I owe you dinner,”
at this he gave Griffin a look that told him not to argue. “He can
take both of us.”

Griffin paled. “You’re Dean Rickman.”
“Last time I checked,” the older man acknowledged. He

held out his hand. “And you are?”

“Griffin Sizemore. I’m Tony’s RA.”
“You’ll be joining us for dinner?” the Dean asked.
“If that’s okay,” Griffin said, stumbling over his composure.
Tony slapped him on the back. “He’s fine with it.” And then

he gave Griffin that cat-with-the-cream grin he’d been sporting all
game.

Griffin’s eyes slid shut on a groan. “Of all the—”
“I knew you’d appreciate the irony,” Tony finished, his eyes

dancing gleefully.

“What irony? Did I miss something?” Dean Rickman asked.
“It’s nothing. An inside joke,” Griffin hurried to explain.
“It’s just that this is the first game Griffin’s swung at

something he might actually hit.”

Griffin rammed an elbow into Tony’s side. “I’m sure he

doesn’t need to hear about that.”

Dean Rickman’s eyes narrowed speculatively. Griffin felt

the rising heat of a blush to his cheeks. His glove became
fascinating. God, he hadn’t felt like this much of a juvenile boob
with a crush since grade school. Thanks to Tony who was so going
to pay for this later.

Dean Rickman seemed to let it pass. “Dinner is dinner.

Where do you want to go?”

“Somewhere we can sit and talk,” Tony suggested.

Was the kid for real? Was he actually trying to set him up

with his dad, the Dean? Even Griffin knew he didn’t have a chance
at closing that deal. Was Tony was setting this up to mess with
Griffin’s about his crush, or because the Dean might be interested?

Logistically, the Dean had a son. He knew Tony had a

mom, so what were the chances that Tony arranged all this because
his dad had gone gay? Not likely. More likely, it was something to
tease Griffin about later. Who knew the little shit was into torture?

“Dolly’s would be good for that, and I heard that some of

the team is going there for dinner.” Dean Rickman slapped his glove
against his thigh. “Do you want to wash up first?”

“Definitely,” Griffin said, suddenly finding his voice. He

wrapped his arm around Tony’s neck and squeezed. “This one
stinks bad enough to turn us all off food.”

The Dean laughed. “All right, then. I’ll pick you up at the

southwest parking lot. It’s the closest I can get to your dorm.”

“See you,” Tony choked out, wrestling free of Griffin’s arm

hold.

Dean Rickman waved and jogged off.
Griffin kept his eyes trained on his retreating back. “Your

ass is grass, Tony. For this, you’re my bitch for the rest of the
semester.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. He’s gay, and he’s been

single way too long.”

“He’s gay?”
“Yeah, sport, you finally aimed at a receptive target.”
“Fuck off,” Griffin said laughing.
They walked off the field. A few other guys from the

dormitory team said they’d be at Dolly’s too. The popular hangout

was a century old favorite among the college crowd. Most people
walked there from the college since it was only a mile away—no
farther than it would be to walk from one end of the sprawling
campus to the other.

It didn’t take long to clean up. He had his own bathroom

inside the RA suite on the first floor. The time-suck was finding
something to wear. Tony wandered in and watched him dig through
his closet.

“You’re kind of being a girl about this. Just put something

on.”

Griffin scowled at him. He slapped his own cheek. “I have

the face of a twelve-year old boy. I need to look every one of my
twenty-nine years for this.”

“He’s not going to notice.”
“Bullshit. He’s the fucking Dean. He’s going to notice if I

dress like a kid, in the way that an older man would look at
someone too young to take seriously.”

Tony lay across the bed with a smug grin. “You think my

dad’s hot.”

“I think your dad’s smokin’. I also don’t think he’d date a

minor, hence the reason I don’t want to look like one.”

“Maybe he likes them young,” Tony wondered.
Griffin lowered the hanger with the chinos he’d been holding

up. “You think?”

Tony seemed to give it some thought. “Nah. I can’t see

that.”

“Me either. I could see him with a businessman, another

professor, a news anchor, but an RA? Not so much.” Griffin sighed
pathetically.

“Which is why he needs you. Dad’s awesome, but he could

use someone to lighten him up a little. He works too hard. He needs
a reason not to.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Wear the blue Oxford shirt. It brings out your eyes.”
Griffin laughed. “I think you’re officially my fag-hag.”
Tony wrinkled his nose. “Fuck no. I’m just the dude trying

to get my dad laid with my best friend.” Suddenly he groaned and
rolled to his back. “Shit. I am your fag-hag. Except for the whole
having a penis thing. A penis, mind you, that prefers pussy.”

“I promise not to forget that. You’re not my type anyway.”
“Why not?” Tony asked sounding offended.
Griffin shrugged on the blue shirt, buttoning it up as he

stared into his closet. He found a pair of faded black jeans and
decided that was the best nod he could give to dressing up without
being too dressy for the college hangout.

“Well, you’re a boy who doesn’t like boys, for one thing.”
“Why do I think there’s an ‘and’ on that?” Tony hedged.
“And,” Griffin emphasized. “Because you’re too much like

my brother for me to think about that way.”

“So essentially, what you’re saying is, you want to fuck our

father?”

Griffin whipped a hanger at him. “Geez, you’re one sick

fuck.”

Tony laughed, unashamed. “Let’s go, princess. Daddy’s

waiting for his little darlin’.”

Griffin ran after him. Tony charged through the suite and

safely into the hall where he knew Griffin wouldn’t keep chasing—
not in the presence of the other students. They had a good

friendship going. Griffin wouldn’t do anything obvious to call it into
question with the other dorm residents.

Chapter Two

Julian waited impatiently. He should’ve declined dinner. He

should’ve given Tony money to go with his friend, even though it
defeated the intention of the bet. Or he should’ve offered to take
him on another day. When the friend wasn’t available.

Griffin affected him, and Julian didn’t think spending time

with him was a wise decision. It had to be the cornflower blue eyes
that held a mountain of promises in them. Griffin looked at him like
he was feasting on every square inch of Julian. It unnerved him and
turned him on way too much to be a good idea.

In the distance, he saw his son and Griffin walking toward

him. Griffin had smoothed his disheveled blond hair and cleaned up
well in dark pants and blue shirt. His son wore torn jeans and a
faded T-shirt with a quote across his chest—standard attire for
Tony.

Like this, he could see there was a difference in their ages,

although he didn’t think it could be much. Griffin still looked too
young to be much older than Tony.

His son opened his own backdoor ahead of Griffin. It

seemed as though Griffin reluctantly lifted the passenger seat door
handle. He slid in, sending Julian an acknowledging nod. A memory
sparked, but it was planted far in the recesses of his mind.

“Have we met?” Julian tried.
Griffin gave him a lopsided, boyish grin. “Why yes, just

about an hour ago.”

Julian laughed. He pulled away from the curb and began the

short drive to Dolly’s. “No. Before that. You seem familiar to me.”

“I saw you at the welcome dinner at the beginning of first

semester. I thought you were another faculty member. You were
toasting. I came in a bit late with two other RAs,” Griffin offered.

“Were you wearing glasses?”
Julian didn’t need the answer. He knew it deep in his soul.

No wonder the kid affected him. He had from the very beginning
when it was just a look across a crowded room—as sappy as that
sounded.

“I was!” Griffin seemed excited that he remembered.
“Do you wear glasses?”
“Nope.”
“You just thought glasses made you look academic?” Julian

asked.

Tony scooted up behind them, propping his arms on the

shoulders of their seats. “Griffin thinks he looks too young so he’ll
wear glasses sometimes to make people think he’s older.”

“Thanks for that,” Griffin muttered, clearly not grateful at all.
“How old did you want to look?” Julian darted a sideways

look at him. They’d arrived, so he pulled into the nearest parking
slot.

“Twenty-nine, at least.” Griffin answered.

“And how far off of the mark are you from twenty-nine?”

Julian probed.

Tony laughed. “How old do you think he is?”
Julian turned off the ignition and released his seatbelt. He

turned sideways to give Griffin a long look. “Hm. I’d say he’s about
your age. Maybe a year or two older, especially since he’s an RA.”

“What if he wasn’t an RA?” Tony tested.
“Your age.” Julian answered definitively, giving an extra nod

of certainty.

Tony reached over the front seat and tousled Griffin’s hair.

Griffin dodged and told him to cut it out.

“I’m twenty-nine,” Griffin ground out. “I just look younger.”
“Really?” Julian hadn’t meant to question him, but the RA

did look a lot younger than his age.

Griffin leveled him with a pointedly unamused glance. “Yes.

Really.”

Julian held up both hands, as though Griffin held a gun and

not a killer look. “Okay, okay. I’ll take your word for it.”

They got out of the car and were seated at the table before

they picked up conversation again. They hit mundane, safe topics,
and Julian relaxed. The ride over had been pleasant enough, he
reasoned. Though Griffin had been flirting on third base out at the
field, he seemed nervous now.

“It’s the Dean title, isn’t it? It’s got you on edge?” he asked

Griffin.

A small smile touched Griffin’s lips. “It probably shouldn’t,

but it makes a difference.”

“Hey! There’s Dirk and Leroy. I’m going to go say hi. You

two don’t mind do you? Great!” Tony took off before either of

them could object.

“Well,” Griffin murmured. “This isn’t awkward at all.”
“Am I that bad?” Julian wondered, leaning on the table.
Griffin’s cheeks pinked. The realization that he made Griffin

nervous left him slightly exhilarated. He cocked his head to the side
and smiled as he studied the effect his unwavering gaze had on the
RA.

Griffin fidgeted.
“So Dad, I’m gonna order with the other guys. I have some

things to catch up on in U.S. History and World Dynamics class.
You don’t mind taking Griff home, do you?” Tony said, suddenly
popping up from nowhere.

“No, does Griffin mind?” Julian said, putting it to him.
Griffin had gone from pink to pale and looking as though he

wanted to strangle Tony, which amused Julian even more.

“He’s fine with it, aren’t ya, Griff? See? Cool. I’ll check in

with you later.” Just like that, Tony disappeared again.

“Do you mind?” Julian asked.
Griffin’s gaze tracked Tony, off to his right. “Uh.”
“He’s gone. He won’t be back. If this makes you

uncomfortable, I could take you back before we order.”

“Um.”
Griffin swung his head around, eyes a little too wide to be

normal. They were beautiful. Softly gray and blue at the same time,
widened with acute panic at being alone with Julian. It stroked
Julian’s ego more than a little bit and relaxed his own discomfort at
getting caught alone with an attractive student. An RA, he
corrected.

The waitress came by, and Julian placed an order for a

burger. Griffin asked for a club sandwich, changed his mind and got
the pastrami instead. Finally, the waitress left them, promising to
return with drinks.

“What are you studying?” Julian asked.
“I’m studying Biomedical Science as a Doctor of Nursing

Practices.”

“We have a fantastic program for that here,” Julian

encouraged.

“That’s why I transferred in. That and the RA program. It

took me year to qualify but I only have half a year before I’m
done.”

“So you have your thesis already. You’re probably well on

your way to finishing it at this point?”

Griffin seemed to center himself with the normal scope of

their conversation. Which only made Julian more curious about the
reason behind his earlier nerves.

“I do. I’m not ready to talk about it yet,” Griffin apologized.
“That’s fine. Sometimes sharing the direction only gets met

with criticism or opinions that get in the way of your work. I
understand.”

“Right,” Griffin said, relief flooding his voice. “Because

you’re a doctor too.”

“Because I’m a doctor too,” Julian agreed, amused.
Griffin laughed suddenly. “Sorry, of course you are. You’re

the Dean of Students.”

“Yeah, you need to quit bringing that up like it’s the plague.

I’m beginning to feel contagious.”

“Sorry.”
Julian waved it off. The waitress returned.

Griffin took a long drink off his Coke. He couldn’t

remember the last time he’d been so nervous. He shouldn’t be. He
had nothing to be nervous about. A dean was still just a guy. Any
other time Tony might have left him with an attractive gay man,
Griffin would’ve handled it in stride. But this was Tony’s dad. And
a dean. Of the college Griffin attended and worked for. So not the
same thing.

Then again, there’d never been an attractive gay man like

Dean Rickman in his life. Ever. Griffin suspected it was the sheer
power of his interest to make things work out with Dean Rickman
that made him anxious.

It had to stop. The man would never take him seriously if he

constantly had to soothe Griffin. And, Griffin reasoned, he’d always
led in a relationship. He’d always been the one to get the guy’s
number, to steal the first kiss, to make the lasting impression.

Griffin buckled down his courage, put his Coke on the table

and did what any ridiculously nervous gay would do when faced
with the world’s sexiest hottie. He pretended confidence until he felt
it.

He smiled warmly at the Dean. Dean Rickman’s brows

rose slightly, and his gaze sharpened. Griffin could practically see
the wheels turning in his head as he worked through Griffin’s
possible motives.

The waitress brought their food and for several seconds,

there was nothing but silence between them, peppered with curious
looks from Dr. Rickman.

Rickman put down his burger, took a sip and wiped his

fingers. “Listen, I’m just going to come out and say this. If I’m off-

base, let me know and I’ll forget about it.”

“Oka-ay,” Griffin said around a mouthful of fries.
“I’m ninety-nine percent positive that my son arranged this

dinner-for-two. Knowing him, it’s because he thinks there’s a good
reason that both of us would be—accepting of some privacy.” Dr.
Rickman stopped, giving Griffin time to correct him.

Griffin didn’t. He wiped his mouth and folded his arms on

the table, holding Dean Rickman’s gaze with a bold one of his own.
“Keep going,” Griffin directed.

“Which means he told you about me, and you’re of a similar

interest.”

Griffin bit the bullet. “And because he listened to me the

entire length of the game talking about how hot I think you are,
without once telling me who you were.”

His admission seemed to surprise Dr. Rickman.
Dr. Rickman mirrored his folded-arm lean, pushing his plate

back as he did so. “What did he hear you say?”

Griffin smirked. Game on, was what Dr. Rickman’s

expression said. It was like an old-fashioned staring contest but with
sexual undercurrents both of them knew were there.

“I may have said your ass was fine,” Griffin began.
“My ass is fine. I run a lot of miles to make my ass fine.”
“I may have said I’d take that ass any way I could get it. I

may even have suggested several positions to obtain that goal.”

“Like?” Dr. Rickman pressed.
Dear, God, was he really expecting Griffin to say it? Out

loud? At Dolly’s? Game on echoed in his head. Griffin ignored their
surroundings. “Over a desk, comes to mind.”

“Sounds…interesting.”

It was Griffin’s turn. “As you said, Tony would only try to

hook us up if he thought I had a chance.”

“I seem to remember him saying something about finally

swinging at something you had a chance of hitting,” Dr. Rickman
offered.

“You caught that too, huh?”
“Tony is about as subtle as chumming a shark tank,” the

Dean reminded him.

Griffin laughed, leaning back in his chair. “I think he must

come by it honestly.”

Dr. Rickman smiled too. Griffin’s cock hardened.
“So why don’t I just say what I’m thinking?” the Dean

asked rhetorically.

“Yes, why don’t you?”
“Tony should know better,” he said, his smile fading. “I

can’t get involved with a student when I’m an example of our
conduct code on campus. I also can’t ethically date a boy who’s
young enough to be my son.”

“I’m not your son.” Griffin’s gaze dropped. “But I can’t say

I’m not a student of this campus.”

“Which is really what it comes down to. Whatever Tony

thought he was doing can’t succeed.”

“Just tell me one thing, Dr. Rickman.”
“Sure.”
“If I weren’t a student on this campus—because I’m going

on record that unless you were a teenager and got some chick
pregnant with me, I couldn’t be young enough to be your son—but
if I weren’t a student, would you?”

Dean Rickman seemed to ponder the question a while. His

gaze moved over Griffin’s face as though it held the answers. He
took a deep breath and blew it out.

“If you weren’t a student—off the record.”
Griffin nodded, his cock twitched with the anticipated reply.
“I’d put you in my car, take you home and keep you there

until I’d tasted every millimeter of your body. Lick by lick.”

“Je-esus!” Griffin swore under his breath as a shiver stole

over him. The tip of his cock rubbed against the moisture that had
beaded in his underwear.

Dean Rickman sat up as though his words had never

happened. He took out three tens from his wallet and left them in
the bill folder on the table.

“Are you ready to go?” Dr. Rickman asked. He shot a

knowing look at the edge of the table hiding Griffin’s lap. “Or do
you need a few minutes?”

Griffin shifted in his seat. “A few minutes,” he muttered,

mortified that Dr. Rickman read him so easily.

“Take your time,” he told him, laughter in his voice.

Chapter Three

The kid kept Julian on his toes. Between the nervous smiles

and the hot, unyielding stares, he’d been halfway to yes, before
he’d gotten a grip on his libido. He’d needed an extra few minutes
too, although he’d never admit it to Griffin.

They walked in silence to the car. It was dark out, and

Julian was grateful for the cover that allowed him to watch Griffin
from the corner of his eye as he drove back to the parking lot. He
couldn’t make out more than a shadow, but the tension between
them was tight enough to vibrate.

The closest place to park wasn’t close at all. He could’ve

pulled up to the curb, but call it sick masochism, he wanted to walk
Griffin to the dorm. The darkness along the side of the building
would keep his identity a secret well enough. And the idea of a few
more moments with him appealed better to him than common sense.

“We’re here,” Dr. Rickman said, his voice low and intimate.
“Thanks for the ride, Doc.” He unbelted and reached for

the door.

“I’ll walk with you. It’s a nice night.”

Griffin looked back at him, his eyes glinting in the darkness.

“Is that such a good idea?”

“No. It’s a terrible one.”
Griffin nodded. “Okay. As long as we’re on the same page

about that.”

Julian opened his car door. The interior light blazed on and

both men winced. Julian hurried to get out and shut the door again.
Griffin followed at a slower pace.

“You aren’t going to hold my hand or anything are you?”

Griffin asked, his tone light.

“You didn’t buy me flowers. I have no intention of giving

you any encouragement,” he joked back.

“Next time flowers and chocolate.” Griffin decided.
“Cheese. I like cheese a lot better than I like chocolate.”
“Note to self,” Griffin murmured. “How about poetry?”
“Only if it’s really, really bad poetry.”
“It’s the only kind I write,” Griffin admitted sagely.
Julian stopped walking. They’d reached the darkest area

beside the dormitory, a small inverted corner untouched by light
from any direction in an already dimly lit area. Griffin stopped too,
his stance relaxed and patient.

“Is something wrong?” Griffin asked.
“It’s all wrong.”
“This?” Griffin tried to clarify. “I could walk the last ten feet

by myself.”

Julian had the same sensation he got when he took his mark

and waited for the gunfire of a race. The excitement bubble had
lodged in his throat, and he knew he’d committed before he’d even
thought about it.

He put a hand on Griffin’s chest, taking him back into the

duck-in until he heard the contact of fabric on brick. Griffin’s breath
hitched and his heart was pounding beneath Julian’s palm. The air
around them seemed quieter by shades than the rapid rasp of each
exhale.

Julian moved closer still, keeping his hand on Griffin. He

needed the space to remind himself that what he was doing should
probably be rethought. Griffin and he were even in height and as
their heads came together, Julian tilting to the right as his lips parted,
logic got the better of him and he stilled. Only an inch or so apart,
Griffin’s counter-tilt showing he was all but ready to be kissed,
Julian couldn’t close the gap.

Their breaths mingled between them in its own meeting, hot,

moist against opened mouths and the need that almost consumed
him. His cock raged hard and heavy between his legs, even as the
thrill of anticipation swirled thickly in his belly.

“I really shouldn’t be here like this,” Julian whispered.
“I wholly disagree.”
“Good night,” Julian said, stepping away even though his

hand lingered.

“Kiss me.”
Julian hesitated. The other man’s plea spoke to the part of

him that needed love, that wanted the romance of a nighttime kiss.
Its fraying strength mirrored his own.

“Kiss me.” Griffin took hold of Julian’s shirt with both hands

and pulled. “Kiss me.”

“I want to,” Julian hedged feeling his resolve soften.
Griffin jerked him against his chest. “Kiss me,” he

whispered.

This time it was a command.
The boy wouldn’t let him get away easily. They both

wanted this, and Julian wasn’t exactly fighting him off. Griffin
finished what Julian started and what they both needed.

He tipped his head the last millimeter. Smooth and warm,

Griffin’s pliable lips drew him in. Julian may have protested, but his
body wasn’t fighting anything about the kiss.

Griffin let go of Julian’s shirt to wind his arms around the

dean’s torso. They fell back against the wall together. Their chests
bumped solidly and while the move broke their kiss, Griffin seemed
more than happy to reacquaint himself with the act.

Temporarily off balance, Julian stepped between the RA’s

legs, bringing their hips together. The hard cock that butt against his
own turgid length turned his knees to water. Griffin had kept his
mouth soft to this point, but he suddenly took an active role in
kissing the sense right out of Julian’s mind.

Julian groaned, resting his full weight against the younger

man who held him with easy confidence. Griffin nipped his lower lip
then suckled it. God, the stuff that mouth promised!

Julian gave up any pretense of walking away, now. He

couldn’t, not when his brain had been scrambled by Griffin’s hot,
sultry kiss and his knees weakened by the dark-corner body-press.
His hands shook as he held Griffin’s hips harder against his own.

Griffin roughly flipped him. He reached between their

bodies and pressed the flat of his hand to Julian’s cock. He rubbed,
and Julian saw stars behind his closed lids. Turning away to catch
his breath, he pressed his face into the RA’s neck.

“Griffin, stop,” Julian told him weakly.
“I don’t want to. I don’t believe you want me to either.”

“I don’t. You know I don’t. But you have to.”
Griffin sank to his knees. Julian tried to tug him to his feet

when he realized what Griffin intended to do.

“I want to. Let me.” Griffin unzipped him then freed the

button on Julian’s slacks.

Griffin’s upturned face was shadowed in darkness, but he

could feel the younger man’s eyes on him.

“It’s happening too fast,” Julian protested. “What the fuck

am I saying? It shouldn’t be happening at all.”

Griffin’s answer was to reach inside. His fingers wrapped

around Julian’s cock and pulled it into the cooler night air.

“I want to taste you.”
As though watching in slow motion, he saw his paler cock

disappeared into hot, sucking black. “Griffin.” Julian’s voice broke
on a protest. Or a blessing, he no longer cared which as long as
Griffin kept doing what he was doing.

His fingers sunk into Griffin’s hair. Julian’s head dropped

backward. His eyes slid shut as his entire world centered around
Griffin and his very talented mouth. In his mind’s eye, he saw the
cornflower blue eyes and the slightly messy array of dark blond
hair. He saw the snug baseball uniform and the dangerous flirtation
in those eyes over dinner.

Griffin spoke his mind. He didn’t back down from a

challenge and right now, Julian was his challenge. Later, he would
care about that, he realized. Later, he’d wonder what Griffin got out
of the challenge of making the Dean of Students hot for him. Later,
when the beautiful pressure on his balls lifted and his mental faculties
returned.

Julian bit back a long moan. He looked down at the

pumping shadow moving on his cock. His balls felt tight, too heavy
and the jostle of them against Griffin’s chin became excruciatingly
delicious. Just when he thought he had Griffin’s rhythm down, the
younger man switched it up, delving his tongue into the hole at the
tip, and jacking Julian with a lift and a twist over his cock rim.

“Sweet,” Griffin murmured, his lips brushing the sensitized

end as he spoke. “I like it.”

Julian flexed his hips up as he pulled the young RA back

onto his dick. He couldn’t take the teasing much longer. He felt
ready to explode.

Griffin took the direction in stride, chuckling around his

length. The vibrations broke the last chain in Julian’s resolve as
orgasm snaked around his balls and sprung up his spine. His nerves
sizzled as cum burst up his shaft. Griffin took him deep, swallowing
everything Julian gave him.

Spent, Julian gasped against the wall. Griffin continued to

suckle, taste, lap at him as he softened. He’d never had a lover
who’d done that before, but Griffin took his time. He seemed to
enjoy bringing Julian down.

Griffin carefully tucked him away and climbed to his feet.

Unceremoniously, he used the cuff of his shirt to dab his lips. It
almost made Julian laugh at the cliché. Almost.

“Thanks for dessert,” Griffin teased.
“My pleasure.” This time Julian did laugh.
He could see the flash of white teeth when Griffin smiled.

He kissed Julian. The chaste kiss had nothing to do with what had
just happened. It felt oddly tender.

“Now, Dr. Rickman, invite me to dinner tomorrow night.”
Griffin pressed hot kisses into Julian’s neck. Any more of

that and Julian would be up for round two. He could feel Griffin’s
stiff cock against his thigh and he felt a bit guilty for not making sure
Griffin had come, but Griffin seemed in no hurry.

“Tomorrow?”
“That’s what I said,” Griffin acknowledged.
He took Julian’s wrists and pushed them over his head.

Brick bit into the back of Julian’s hands. The other man shifted,
bringing his hard shaft against Julian’s groin and thrusting slowly.

“I want you inside me. I want it so bad that I’m going to

walk through those side doors in a minute, strip in front of a mirror
and watch myself jack off. I’m going to pretend you’re there with
me when I do it.”

“Come for dinner tomorrow night,” Julian rasped.
“I’ll be there at seven, once it’s dark outside.”
Julian leaned in, kissing Griffin hungrily. He teased apart his

lips, flickering his tongue against Griffin’s and found remnants of
himself in the warm depths.

Griffin planted his hands on Julian’s chest and pushed them

apart. He laughed breathlessly. “Are you trying to make me shoot
my load? Because I’ll let you watch…”

“Go inside, Griffin. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Yes, sir.”
Julian turned and walked away as quickly as he could. He

kept to the shadowed parts of the walkway and skirted the pools of
light left by the street lamps. He slipped into his car, and sat for a
moment in the silence of the dark interior.

“What the fuck am I doing?”

* * * *

“So? How’d it go last night?”

Griffin pried open an eyelid to find a stupidly chipper Tony

three feet from his face. He’d pulled a chair over and Griffin
couldn’t help but wonder how long the kid had been watching him.

“Dude, you’re a freak,” Griffin complained, pulling the edge

of his pillow over his face. “Don’t you ever knock?”

“Don’t you ever lock your door?” Tony countered.
“Not when I’m here. That’s the thing about open door

policies, but I’m seriously reconsidering the overnight lock up.”

“Then you have no place to complain. Now spill it. Did you

and Dad hit it off? He looked like he was into you.”

Griffin sat up. “I don’t know anyone else who’d thrive on

setting their dad up with a friend.”

“I like you. I love him. I think you two are perfect for each

other. He’s a little more polished, while you’re a little more
relaxed.” Tony held up his laced-together fingers. “A perfect fit.”

“I’ll say,” Griffin murmured with a smirk.
“I see that! I see that grin! What happened?” Tony now

pointed to Griffin’s face.

“Oh, my God, Tony. Scale back on the coffee, would ya?”
“Fine.” He sat back, stretching his legs out and folding his

arms across his chest. His brows lifted expectantly.

Griffin shook his head with fondness. He swung his legs

over the edge of his bed and got up to go to the bathroom. He did a
quick check before the covers fell away. At least he’d remembered
to pull on his sweats after he’d jacked off. It had taken two rounds
before he could fall asleep. His mind replayed those moments in the
corner, over and over. He relived every sound he’d drawn from the
sexy Dean, down to the soft, throaty creak right before Griffin had
begged him for a kiss. That would never get old.

He stared down at his cock as he aimed, annoyed that once

again it stood at attention.

He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “Dr. Rickman is bad

for your urinary tract health, four out of five doctors agree,” he
muttered at the drop-tiles.

“Did you say something?” Tony called from a room away.
Griffin finished up in the bathroom and wandered out.

Yawning, he scratched his head.

Tony looked at him critically. “I think my dad would think

you look cute all woken up in the morning.”

“I think you think too much about what your dad thinks.

That’s what I think.”

“Well, I’m in on this. We’re going to dinner at his house

tonight.”

“Wait. We?” Griffin asked. “What do you mean, we?”
“We. You and I. Dad called this morning and asked us to

have dinner with him tonight. That’s a good sign. He wouldn’t want
you to join us for dinner if he didn’t like you.”

Griffin sat down on the side of his bed facing Tony. “It was

just supposed to be your dad and me tonight.”

“Oh?” There went those Rickman brows again.
“He invited me over last night. The conversation we were

having made it clear it was only me.”

“This, I have to hear.” Tony settled in, as if he could

possibly look more settled than he already was.

“No, you don’t have to hear. What, and by what I mean if,

anything happened that might be construed as having happened, it
happened between me and him. You were nowhere in sight. I
hope.” Griffin didn’t try to clear up the awkwardness of that

statement. He hoped it confused the kid as much as he meant it to.

Unfortunately, Tony was a clever boy.
“So when this thing happened that may or may not have

happened, you two then decided seeing each other again tonight
was mutually beneficial?” Tony pressed.

“Something like that.”
“Cool! So if something had happened, what might it have

been?”

“None of your damn business,” Griffin replied without

rancor.

“Are you going to be my new mommy?”
“Fuck you.” Griffin laughed, despite himself.
“You can’t go by yourself,” Tony said. “Dad lives on

Faculty Row.”

Faculty Row was the housing directly behind the campus

where the Deans and tenured lived. The members of the board
were there and some aspiring professors purchased on that street
too.

“If you show up alone, someone’s going to notice. Faculty

Row is like its tiny own zip code, complete with the gossip,” Tony
continued.

Griffin frowned. “I didn’t think it would be like that if I

showed up after dark.”

“Are you kidding? That would make it worse. You can’t

show up there alone after dark. It would be like a neon billboard,
Hey the Dean is fucking an RA.”

“We aren’t fucking.”
“Maybe not, but I’m not an idiot. You two clicked, and it

was more than a goodnight handshake judging from the way you’re

handling this might-have-happened-maybe-happened bullshit.”

“We aren’t fucking,” Griffin repeated for good measure.
“Uh-huh. Gotcha.” Tony nodded knowingly. “I have to

show up with you. I can leave through the back yard. If we take my
car, the gossips will think I stayed over for dinner… or the non-
happening that’s happening. It’s the best option.”

“Fine. We’ll take your car.”
Tony grinned seemingly aware that he’d won Griffin’s

admission about the reason for the dinner invitation.

“Stop grinning at me.”
Tony didn’t stop grinning.
“You’re a jackass, you know that?” Griffin swatted him

with a pillow.

“I know. But I’m also right, and I love being right.”
“Clearly.”
“Do you like him?” Tony asked, growing serious.
“What I know of him. I met him last night.”
“And you thought he was hot,” Tony summed up. “But do

you like him? Is he someone you’d want to keep seeing?”

Griffin wondered how much he should say. What he felt

could be the first bloom of lust. He wanted Dr. Rickman in a way
he hadn’t crushed on someone in years. Kissing him had felt like a
gateway to more, not the answer to a question. Feeling him, tasting
him, hearing him come sent shivers down Griffin’s spine. His happily
throbbing cock was all the proof Griffin needed to know he hadn’t
had enough of the older man yet.

Already his body hardened for tonight. He didn’t know

where the chemistry would take them, but he wanted to experience
a lot more of it.

“I want to keep seeing him,” Griffin admitted finally.
“Just for sex?”
Griffin jerked his gaze to Tony’s astute one. “What?”
“You heard me. Do you want my dad for sex, or are you

interested in getting to know him better?”

“Tony, I’m not going to answer that. I just met him.”
“I know you well enough by now to know that you form

opinions very fast. Don’t hurt my dad.”

“Honestly? He’s more likely to hurt me,” he said.
The sense of something slipping out of his grasp last night

when the Dean had moved away before kissing him, returned full
force. It scared him to think the Dean affected him so quickly that
he’d have been painfully missed after only a few hours in his
company.

“Dad’s not the kind of guy to lead people on. If he likes

you, or you suspect he does, then it’s for a reason. He went through
hell with Mom and the divorce. He actually tried to not be gay for
her. Can you imagine that?”

“What happened?”
Tony shrugged. “She cheated on him and left. Dad decided

hiding who he was hadn’t netted him anything, so he came out.”

“That’s brave.”
“No shit. He came out and got fired.” Tony must’ve

interpreted Griffin’s surprise accurately because he went on to
explain. “Oh, they called it something else, but Dad’s kind of a
perfectionist at work, so we all knew the reason was for shit. They
fired him. Claybourne hired him and two years later, he was
elevated to Dean of Students.”

“Claybourne knows, right?” Griffin asked. He hadn’t

sensed any timidity from the man about being gay.

“Yeah, he said he told them in the interview and that if it

was a problem, he’d rather not waste his time jumping through all
the hoops.”

“And they hired him anyway.” Griffin nodded, impressed all

over again with the college he’d transferred into for his doctorate.
“God, I love Claybourne.”

“It’s a good place for him. He’s risking a lot to see you.

That’s why I know he thinks you’re worth it. He must see a reason
to develop your acquaintance if he’d put that on the line,” Tony
concluded.

The difficulty of that decision had to have weighed heavily

on the Dean. No wonder he’d panicked and called his son to join
them. He must’ve thought the same thing Griffin did: one night with
one amazing encounter didn’t mean anything in the face of losing his
career. Yet he’d kept the date. He hadn’t canceled; he’d asked his
son to join them. It was the safe, logical move.

“I’m not leading him on,” Griffin told him after a moment.

“He’s attractive to me. Not just the way he looks, but the way he
thinks.”

“Don’t take risks with him, okay? I’m all for you two

hooking up, but don’t make his life messy. He’s done messy
already,” Tony cautioned.

Griffin didn’t know what he could promise the kid, so he

nodded. Attraction to the Dean was easy. He had that in spades. A
relationship, if they progressed to that stage, would be a bigger
challenge. The Dean dating a man didn’t seem to be an issue. The
Dean dating a student would cause a shit-storm of criticism neither
of them needed.

He’d already begun escalating his studies. The long break

he’d taken between his graduate degree and his doctorate studies
to travel had set him back a few years. It had been good for him to
refresh his mind and decide what he wanted to do with his life. He’d
finally pulled it all together and had been moving quickly through the
program both before and after the transfer.

He’d found a place to intern immediately after Spring Break

and carrying through the summer. His coursework would be done
at the end of the semester. By working hard through the summer,
he’d be ready to turn in his thesis when the internship ended in the
fall. It put Griffin a full semester ahead of schedule and a candidate
for early graduation.

Would it be enough? Would the Dean get the same criticism

for dating an RA?

“Hey, I gotta shower and get cracking on my paper. Meet

me for the ride over at six forty-five?” Griffin asked.

He needed to clear his head and Tony sitting serious-eyed

as Griffin mentally cycled through problems that hadn’t happened
yet, wasn’t helping. Besides, it was too early to talk relationship,
wasn’t it? They’d enjoyed each other last night, that’s all that had
happened. That and a heaping dose of mutual attraction neither one
of them hid from.

He wanted the Dean, Griffin rationalized. Right now, that’s

all it was, not a commitment. Maybe if he said that to the Dean, they
could let things continue as they were. Griffin didn’t have time for a
relationship anyway, even if the object of his sexual desire piqued
his interest on all levels.

Keep it physical, Griff. Don’t get involved.

Chapter Four

Griffin and Tony walked into the house that night. Tony’s

warning, and his own fears, had spun a web so tight that Griffin was
afraid to breathe without studying the consequences of taking that
breath.

Tony walked through the foyer on his way to the back of

the house. “Don’t mind me. I’m just passing through.”

“Tony?” the Dean called after him.
“Bye, Dad. I’ll call you tomorrow sometime.”
Dean Rickman looked to Griffin, his brow furrowed with

confusion. “What was that about?”

“He thinks we should have alone time.” Griffin gave him a

nervous smile.

“Why would he think that?” The Dean’s tone took on a

hard edge.

“I didn’t tell him anything about last night, so don’t look at

me like that. He likes the idea of us together, so he’s giving us
room.”

“Did you ask him too?”

“No, Dr. Rickman, I didn’t,” Griffin answered on a sigh.
He held out a bouquet of flowers and a round of smoked

cheese.

Dr. Rickman laughed and took it. “What, no poetry?”
“I did mention it was bad poetry, right?”
Griffin wandered deeper into the house. Family pictures

were out on display and a decorator’s touch could be seen
throughout. A stranger walking in would have no idea that the Dean
preferred men in his bed, with all the pictures up of his wife and
kids.

“You look married,” Griffin noticed.
“I was. I didn’t think it was fair to Tony to take down all the

memories because I had a bad ending with his mother.”

Griffin looked at him. “You’re a really nice guy.”
The Dean shrugged. “I love my son.”
“I can tell. He’s like a pit bull for you, did you know that?”
The Dean smiled warmly. “The feeling’s mutual.”
Griffin moved toward him. “Is this attraction mutual?” He

loosely cupped the Dean’s hips.

Dr. Rickman’s expression changed from fondness to desire.

“I’m attracted to you.”

“Then I’m on the right track.”
Dean Rickman kissed him, taking his time to smooth his

mouth over Griffin’s by brushing it slowly back and forth. The
friction teased Griffin’s lips apart, but when he tried to capture the
Dean’s lips, the older man chuckled and held himself just out of
reach.

“Cock-tease,” Griffin chastised him.
Dr. Rickman’s tongue feathered the corners of Griffin’s

mouth, the seam, the top bow, each time staying away from
Griffin’s ready kiss. Griffin leaned, the Dean backed away or
dodged.

Griffin gave a laughing groan.
Dr. Rickman took his hand and led him to the dinner table.

It was a huge sprawling slab of naturally cut wood. Only the far end
was set on a table that could hold twelve. The Dean tugged at
Griffin’s shirt and the RA allowed it to be pulled off.

The torment wasn’t over as Dr. Rickman bent to lap at first

one of Griffin’s bare nipples then the other. Every cell was on edge
waiting to see what the man would do next.

“The first night we met, I believe you said something about

being bent over a table?” The Dean reminded, scraping his teeth on
the meat of Griffin’s pectoral muscle.

“The first night we met was last night.”
“Was it?”
“I mentioned wanting to bend you over a table,” Griffin

corrected.

“A minor technicality. Not even worth mentioning. Take

your clothes off. I need to go grab a couple of things.” The Dean
turned and walked away.

“Just take them off? That’s your idea of foreplay?” Griffin

shouted after him.

The Dean poked his head in the room. “It worked very

effectively last night when you ordered me to let you go down.”

“I didn’t order you.” Griffin couldn’t hide his grin. His pulse

raced, and when the Dean disappeared again, Griffin’s fingers
fumbled at the closure to his jeans. He was so worked up.

He pushed his pants to the floor. After he’d stepped out of

his shoes—because it made getting his pants off that much easier,
he realized belatedly—he tossed his jeans and underwear to the
floor where his shirt was. The socks came next.

Griffin had never been shy of his body. He wasn’t a builder,

and he didn’t work out. He didn’t even particularly watch what he
ate, but he was tight and he knew it. What would the Dean see?

He came back and stilled when he saw Griffin. His breath

huffed with heavy appreciation. “Jesus, you’re gorgeous.”

“Is he? I’ve never met him,” Griffin quipped.
A reluctant smile lifted the Dean’s lips. He closed the

distance. He reached out with a single finger and touched Griffin’s
tip. Griffin grunted, wanting so much more than that.

“I was going to stroke you off, but now I want to watch you

do it. Like you said you would last night when I left you,” Dr.
Rickman added darkly.

“I did. Twice.”
“Show me.”
Pre-cum leaked from Griffin’s tip. The Dean had hardly

touched him, hardly given him anything that could be considered a
kiss, but his command over Griffin’s body seemed absolute. He
wanted to perform for the Dean. He wanted to watch his face.

“On one condition, Dr. Rickman.”
The Dean looked up, sharply. “Call me Julian when we’re

together. I don’t want to think about being the Dean of Students
when I’m interested in having one on the end of my cock.”

“Julian,” he said, trying it out.
“What’s your condition?”
“That you get naked, too.”
Julian smiled, caught Griffin by the hips and lifted him

awkwardly to the table edge. “Scoot back.”

Griffin did as he was told. Julian took Griffin’s ankle,

planting the foot on the table surface. He held it there and met
Griffin’s gaze. “I want to see everything.”

God, Griffin had never been hotter for anyone. His cock

throbbed impatiently. He barely held back a whimper when Julian
pulled lube out of his pocket and handed it to him. He took
condoms out too, and put them on the table beside Griffin’s thigh.

Griffin lubed up his hand. Julian unbuttoned his shirt and

shrugged out of it, pausing when Griffin did no more than watch.

“Right,” Griffin muttered as though reminding himself of the

conditions.

He made a fist and slid his hand over his shaft. When he

removed his hand, his dick gleamed in the chandelier light. Julian’s
gaze riveted to the engorged member as he unbuckled his belt and
yanked his fly open.

Julian made quick work of his clothes after that, until he

stood naked, tanned and hairy in all the right places. His body was
one of experience and exercise. His tendons flexed beneath the skin
and the dark wiry hairs that sprinkled his forearms, continued over
his chest into a slinky trail downward.

Griffin stroked himself, letting his eyes follow that trail to

where its trimmed flare circled Julian’s cock-base, but left his balls
unadorned. It almost made him look more naked to have his dusky
sac free of body hair.

His dick raised proud and straight, the tip the same color as

his balls. Griffin’s fist squeezed tighter and he gave an extra pinch to
his own shaft as he skimmed the crown. His chest ached. His heart
raced as though he’d been running.

Julian lowered himself to his knees and kissed a path up the

inside of Griffin’s hanging leg. His breath tickled Griffin’s ass, his
taint. Griffin’s ass clenched as he lifted his hips, his balls drew up as
Julian nuzzled them.

“Oh, God,” Griffin cried out.
He couldn’t see what Julian was doing, but he felt the long,

wet lick to his balls and the quick jab of one finger into his hole.

Cum streaked from him, shooting harder and higher than

Griffin could ever remember. It sprayed across his chest and
dripped thickly on Julian’s cheek. A rumble of pleased laughter
vibrated against Griffin’s balls, prompting two more squirts to push
free.

Griffin gasped for breath. “Holy fuck, that was hot.”

Julian stood, swiping the cum off his face and dropping it

into his palm. He picked up the lube. He lips burned with the need
to kiss Griffin, so he did, though it was rougher than he intended it
to be. When he finished, when he got control of himself enough,
Griffin’s lips looked plump and bruised.

“Sorry,” he whispered.
“Why are you sorry?” Griffin asked.
“I did that a little too hard.”
“I liked it. Maybe not every time, but this time? Yeah. I

liked it.”

Julian kissed him again, softer this time. “Bend over the

table, Griffin. I need to be inside you now.”

Griffin shot from the table and turned his ass into the air. His

round cheeks flexed prettily, and Julian tugged him off the edge
more, so that Griffin’s hips and cock wouldn’t jam against the table

when Julian finally took him.

He slapped the globes and rubbed them playfully, enjoying

the tinges of pink and the way his muscles tensed. Julian nudged the
younger man’s legs farther apart and was rewarded with an even
better view. The tight pink rosette twitched above a hanging ball-
sac.

He cupped the balls and gave them a gentle tug, then

stroked them with the back of his fingers. Griffin gasped. His arms
stretched the width of the table where he white-knuckled the edge.

Julian used the lube and cum in his palm to paint over

Griffin’s hole, using two fingers to tease and tickle their way inside.
Griffin shuddered into the caress.

“Patience.” He slapped Griffin’s ass for good measure.
Round and round Julian went, liberally applying the gel,

dipping in first with two fingers, then one, then three. Griffin
squirmed and a sweat had broken out on his spine. Julian barely
held himself in check, but managed to get the condom on and
himself lubed before he positioned himself at Griffin’s needy hole.

He’d been trying to dominate Griffin, much the way Griffin

had dominated him the night before. He was enjoying it, but the act
pushed him to his limits, and Julian was about ready to break.

“Julian, I feel you back there,” Griffin’s voice cracked.

“Please…”

Julian pushed in one swift thrust until he was balls-deep.

Griffin shuddered and groaned. He may have sworn, Julian couldn’t
be sure because his own ears were ringing with pleasure at the
unholy grip of hot, sweet pleasure on his cock.

His eyes rolled back, and he pulled all the way out only to

hear the near-sobbing complaint of the young man begging him to

come back.

Julian pushed in again, hard and fast. He struck the prostate

gland at a practiced angle. Griffin’s body fought him on every
withdrawal, clenched tighter on the inward thrusts. Each time, Julian
almost left Griffin’s body before plowing in and hitting that secret
spot inside Griffin’s body.

Griffin whimpered in earnest. He tried to reach for his dick

but the way Julian fucked him, he had to let go and keep hold of the
table.

The dishware rattled at the other end of the room. The

dining room table’s claw feet protested on the marble floor. Julian
found a tighter pace and rode it, finding his need and meeting it
while Griffin’s body became more and more keyed up.

He thrust harder and closer. Their bodies slap-slapped

together. Julian threw his head back. A shout ripped from him as
ecstasy flooded him and emptied his balls high inside Griffin’s hole.
He knew Griffin was wanting again, and he held his condom as he
pulled out.

He turned the younger man and dropped to his knees,

taking Griffin’s purpling cock between his lips and past his gag
reflex. Griffin’s hands shook, his hips pushed hard against Julian’s
face. Once, twice, three draws, and Griffin lost control.

He grunted beyond speech, his cries falling silent, though his

mouth gaped open, and his eyes were sealed. Griffin collapsed on
the floor with Julian. Julian pulled him against his chest, onto his lap
and away from the cold harsh marble.

Griffin lifted his head from Julian’s shoulder. His eyes were

wide and filled with vulnerability. His mouth worked as though he
meant to speak but couldn’t. Julian smiled sheepishly, taking it as a

compliment. Suddenly, Griffin tackled him to the hard floor, sealing
Julian’s mouth with his own in a desperate kiss.

Julian couldn’t help but laugh. It separated their lips but

Griffin looked down at him with a huge smile.

“So we’re okay with what’s happening here?” Julian asked

him.

“Dear God, is it always like that with you? Can I just

donate my ass to the Keep Julian Gay Foundation?”

Julian laughed harder. “It takes two to make it that good,

you know. I’ve never wanted to fuck somebody so bad in my life.”

“Usually, I like to be the pitcher and the catcher, but if I

never pitch again, I don’t care as long as I’m catching for you,”
Griffin told him plainly.

“We were pretty great.”
“Fucking amazing.”
Julian propped himself up. “Not that I mind the full-naked

body press, but this floor isn’t made for snuggling,” he teased.

Griffin got up and held out a hand. Julian took it.
“I should get dinner on the table, huh?” Julian said, looking

at the messed up table settings.

“Can we eat naked? Can I eat off your naked body?”
“Maybe we should shower before we attempt that.”
“Fine, no using you for a table,” Griffin conceded. “But no

clothing either. I want to keep looking at that body of yours.”

Julian laughed. He hadn’t laughed like this in a long time, but

Griffin made him feel a thousand times lighter inside. “Okay. No
clothes.”

“And sex for dessert.”
“I’m forty-five, Griff. I’ll need some time between.”

“That’s the great thing about having two cocks in the room.

One of us will always be ready.”

“I remember being young,” Julian said with mock

wistfulness. “Every fifteen minutes on the mark.”

“I’m serious. By the end of dinner, knowing what sex with

you is like, I’m all about round two.”

“Isn’t it three for you?” Julian joked.
“I sound like less of a slut if I call it two.” He winked.
Julian went to the kitchen, taking the dishes out of the oven

that had been warming. He hoped the chicken hadn’t dried out and
the potatoes au gratin hadn’t formed a weird skin on top. Griffin
was waiting for him when he got everything to the table and had
poured water and wine into the goblets by their plates.

“This is a feast,” Griffin exclaimed.
“I thought I was feeding three.”
“Don’t worry. It won’t go to waste. I get hungry after sex.”
Julian smiled. “I’ll try to remember that.”
A question that had formed last night bothered him, and he

tried to figure out the best way to ask.

“Griff. This thing we’re doing.”
“It’s called sex,” Griffin offered.
Julian laughed. “Fine. The sex we’re having. Are you in it

for the conquest?”

Griffin chewed his bite of potato and put down his fork. He

took a sip of wine. “Wow, I know why you’re asking, but geez, are
we going to talk about this now?”

“I need to.”
“Are you afraid I’ll turn stalker-boy on you? I mean, you’ve

got skills, so I guess you should be a little cautious,” Griffin

prodded, lightly.

“I don’t have the luxury of waiting to see what happens.

What are you wanting to happen between us?”

Griffin put his wine glass down. His smile faded and except

for the fact that he was naked, he looked just as serious as one of
his lecturing professors.

“This is exactly the third time we’ve seen each other. The

first time, I thought you were sexy but unavailable in all your
Doctoral clothes at the welcome party. The second time, I was
checking out your ass and figuring out all the ways I’ll like to tap it.
Granted that extended to a great dinner and some quality alone time
with you, but I barely scratched the surface on who you are as a
person.”

“I know that. This is the third time,” Julian said, feeling the

need to speed up the explanation.

“A very good third time.” A smile softened his lips.

“Ironically, I had almost this same conversation with Tony. So I
guess I’ll tell you what I told him.”

“I’m almost done with a very grueling doctorate degree

which not only takes my time and energy, but stretches me thin
across a dissertation, an internship and lab time. I’m an RA, too, so
I have to be on call when I’m in the dorm, and I need to be in the
dorm a lot.”

“I’m listening,” Julian said when he paused. He didn’t know

what he wanted to hear from Griffin—he did know what he wanted
to hear, it just wasn’t reasonable to want it. Yet.

“I don’t have time for a boyfriend,” Griffin summed up. “I

guess what I need to find out is, what are you looking for?”

“Am I a conquest to you? You got the Dean so you win

some kind of internal contest?”

Griffin looked irritated. “No.”
“A fetish for older men? Teachers? People in authority

roles?”

“Until tonight, I didn’t think I had a fetish. Now I think it

might be eating naked or getting my ass slapped before it’s
pillaged,” Griffin joked. “I’ve also never dated anyone more than
three years older, nor have I been hung up on people in authority
roles. Although, come to think of it, if you dressed like a cop, I’d
totally let you cuff me to your bed and do an anal cavity search with
your cock.”

Julian relaxed a little as he chuckled.
“I think you’re hot. I think you’re sexy as hell. I like the way

you keep me on my toes conversationally, and I kinda dig the way
you protect your family. I also think Tony’s amazing, and you’re his
dad, which says a lot about how you raised him. He talks about you
all the time, so in a way, I do actually know you,” Griffin informed
him.

He poked at his potatoes. “I also know that while this looks

good, you can’t cook for shit.”

Julian did laugh then. “I let it dry out. Next time I make

dinner for you, you’ll take back those words.”

“Next time. I’d like that.” Griffin sighed. His brow pulled.

“Is it too much to ask you to just leave things as they are? I mean, I
respect you, and I like you. I definitely enjoy having sex with you
and want to keep doing it as much as possible. Is it wrong to have a
sex buddy that you want to talk to?”

Julian lifted his wine glass, considering the question. “No. I

don’t think so. As long as this stays between us, as long as we’re

careful, I’m comfortable letting the attraction play out.”

Griffin nodded with some satisfaction. “Awesome. Let’s do

that! Let’s have lots of hot sex and great conversation over badly
prepared food and figure out the rest later.”

Chapter Five

A week later, Griffin wondered if he’d pissed Julian off with

his answer. On top of not hearing from the man, Griffin had called
the secretary to the Dean of Students, and she’d refused to
schedule him. Something about there being no time in the schedule
that week, with Spring Break only days away.

Spring Break threw everything out of whack. Griffin’s

semester was winding down. He planned on using the entire break
to cram as much dissertation writing and research in as possible. No
doubt, like Griffin, the Dean had loose ends to tie up before the
offices closed.

But did it really require a block of time in his schedule to

pick up the damn phone?

During all the questions he’d answered about his own

intensions for their pseudo-relationship, he’d never gotten an
answer about Julian’s. He’d asked, Julian had deflected. Beautifully.

Had the Dean been living out a fantasy of screwing a willing

student, of spanking him over a dining room table and fucking him
until no other fuck could possibly compare with it. Maybe his plan

was to entrap Griffin completely, not the other way around.

Had he been played by the Dean?
As fast as he thought it, he discarded it. It didn’t fit anything

he knew about Julian. He hadn’t been waxing poetic when he’d told
Julian that he already sort of knew him. Between Tony’s example
and conversation, Griffin could reasonably say he knew Julian better
than he’d known other guys he’d seen in his life.

Spring Break started tomorrow. Technically Monday, but

there wasn’t a student who didn’t begin their break the minute
classes were out on Friday. The dorm would be quiet except for
stragglers, and Tony had told him that he and his dad were going to
a family property a couple hundred miles from campus, on a lake.

Griffin didn’t want to wait ten more days for the chance to

talk to Julian. Or, not talk.

He picked up his phone and scrolled to Julian’s private cell

phone number, given to him by Tony. He’d left a voice mail earlier
in the week. Should he call again? He bit the insides of his cheeks
thinking it through.

He didn’t want to come across needy or like a stalker, but

they’d gone at it hard and heavy. Then nothing. It didn’t sit well with
Griffin.

Julian’s words from that dinner echoed in his mind. What

do you want from this?

Griffin had been feeling like a jealous boyfriend. Maybe it

was time he fessed-up to wanting to be a boyfriend. Julian’s
boyfriend, specifically. At least to try it on for size. A guy didn’t get
warm, gooey feelings about another guy he didn’t want to keep
seeing.

Choosing not to act instead of think, he dialed the Dean’s

cell number again. Julian was the only one who could tell Griffin
what he wanted, if he wanted. As much as Griff was prepared to
say all of that to Julian, actually hearing the man’s voice struck him
dumb when he actually picked up.

“Griffin, hey. Give me just a sec.”
Griffin sat up on his bed, his ears ringing. This conversation

shouldn’t matter so much, he self-reasoned. Why was he getting all
worked up? For all intents and purposes, they’d just met.

Griffin took several deep breaths and counseled himself to

calm-the-fuck-down before Julian came back on the line. He heard
Julian excuse himself. Heard walking down a long hallway and a
door shut.

“Hey, I’m glad you called. You saved me from Mrs.

McNally’s diatribe on proper organization,” Julian began.

“For an administrative assistant, she doesn’t show a lot of

respect for your methods,” he answered easily. “Did she tell you I
tried to set an appointment with you this week?”

“What? No.” Julian sighed sounding beleaguered. “I’m

sorry about that. She’s the schedule pit boss. If it’s during work
hours, and there are no spaces, she doesn’t bother me with details
unless someone offers to leave a message.”

“I would’ve,” Griffin said, beginning to relax. “But I didn’t

think telling her I wanted to sit between your legs and suck you off,
Monica Lewinsky style was appropriate office fodder.”

Julian laughed in a way that invited Griffin to laugh. “Are

you kidding? The look on her face would have been priceless.”

“It’s good to hear your voice. Is there any chance we can

get together before you and Tony take off for vacation?”

“I’ll make time. Hey, why don’t you come to the cabin with

us?” Julian asked suddenly.

“God, I’d love to, but I can’t. I have to get this paper done

while classes and students are out. Besides. I have a few stragglers
in the dorm to look out for.”

“Oh.” Julian sounded so disappointed that Griffin smiled.
“You leave tomorrow, right? I have a meeting with my

Internship Clinic this afternoon and another with my advisor after
dinner tonight.”

“I’m at the office until late. I had a student disciplinary thing

to deal with today. Now there’s paperwork and calls to make. Can
you meet me here?”

Griffin smiled. Maybe there was a shot at the under desk

blow job after all. “I’ll be there around five.”

“That’s perfect.”

* * * *

Griffin climbed the three flights of stairs in Sidler Hall. The

long corridor of offices was silent and most of the doors were shut.
A short alcove led to Dean Rickman’s office. As he stepped inside,
he was relieved to see that Mrs. McNally had already left. Beyond
her desk, the entry to Julian’s room had the lights blazing.

Griffin knocked.
“Come in.” Julian smiled brightly. “The good thing about

having space in this building is you can hear people coming from all
the way down the hall.”

“That’s handy,” Griffin replied as he crossed the floor.
He circled the Dean’s desk and spun his chair to face him.

Propping his hands on the armrests, Griffin leaned over him and
softly kissed Julian’s lips.

When he straightened to sit on the edge, he said, “I won’t

worry about someone walking in on us then.”

“At least not for the next ten minutes,” Julian agreed.
Griffin believed in being forthright, yet coming out and telling

the Dean what he wanted made him more than a little nervous.

“I’m glad I got to see you before I left town,” Julian

murmured. “We can’t make meeting in my office a regular
arrangement though. It would stand out too much. Unless, of
course, you started a new campus social or religious group you
want to run? Then I can make all kinds of excuses for why we’d
need to meet here.”

“Not a chance, although I can think of a few things about

getting together with you that would qualify as a religious
experience.”

“You can, huh?” Julian asked smiling.
Griffin crossed his ankles, his gaze drifting out the window

behind Julian’s desk. “Before you go, there’s something I wanted to
talk about.”

“I’m listening.”
Griffin rolled his lips inward, rubbing them together before

he spoke again. “I didn’t hear from you all week and suddenly it
wasn’t okay. I mean, I meant for it to be okay, but then it wasn’t. I
don’t want to be the guy who wonders if you’ll call or not.”

“That made almost no sense.”
“I told you I didn’t want a relationship—and I don’t—but

not hearing from you for a week messed with my head.” He sighed.
“I don’t like it. I don’t want to want more from you. I shouldn’t be
wondering if you’ll call. I should be finishing my doctorate, having a
good stress-free time where I can.” Griffin ran a hand through his
hair several times. “You shouldn’t be occupying my thoughts the

way you do.”

“This bothers you a lot,” Julian noted.
Griffin blew out a breath and looked back at Julian steadily.

“It does.”

Julian seemed cautious and mildly unclear about Griffin’s

intent. “What do you want to do about it?”

“What I want? I want to re-learn all the things I know about

you from Tony, for myself. I want to be the guy you call at night
before you go to bed, and the guy you get dopey-eyed for. I want
to spend the night with you and not worry about what your
neighbors will think.”

Julian scooted his chair closer and rested his hand on

Griffin’s knee. “Sounds like you want a relationship.”

“Yeah.” Griffin frowned. “And it pisses me off.”
Julian’s laughter startled him.
“Why is that funny?” Griffin groused.
“Because the idea of having a relationship with me is so

unappealing to you, yet you want it anyway.” Julian patted his knee.
“A relationship isn’t possible. We can’t have a relationship until you
graduate. Even then it’ll look suspicious.”

Griffin covered his hand with his own. “Then maybe Spring

Break is coming at a good time. We just let it happen, no contact
and go our separate ways.”

“Is that what you want?”
“Stop asking me what I want, dammit. What do you want?

You never answered that at your house,” Griffin snapped.

Julian stood and pushed his way between Griffin’s knees.

He lowered his hands to either side of Griffin’s hips, caging him in.
“That’s a great question. The college employee part of me wants to

see you succeed without any backlash from me. The father wants
his son’s best friend to be happy and be a part of Tony’s life for a
long time. The purely selfish part of me wants to get to know you.”

“Who wins?” Griffin asked softly.
“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Julian kissed Griffin’s jaw in

three places. “All of it’s clouded by this insane desire to keep you
naked every second of the day.”

Griffin swore, he pulled the older man close and hung on,

his face to Julian’s shoulder. “I can’t think when I’m close to you.
I’ve been working toward this degree for a long time, and I
shouldn’t be this willing to throw it away for a man.”

Julian hugged him back, rocking slightly. “I’ve worked hard

to get where I am too. I can’t risk losing a lifelong career because
of witty conversation and hot tail. Which means I’m aware, on
some level, that you’re a lot more than that.”

“Back to the question, what do we do about it?” Griffin

asked, feeling cracked and broken inside.

“Space, I think.” Julian released him. “Spring Break will be

good, for starters.”

Griffin cupped the Dean’s face a kissed him. He let instinct

guide his lips as their mouths met, parted and came together again in
several soft touches. Griffin ached inside when Julian pulled away.

“I’ll call you. We’ll talk about things, and where you are on

your dissertation. We can talk about your internship and the
challenges you’re finding. We can talk about us, or what we want
out of life. Like a phone courtship,” Julian told him. “We can do that
in the privacy of our homes without anything getting in the way of us
developing us.”

“And in the fall when I finish we’ll see where things are,”

Griffin continued, beginning to feel a little hope, though not liking the
long delay time in between.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. It sounded like several

people. Julian took his seat. Griffin moved to the other side of the
desk far enough away to make it look like he’d been about to
leave.

“In the fall we’ll have one hell of a reunion,” Julian

whispered.

Griffin nodded. “Have a safe trip.” The words stuck like

melted wax in his throat. He turned and left as Julian’s appointment
reached the outer office door.

* * * *

“I’m not going to make it,” Dean Rickman told his son as

they drove home from break.

“I knew the distance thing wouldn’t last,” Tony said smugly.
“You thought you knew. You couldn’t be sure if I wasn’t

sure.”

“No. I knew. He’s perfect for you, and don’t you think it’s

about time you gave me a new mommy?” Tony teased. “I like this
one. You’ve dated some total jerks in the past, but Griff is good for
you. He keeps you young.”

“How can he keep me young when I haven’t seen him in a

week?” Julian countered.

“It’s the magic of luuuuurve!”
“What are you, a twelve-year old girl?”
Tony laughed. “I’m a romantic, sure, but I’m also one

hundred percent right.”

“Fine. He’s good for me. You know what isn’t good for

me? Termination from my job.”

“Okay, so that would suck. But, there has to be an

exception. Aren’t there always exceptions? Like he’s a transfer
student into Claybourne, not someone who’s been here the whole
time. And he’s about to finish is degree. Those rules were made for
undergraduates. Griff is not only a graduate, he’s a doctorate.”

“He’s also on staff as a Resident Assistant, which puts him

back in the realm of off-limits.”

“I’ll talk to him. I bet he’d give up the RA gig if you let him

move in with you. Then you’re back to my idea of leniency,” Tony
argued.

“Are you sure you didn’t want to major in law?” Julian’s

droll reply missed its mark as Tony kept talking.

“He’s worth it, Dad.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that impression. I’ve talked to him on the

phone every night. I hate hanging up.”

“Can’t you date him on the sly?”
“Where would I do that, Tony? Claybourne College isn’t in

a big city where people won’t recognize us. Some of the best dining
is Dolly’s, where the students congregate. There isn’t a lot of
opportunity to be out with him and not get discovered.”

“Date him at home.”
Julian shot him a look, not bothering to explain to his son

that if he had Griffin alone in his home, it wouldn’t be dating that
would happen. His cock filled as he thought of all the things he’d do
to the RA if they were left to their own devices.

“I can’t keep doing this with him,” Julian said, more to

himself than to Tony.

“It doesn’t sound like he’s having an easier time. The

college rules about dating staff is stupid. You’re both adults. Why

can’t they just let it happen?”

“Because one infraction with one excuse gets distorted.

Pretty soon it would be a professor and his student working out
grade point averages on a couch,” Julian answered.

“I still say it’s stupid. You’re both of age. How do they

think people meet? In the produce aisle when they’re sixty?” Tony
snorted.

“Don’t worry about it. Whom I date is my problem. It’s not

something you should be worried about.”

“I’m not worried. You two will work it out.” Tony flipped

on the radio.

“I wish I could be sure of that,” Julian muttered.
“You’re an awesome Dad and my best friend’s crazy about

you. I don’t think it could be a better combination.”

“He’s crazy about me?” Julian fished idly.
Tony laughed. “Geez, that was subtle.”
Julian laughed too. “Are you going to make me beg?”
“Are you asking me to break a confidence?”
“Do you have to be all cryptic?”
“Are we going to ask questions about this all the way

home?” Tony asked.

“Are you going to tell me what I want to know?”
His son grinned widely. “I’ll tell you what I can, based on

observation. Not on what he’s told me in private.”

“I’ll take it.”
“He asks about you a lot. He’ll change the subject just to

get you into the dialogue. He thinks you’re funny and that orange is
a weird favorite color. Oops, that one slipped out.”

“Does he think I’m old? You can tell me that, can’t you?”

“Dad, the guy thinks the streaks of gray in your hair are hot.

He can’t say enough complimentary things about you. I think he’s
got it bad,” Tony finished.

“I think I do too. God, what a mess.”
They fell into silence, occasionally punctuated with punch-

buggy finds or license plate commentary. Julian itched to see Griffin.
A week of talking had seemed like an eternity, and it had done
nothing to cool his feelings for the man. It didn’t bode well for his
will-power to stay away.

Julian dropped his son off at the dormitory with a quick hug.

“Love you, kid. Go make A’s.”

“Love you too, Dad.”
He watched Tony hoist his oversized duffle to his shoulder

and jog clumsily down the walk to his dormitory. With a crushing
insight, he knew getting away from Griffin hadn’t eased the problem
about what to do with their relationship. It had intensified it.

Now he knew how the man thought on nearly every topic,

and there was only more to appreciate. No doubt about it, Griffin
Sizemore made him sappy. He’d thought that in growing up, the
thrill of attraction had faded to a semblance of maturely weighing
pros and cons. He’d been wrong. Griffin got him giddy, hot, playful,
and occupied his mind like any crush he’d ever had as a kid, and
more.

Griffin had relationship material written all over him, and it

unnerved Julian.

Chapter Six

“It’s good,” Griffin told Julian on the phone the following

Wednesday night. “I feel like the process of learning how to create
new medicines was a lot less fun on paper than it is in practice.”

“How many hours have you put into your practical

application time?” Julian asked.

“Four years. This is my final internship, but the first one

where I’ve been allowed to try my own chemical equations instead
of the mentor’s. I guess they figured I’d be doing it sooner or later.”

“Well, you’re nearly done.”
“I’m tired of talking about superficial stuff,” Griffin said. “I

want to see you.”

“We talked about this.”
“You talked, I tacitly agreed because you have more at

stake than I do,” Griffin corrected.

“I miss you too.”
Julian seemed to hear exactly what Griffin had wanted him

to, and it made him smile to know they were on the same
wavelength. For the past week and a half, they’d done nothing but

talk. He liked it, but it wasn’t enough anymore. Griffin stretched out
on his bed and slid a hand under his shirt.

“I’m touching my bare chest and imagining it’s your hand on

me,” Griffin started.

“Griff, you know I want to. Talking is safer.”
“I am talking,” Griffin said innocently enough. “I’m also

circling my nipple with the tip of my thumb.”

“Je-sus.”
“Moving my flattened hand down. Slowly. Slowly.”
“Griffin.” Julian’s voice came across the line sounding

strangled. “Okay. Wait.”

He heard the phone fumble heard the sound of Julian

exerting himself. Griffin hurriedly opened his pants.

“Okay. Now you can keep going,” Julian announced.
“Your hand is edging under the waistband of my boxers.”

Griffin groaned when he touched himself. “Tell me what you feel.”

“I don’t know how to do this,” Julian told him tightly.
“Yeah, you do. Just touch yourself and explain it to me.

Imagine you have your hand wrapped around my cock right now,
because that’s what I’m doing. It feels so good.”

“Feels—”
The phone fumbled again, but Griffin chuckled when he

detected the rapid sound of fabric moving. If he was right, Julian
was stripping.

“Sorry, I’m back now,” Julian explained.
“Touch yourself.”
Griffin heard a sharp inhale. “What do you feel?”
“Hard. I’m hard thinking of your hands on me.”
“Is it hot?” Griffin pressed, stroking his cock while he

spoke.

“Yes.”
“Are you wet?”
“Yes.”
“Cup your balls for me,” Griffin commanded.
“Feels good. Pinch your nipple,” Julian said, getting into the

pattern.

“Mmm. I’m twisting it a little. Feels almost like your teeth,”

Griffin continued.

“My balls ache.”
“Spread your legs wider and pump your cock. I’m there,

touching you. Watching you. Can you feel me?” Griffin asked.

“Yes.”
“Good. I feel you too. My dick is wet, and I’m imagining

your breath on my taint. You’re getting ready to take my ass.”

“Push your finger in,” Julian insisted.
“Oh, God,” Griffin moaned when he complied.
“Pump it.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Griffin’s eyes sealed as he cradled the phone between his

shoulder and his ear. His finger plunged in over and over as he
jacked himself to the sound of Julian’s rapid breathing and soft
moans.

“I’m coming,” Griffin announced.
“Me too,” Julian growled through the line.
Griffin lost the battle with the phone as it slid off his

shoulder. He could still make out the soft grunts through the phone
line and the shout. Griffin fucked his fist hard, cum erupting from his
dick in thick, hot jets.

“Dude! Lock your damn-door,” Tony shouted from the

doorway.

“Tony! Get the fuck out of my room,” Griffin shouted. The

door slammed. “And learn to fucking knock!”

Griffin spoke into the phone. “I gotta wash up. Your kid

just walked in on me.”

He heard the distant muffled, “Shit!” from the phone, saw

the display indicate that the other party had hung up. Griffin hurried
to the bathroom to clean himself. A knock sounded on his door.

“Is it safe to come in yet?” Tony called.
“Come in.” Griffin pulled the bathroom door to, and slipped

on fresh underwear and sweats out of sight from Tony. “Seriously
need to get a grip on that knocking thing.”

“Or lock your door when you’re—hey, wait a minute.

Were you just phone-fucking my dad?”

Griffin stepped out of the tiny bathroom. “There isn’t an

answer I could give you that makes you walking in unannounced
okay.”

“You were.”
“Tony. I’m serious.”
“You were totally phone-fucking my dad.” Tony shook his

head in disbelief. “I don’t know whether I’m disgusted or impressed
that you got him to loosen up that much.”

“Shut up.”
“I was just going to ask you if you wanted to go to Dolly’s

for dinner with me, but I’m not sure I can sit across you now. I
know where that hand has been.”

“Like you don’t yank your banana,” Griffin scoffed.
Tony grinned. “I may not have to any more. Remember that

girl from Creative Writing I mentioned last semester? She’s in my
Shakespeare class. Turns out she thinks I’m cute.”

“That’s great! Now you can get the fuck out of my hair.”

Griffin punched his shoulder affectionately.

“I would but there’s this problem.”
“What’s that?” Griffin asked.
“We used to hang out all the time. Now you’re either

spending your time studying or you’re dating my dad on the phone.”

“Only so many hours in a day, junior,” Griffin teased.
“That would be funny if I weren’t already annoyed.”
“I thought you wanted to see us get together.” Griffin pulled

a clean shirt from his drawer.

“I do. He’s my favorite dad. You’re my closest friend on

campus. Who wouldn’t want to see the two of you happy
together?”

“Apparently the entire professorial staff at Claybourne,”

Griffin muttered. “He won’t openly date me. He won’t admit to
being with me. Just phone-a-friend.”

Griffin sat heavily on the side of his bed.
“I mean, I understand why. I wouldn’t want to cost him his

job, but it’s ridiculous,” Griffin complained.

Tony sat down too. He shrugged. “In all fairness, he

wouldn’t be able to acknowledge a relationship with you if you
were female either. It’s not a gay-thing.”

“I know.” Griffin smiled, hoping the sudden change of mood

would redirect conversation convincingly. “So what’s up at
Dolly’s?”

“Nothing. I wanted to talk, tell you about Kara from

Creative Writing class. See if she was there, maybe,” he tacked on

the last bit sheepishly.

“I forget how young you are until you say shit like that.”
“What?” Tony wondered loudly.
“You were going to cruise Dolly’s on the off chance she

was there tonight? Do you have any reason to think she will be?”

“No. But everyone hangs at Dolly’s. There’s a good chance

she’s there too.”

“There’s a good chance she’s there—with all her girlfriends.

Do you really want to approach a table full of girls who will talk
about you after you happen to drop by and say hello to her?” Griffin
pressed.

“I hadn’t really thought I’d drop by her table.”
Griffin shook his head, dumbfounded. “So you were going

to ask me to drag my busy ass down there, to sit in a place Kara
may or may not show up, to—look at her?”

“You make it sound like I’m a creeper.”
“You kind of are.” Griffin ran his hand up the back of

Tony’s hair, messing it up.

“Dude! The hair!”
Griffin laughed and stood. “I have responsibilities in this

dorm as well as in my degree. I’m almost done. The sooner I get
this paper turned in, the sooner I can hit your dad up for some face
time.”

“That could be months.”
“I know.”
“You won’t make it,” Tony said, matter-of-factly.
“I know.”
“Maybe he’s at Dolly’s.”
Griffin whipped dirty sock off the floor at his chest. “I’m not

going to Dolly’s.”

“Suit yourself.” Tony got to his feet. His expression said that

Griffin’s huge loss was a tremendous shame. “If I see Dad, I’ll tell
him you said hi.”

Griffin groaned. He almost gave in, then he remembered

that he’d just gotten off the phone with Julian. Given what they’d
done, he felt fairly-confident that he wouldn’t make an appearance
at Dolly’s.

“I think I’ll risk it,” Griffin joked. “Get out of here. And

Tony,” he called to Tony’s retreating back. When he turned, Griffin
continued. “If you see her there, don’t stare. Go talk to her about
class or something.”

Tony waved him away.
Griffin dropped his hands on his hips and looked down at

the mess on his desktop. His door shut, leaving him alone. He
powered up his laptop and pulled out a chair when a knock
sounded on the door.

“Come in,” he called, expecting Tony to poke his head in

the room.

A different resident entered. He looked pissed. Griffin shot

his computer a longing look before closing the lid. “Hey Gary.”
Griffin pointed to the living room area of his suite. “Have a seat.”

* * * *

Julian checked his watch. Four-thirty. He sighed tiredly as

he decided he’d put in the last half hour of work before he went
home. Today didn’t feel like a day he could give the job any more
of his time. Fatigue hung on him, and the last thing he wanted to
think about was the petition from the Alpha Sigs to impose
restrictions on the end of year pep-rally for the incoming freshmen.

The celebration was tradition, and it welcomed potential

new students, showing them the social side of college life. But no
matter what he did, the Alpha Sigs never seemed satisfied when a
public celebration was scheduled. If it wasn’t one complaint, it was
something else.

He blew out a breath. A rap sounded on his door, and

Julian looked up.

Griffin leaned negligently in the doorframe, dressed in torn

blue jeans that had faded white across the thighs and groin. They
sagged low on his hips and where his Claybourne tee touched his
chest, the thin material pulled tight, stretching the arching college
name across his pecs with charcoal letters on soft gray fabric.

“Hey, good-lookin’,” Griffin whispered, a boyish smile on

his lips.

Everything inside Julian stilled. It felt like there’d been static

in his mind for days now, and he hadn’t realized it until Griffin
appeared to silence it.

“Hey.” He lifted his brows questioningly and jerked his chin

to the area behind Griffin.

“She’s not at her desk,” Griffin answered, accurately

guessing he’d meant the secretary. “Can I come in?”

“Leave the door open.”
Griffin shoved his hands in his pockets and crossed to the

seats in front of his desk. He plopped down in one and slouched his
hips to the edge of the seat. The movement took Julian’s mind to all
the places it shouldn’t go. All the places he hadn’t let it go since the
phone sex call two days ago.

“I was in the neighborhood. Hope you don’t mind,” Griffin

told him.

Julian could tell something heavier was on his mind that the

words he was saying. He spoke them like he was distracted, but
Julian really didn’t want to explore what was becoming a tense
subject. “You mentioned the paper last night on the phone. Did you
turn it in?”

“Not yet. I met with my advisor, and he said the ending

needed some work. Something about the summary of my drug
recommendation not being thorough enough. I finished all the trial
work in the lab so it’s just a matter of getting it onto paper.”

“What happens next?” Julian asked. If he could keep Griffin

talking about his paper, there’d be less chance he’d leap across his
desk to kiss him. And he really wanted to kiss him. Griffin was a
sight for sore eyes.

Griffin gave him a funny smile, like he’d play along with the

line of questioning even if that wasn’t what he wanted to do. “Next?
Next, I rework the summary, write the chapter on possible future
application and clean up the bibliography. Then my advisor told me
to submit an article length to the Journal of Nursing Practitioners
and petition the nursing department for time on their blog.”

“It’s a good idea,” Julian encouraged.
“Of course it’s a good idea. That’s why he advised it.”

Apparently Griffin’s humoring mode had ended. He leaned forward,
hands still in his pockets. “It’ll all get done. I’m not going to let it
slide, but how about for a few minutes I talk to Julian, my boyfriend
who isn’t my boyfriend. Would that be okay?”

Julian darted a glance over his shoulder.
“You can hear people walking the hall from a mile away.

She’s not even on the floor or we’d both hear those thick heels of
hers clacking their way to us,” Griffin admonished.

Julian put his pen down and sat back in his chair.
“I miss you. I’m not going to hide it, and I’m not going to

pretend I don’t care that the only relationship we have is through
Sprint.”

“It’s what works for now,” Julian reminded him.
“No, it’s what works for you right now. It doesn’t work for

me at all. I hate it. I want to see you. I want to touch you, not
imagine that you’re touching me.” He stood up and paced.

“We had phone-sex. We could do that again,” Julian

suggested. He didn’t like the direction of this conversation. He
didn’t see it ending well for them.

“Two days ago.” Griffin stopped pacing to stand in front of

Julian’s desk. He motioned to his groin. “Look at me. I’m hard as a
rock for you, and I can’t even get my boyfriend to do anything
about it.”

Julian made the mistake of looking. Just as Griffin had

suggested, he was hard. His cock tented the softened jeans fabric.
Julian’s fingers itched to touch him. To unzip his jeans and hold the
hard length in his hand again. His own cock had been ready to go
the minute he’d seen the younger man in his doorway.

“I want you too,” Julian confessed. “I just don’t see an easy

way for us to work until you graduate.”

“And I don’t want to cost you your career.”
“You know where I think that leaves us—waiting. Where

do you think it leaves us?” Julian asked, feeling his throat close in
foreboding.

Griffin squatted down beside his chair and looked up at

him. His bright blue eyes pleaded with him to understand. “I want
us. Now and later, Julian.”

Julian swiveled to look down at him directly. “I want that

too, but some things just aren’t possible. If we risk it now, we lose
everything. If we wait, we can have it all. Don’t you see that?”

“I’m not that patient,” Griffin snapped. His brow furrowed.

“I didn’t expect to have a relationship with you. I’ve never been
particularly romantic about long-term dating either. People say that
when you find the guy, you just know. Julian I’m telling you that I
know it’s you.”

Those words knocked the wind out of him. Julian’s ears

roared. Any reserve he thought he had failed him in that moment.
He caught Griffin under his arms and tugged. Griffin rose easily, his
hands gripping the armrests of Julian’s chair as they kissed.

God, he’d missed this. He’d missed the sensual slide of

Griffin’s mouth on his and the tangy sweet taste of his tongue when
it touched his own. He’d missed the soft murmur at the back of the
man’s throat and the clawing hunger that he was never close enough
to Griffin to satisfy his hunger.

In those few words, Griffin had said what Julian had been

unable to formulate into thought. Griffin was his and wanted to be.

His fingers sank into Griffin’s hair as he tested the strength

of that feeling with his lips and tongue. Griffin met him kiss for kiss,
as he lowered himself on Julian’s lap awkwardly. The armrests
made it nearly impossible, but he half-knelt, half-stood.

Julian wrapped his arms around Griff and pulled him down,

but it didn’t work, and they broke apart laughing.

“I hate your chair,” Griffin breathed.
“I hate my chair too.”
Griffin’s smile looked happy and oddly shy. “What I said

doesn’t freak you out?”

“Which part? Refresh my memory?” Julian requested,

wanting to hear him say it again.

“I know it’s you I want. Just you. Only you. Always you.”

He punctuated the last with a kiss.

Julian grinned from ear to ear. “We’ll make it work. I

promise.”

Griffin’s smile faded. “What am I missing?”
“Missing?”
“Wait.” Griffin worked out of Julian’s loose hold. “Nothing

is changing, is it?”

“Of course it did! You just told me that you want a serious

commitment from me, and I’m going on record to say, I want the
same thing. You’re the one I want to be with.”

“But you’re telling me to go on waiting.”
“Griff, what did you think I could change? I can tell you that

you’re the guy for me, that when we can openly hold hands and kiss
and date, you’re the one. It may be premature, but I’d like to think
you’ll move in with me at the end of the year.”

“Until then, what? I just wait around?” Griffin flung his hand

up in the air as he spoke, bringing them to a clap at his sides.
“Relationships take work, Julian. You don’t put them on hold and
hope nothing changes. You don’t tell the guy you’re into that while
he’s important to you, he’s second to everything else in your life.”

He gave a loud, long frustrated grunt, hedging out any

words Julian would have tried to say if he could think of a way to fix
this.

“Julian. I basically told you that I’m in love with you.”
Julian got to his feet and strode over to him. He grabbed

Griffin’s shoulders. “I love you too. This isn’t exactly the context in

which I wanted to announce it, but I feel the same way.”

“Then explain to me why we have to be at opposite ends of

the campus for another four months, hope we don’t change in
divergent pathways over that time, and try to pick up where we left
off, undamaged by keeping our emotional distance.”

“You know why. Arguing about it won’t change the facts.

I’ll lose my job. You’re grades will be called into question, as will
your integrity, and the college will be under intense scrutiny for
questionable practices. Why are you insisting that none of that
matters?”

“Maybe because I’m impractical when it comes to you. I

want us, now. I want to be an us so badly that I put up with phone
calls and frustrating dreams about being with you,” Griffin snapped.

“You don’t think I feel the same way? God, Griff, I’m crazy

about you. I’ve been taking risks since the night we met. I walked
you to your dorm, for God’s sake, and you went down on me in an
alcove by the side door where anyone could have seen us.” Julian
tried to hide his frustration. He did a lousy job. “I haven’t dated
anyone in two years. I certainly haven’t dated anyone with a
connection to Claybourne. You want me to take risks to prove how
much I want you? How is that for a risk? How is being seen alone
at Dolly’s, having you all but spend the night at my house on faculty
row, for a risk?”

Griffin dropped his head back. “I know. I know, Julian. I

know. If it isn’t you telling me, it’s Tony.”

“I can’t change it to make it convenient for us.”
Griffin pulled him into a bear hug. “I should be happy that

the guy I’m in love with just admitted he loves me too.”

“I do love you, Griffin. I wouldn’t take risks with anyone

else. I think I knew you were the one that first night because
walking you back was completely out of character for me. But,
damn, between that smile of yours and the promise in your eyes, I
couldn’t resist.”

“Careful, Dean Rickman. Any more talk like that, and I’ll

take you on the floor of your office.”

“Now that would be something the Vice President might

want to investigate,” a voice said nearby.

Julian and Griffin jumped apart. Julian whirled on the door

to find the Vice President of Student Affairs with his arms crossed
and a scowl on his face.

“John,” Julian tried to recover his composure. He smiled

tightly. “What brings you by?”

“And why the hell didn’t we hear him coming?” Griffin

muttered loud enough for Julian to hear.

A great question, Julian decided. The only explanation was

that they’d been too wrapped up in each other to keep an ear out,
despite the fears.

“I wanted to see if you’d finished the proposed solution to

the pep-rally discord. Instead, I got an earful of love declarations.”
Dr. Simpson leveled a frown on them. “Who are you, young man? I
take it from the discussions that you’re a student here?”

“Yes, sir. Griffin Sizemore.”
Griffin held out his hand. The Vice President stared at it

distastefully.

“He’s in the DNP program here. He’s also an RA,” Julian

offered. He knew John well enough that he’d research Griffin later.
Hiding information would only look bad.

“A DNP student?” The Vice President’s brows lifted. “You

can’t be more than twenty-one or two.”

Griffin’s lips twisted with annoyance. “Twenty-nine, sir.

Thirty if you give me a few more months.”

“How long have you two been seeing each other, Julian?”
“That’s the problem, sir. He won’t see me,” Griffin

answered for him.

“I asked Julian,” John barked.
“Since the end of February. He’s my son’s RA, and his

best friend. Contact is all but impossible,” Julian explained.

“We have policies,” John said, his tone terse.
“I’m aware of them,” Julian answered.
“I’d hate to see you fired over a lapse in judgment.”
“Maybe you should go, Griffin,” Julian told him.
John blocked the door. “I think staying would be better for

both of you. You’ve presented me with an unforeseen problem,
Julian. I can’t ignore what I know. Best we deal with it now.”

Julian grimaced. He held an ushering arm out toward the

seats. “Please, sit. Griffin why don’t you join us?”

Griffin cocked his head.
“It wasn’t a request,” Julian clarified.
“In that case, I guess I’ll stay,” the RA agreed.
When they were all seated, John steepled his fingers

thoughtfully. “Gentlemen, we have a unique combination of
problems.”

Griffin waited with morbid fascination as the Vice President

seemed to roll words around in his mouth before speaking them.

“Claybourne College has a policy about dating,” the man

began.

Griffin blew out a breath as he settled in.
“When it comes to dating, Faculty is discouraged from

interacting with a student whose grade or degree depends on that
professor in some way,” Julian acknowledged. “But I don’t teach
Griffin.”

“That’s not the problem,” Dr. Simpson said calmly. “The

problem is the second guideline. Where faculty and staff who fall in
the same department are prohibited from having romantic contact,”
the Vice President explained. “The Resident Assistant program falls
under the jurisdiction of the Dean of Students.”

“But I haven’t needed him to manage anything,” Griffin said.

He threw the clarification out there, but deep down he knew it
didn’t matter. His gut churned anxiously, waiting for a loop-hole of
some kind.

“It doesn’t matter. There could have been and your position

as RA is in the realm of his office.” The Vice President looked at
him critically.

“John, you’ve known me for years. Doesn’t my character

carry any weight?” Julian asked.

“If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be having this discussion. I’d be

terminating you and putting him on probation.”

Griffin sank back in his chair. It wasn’t looking good. He

saw the gate closing on any more time with Julian and he didn’t like
it. The man had come to mean a lot more to him than a casual
relationship. Griffin began combing for options. “If I weren’t an RA,
you wouldn’t care if we dated, is what you’re saying?”

Dr. Simpson stood up, a smile on his face. “You understand

the situation expertly. Julian, I’ll give you a week before I call a
faculty meeting on the subject. Let me know if I need to put this on

the schedule. Until then, I’m giving you a courtesy I shouldn’t. We’ll
pretend like I didn’t see this.” Dr. Simpson left.

Griffin swallowed hard. So they were being asked to make

a choice.

The realization sat like lead. Griffin didn’t want to choose.

Suddenly the concerns Julian had about keeping their relationship
quiet rested on his shoulders, too. Its uncomfortable weightiness
made him look at everything a lot closer. Why hadn’t he seen the
consequences with the same importance when it was just Julian’s
problem? Was he that callous about Julian’s future at the college?

But he knew the answer. It was because he hadn’t been

looking for a relationship with Julian. He’d been having fun. Fun that
would develop into something deeper, if he let it. When it had
seemed like casual dating, breaking up hadn’t been a big issue. But
now? Now the decision was his to make, his scholarships and job
in the balance, forcing him to take a keen look at just how important
having Julian in his life was to him.

And it scared the shit out of him. He loved Julian. Julian

loved him. What did that mean? Did it mean forever? Did it mean a
few years?

Griffin watched Julian deflate in his seat. He seemed numb,

distracted.

“What just happened there?” Griffin asked needing

confirmation of his thoughts.

“He gave us an out,” Julian said, lifting his gaze to Griffin’s.

“The decision’s in your court.”

Griffin went over the conversation in his head again. His

heart pounded as he realized the solution and he grinned widely.

Julian’s smile was cautious but there.

“Let me get this straight. If I resign as RA, the problem of

dating a staff member ends. It becomes strictly a faculty member
dating a non-supervisory student. Right?”

“Right.”
“Which is frowned on, but not prohibited. Dr. Simpson

won’t say anything unless I stay an RA.”

“He wouldn’t need to because it wouldn’t be officially a

problem for the college,” Julian added.

“So that’s it then. I resign.” It sounded easy. Then all the

other reasons he’d become an RA to begin with, rose to the
surface. “Except, I can’t.”

“You could,” Julian suggested. “If you wanted to. It has to

be your decision, though. Any coercion from me makes it a power-
play of my position over you as an RA.”

“I didn’t apply to be an RA for the fun of it,” Griffin told

him. “I didn’t need the added responsibility on top of my doctorate
program and long lab hours. I had to be an RA to make it work.”
He sighed with frustration. God, he so didn’t want to make this
choice.

“Be my boyfriend for a minute and explain it to me,” Julian

said.

“Funding. As an RA I don’t just get a free place to stay, I

get boarding too. My meals are paid, my classes are paid for and I
qualify for a grant that covers the cost of my books.” He sent Julian
a look, imploring him to understand.

“I already told you that I hoped you’d move in with me

some day. We could make some day sooner. That would take care
of housing and food,” Julian began.

“That’s really generous. But what about the other stuff? I

don’t have a job, and I don’t want to live off you.” Griffin huffed.
“You shouldn’t want me to, either.”

“No. Of course not.” Julian looked grim. He reached for

the pen he’d discarded earlier.

“Is there some other way?” Griffin asked, hoping Julian had

an answer Griffin hadn’t thought of already.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Julian answered tightly. “I need to

finish up.”

Griffin thought he might say something more, but he didn’t.

Finally, Griffin took it as a dismissal and left his office.

Chapter Seven

The next day Griffin was still bothered by Julian’s lack of

comment. Essentially they were in the same position as before,
except the tables had turned, putting Griffin in the driver’s seat.
Why would Julian leave things the way he had? Why hadn’t he told
Griffin what to do? There’d been nothing but silence from the man.
Admittedly, Griffin hadn’t called him either.

Too much hinged on their relationship status. It’s not how

he’d imagined spending his final semester at Claybourne. He hadn’t
expected to find someone that made this decision difficult. If it were
anyone else, he’d break up with them, no question. But it was
Julian. He’d shied away from exploring how his feelings for the man
translated. He knew they’d rooted deeply but could they withstand
this test?

If he knew Julian felt the same way, that Griffin wasn’t

throwing away his career and scholarships for a temporary hot,
older man boyfriend, he could risk it. But they’d never said anything
definitive beyond how they felt. Boyfriends said they loved each
other. Husbands did too. What were they to each other? So for all

Griffin knew, Julian thought he was just another boyfriend.

Sure part of him acknowledged that the risk Julian had

taken should say something about his willingness to have a
relationship in the first place. And there was the offer to move in.
But Griffin also knew the man had a heart of gold. If he thought
he’d caused Griffin to lose his degree at Claybourne, wouldn’t he
make the same offer to ease the transition? And Julian had taken a
chance being seen with him the first night they’d met. He hadn’t had
special feelings for him then, before he’d known Griffin. Yet he’d
taken that risk.

All the questions and what-ifs were making him crazy!
Griffin wandered up to the second floor and pounded on

Tony’s door.

“Yeah,” Tony’s muffled answer came from the other side.
Griffin opened the door. “It’s me. You got a sec?”
Tony cut his eyes at him but continued to curl his hand

weights. “You know that if you piss off one Rickman, you piss them
both off, don’t you?”

“Shit, I knew something was wrong yesterday. How did I

piss him off?”

Tony grunted on a lift. “You really are wrapped up in your

own drama.”

“Oka-ay.” Griffin turned to leave. Whatever ate at Tony, it

didn’t sound like he’d enjoy hearing it.

“Sit down, Sizemore,” Tony barked. He dropped his

weights on the bed and wiped his chest down with a towel. “Park
it,” he repeated when Griffin didn’t move.

Griffin pulled sat. “Go on. Let’s hear it. How did I piss off

the Rickman contingent?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out. Dad looked hurt when I

saw him last night and since the only times I’ve seen him like that
were with Mom and you, I figure you had something to do with it.”

“We got caught by the Vice President yesterday. He

overheard us talking and walked in on a hug.” Griffin shrugged. “It’s
not as bad as it sounds though.” He explained what Dr. Simpson
had told them, and what conclusion Julian and he had been left to
draw.

“Then why is my dad walking around like he’s about to get

fired?”

“He said he was leaving the ball in my court when it came to

us,” Griffin said. “I won’t let him get fired. I don’t know where this
leaves us, but I do know I won’t let him take the fall for dating me.”

“And?”
“And I have to think about the rest.”
“What?” Tony’s pitch hit two octaves higher. “What’s to

think about?”

“School, Tony. The whole reason I’m here in the first place.

I can’t give up my RA position without losing the grant and the free
classes. They’re probably bill me for what’s left if I take off now.
Your dad was great. He offered to move me in with him, but it
doesn’t take care of the expenses, and I’m not living off of him. I
don’t want our relationship to start like that.”

“But he offered. Dad doesn’t offer shit like that lightly.”
“I know. We’d been talking about the possibility of me

moving in eventually, not because our hands were forced. Well, this
would force the issue. What if it’s a step too soon for us?” Griffin
reasoned.

Tony sat on the corner of his bed closest to Griffin.

“Unbelievable.”

“Nothing’s changed. I’m still in love with him. We still have

to figure out how to make it work.”

“You’re in love with my dad?”
“Oh, yeah, forgot to tell you that,” Griffin said with a dry

laugh.

“Even more unbelievable then.”
“Why’s that? Because I’m taking this decision seriously?

Because I’m not leaping first? Please, tell me why it’s so
unbelievable that I’d want to consider all the outcomes first before
throwing my future, and possibly your dad’s, under the bus.”

“Do you hear yourself? All this time you’ve been annoyed

that Dad won’t risk spending time with you because he might get
caught and lose his job. But the minute the tables are turned and
you have to out the relationship or lose your financial safety net, you
bale on him. Yet you say you love him. How’s he supposed to feel
about that?”

“It’s not like that,” Griffin insisted. Or was it? He thought

about it, trying to see things from Julian’s perspective.

“If you don’t stop being an RA, Dr. Simpson calls a

meeting and my dad gets fired. After all he’s been through and put
on the line to be with you, you’d let that happen? Because your ego
got in the way of letting him help out for a few months?”

“I—” Words failed Griffin.
“Do you love him, Griff? Really? Do you love him right now

because it’s fun, or do you love him months from now even if things
get hard? My mom left, and he’d have stuck by her. What are you
going to do?”

“I can’t make decisions based on his past.” Griffin grunted

his annoyance. “This is about me and him, not him and your mom. I
know how I feel about your dad. I don’t know how long-term he
feels about me. I don’t know that I can throw away my college
career based on the hope that he has a future in mind with me. Not
a year or two. A whole future. The prospect terrifies me, okay? It
should terrify him.”

“Don’t be a dick. You’re making decisions about his future

based on your present when you admit that you want your future to
line up with his. I’m not sure I want you dating my dad anymore.
Just forget it. Break it off, let him tell Dr. Simpson. You’ll both be
out of your misery.”

“That’s not what I want,” Griffin argued.
“That’s how this has gone too. What does Griffin want?

What makes Griffin happy? C’mon, Griff, c’mon. You know you
want to be with him. So what if the relationship speeds up a little
soon. If it was going to last, it will still last through a hiccup.”

“Maybe he does see it that way,” Griffin said quietly. “If he

does, I’ve been a complete asshole. God, he must hate me.”

“Hate you? No. He loves you. That’s why his heart is

breaking.” Tony huffed in disgust. “Get out of here and don’t come
back until you fix my dad.”

Griffin jogged out of the room, feeling like a complete

moron. He’d been so wrapped up in himself that he’d left Julian
hanging for an answer. Not jumping at the chance to move in and
leave Griffin’s position as an RA must’ve given Julian second
thoughts about Griffin’s commitment, too. If Julian did love him the
same way, the almost-rejection would’ve been devastating.

The formal semester ended in two weeks, even if Griffin still

had four months of study through the summer. In all his planning and

figuring, he’d left the most important person out of the equation.
Julian.

He glanced at his watch and made a mad dash for the

Dean’s office. When he got there, out of breath, Mrs. McNally
informed him that the Dean had chosen to work from home. Griffin
snatched a sticky note off her desk and scribbled a note. He
slapped it down on top of her keyboard. He didn’t wait to see her
read it as he raced down the hall, dodging students. He made his
way out of the building and across campus to Faculty Row.

Julian’s car was in the drive when he got there. Seeing it,

Griffin stopped running, doubled over and tried to catch his breath.
As long as the car was in sight, Julian had to be home. He just had
to be.

All the things he wanted to say wouldn’t slow down enough

for him to think through any of them to completion. He just knew he
needed to see Julian and make it right. Make sure Julian knew how
he felt, without a doubt.

He rang the doorbell and it seemed like endless hours

before the knob turned and he was looking at the handsome Dean.

Julian stared at him. Griffin’s hair was mussed, he had sweat

glistening on his brow, and he looked like he’d been chased by a
pack of rabid dogs.

“I love you,” Griffin gasped.
A small smile lifted Julian’s lips. “I love you, too.”
“Can I come in?”
Julian held his ground for several moments before stepping

aside to let him enter. After the warning from John, he wasn’t sure
letting Griffin into his home was a brilliant plan, but it drew less

attention than chatting in the doorway. “Broad daylight is bold.”

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I was thinking about me again. Do you

want me to leave? I could call. We could get Tony and all go to
Dolly’s. Should I just stand outside and talk on the doorstep?
Whatever you want, I’ll do it.”

Julian laughed, charmed and confused. “Slow down. Take a

breath.”

Griffin practically tore the door away from Julian to close it.

“I’ll be quick. I had to see you. I screwed up, Julian. I’m so sorry.
You probably think I’m the biggest asshole on the planet, and I am,
I totally own that, but I love you and I want to be with you and I’ve
been so stupid, and—”

“Griffin!” Julian shouted feeling oddly lighter. “I mean it.

Slow down. Your mouth is going a mile a minute. I can hardly keep
up.”

“Right,” he said breathing heavily.
“You’re inside. No one can see you now.”
“I asked you to choose for me, Julian. I asked you to

choose, and I got mad when you wanted me to wait. Then the
decision was taken out of your hands and put into mine, but I didn’t
choose for you the way I asked you to choose for me.”

Julian’s throat tightened. “I know why, Griff. You have a lot

on the line and you want to do it on your own.”

“I was selfish. Here I am spouting off about how I know

you’re the one, not just any one, the one. A minute later it’s put to
the test, and I panic.”

Julian sighed. “You took time to think, as you should’ve. If

you made a decision like that quickly, I’d know you hadn’t
considered all the consequences.”

“Did I mess things up for us?” Griffin’s eyes looked

panicked. “I can take out more student loans and drop the RA
position. Or I’ll wait. We can tell them we’ve broken up, play it
cool for a few months and get back together when I graduate.”

“You were right about being apart for four months,” Julian

said. “Neither of us wants that, and while my feelings for you won’t
change, it would be hard to pick up where we left off without some
resentment from both of us. That’s a challenge we don’t have to
have.”

“Then I’ll take out more student loans,” Griffin insisted. He

fisted Julian’s shirt and dragged him in, kissing him several times.

“Move in, Griffin.” Julian couldn’t wipe the smile from his

face if he tried.

He brushed the pad of his thumb over Griffin’s lips. Griffin

kissed it too.

“I should have to prove myself first. How will you trust me

to be there for you?” Griffin protested.

“You’re here, now. You’re taking the chance, now. You

thought about the choices, and you chose me. How can I doubt that
you will stick around?”

“I hurt you.”
“Yeah, you did. So make it up to me and move in already,”

Julian whispered. “I want you here. I know more about you from
forced phone dating than anyone else I’ve seen over the years.
Move in.”

“I don’t want charity. I need to do this myself so that you

never think I moved in for a free ride.”

Julian thought about it for a minute. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Griffin said grinning. “I’ll move in, but I’ll take out

more loans and pay them off myself when I graduate and have
work. They’re my debts, not ours.”

Julian laughed, unable to contain the bubble of joy in his

chest. “Okay.”

“Okay, and I get to sleep in your bed every night.”
“Okay,” Julian said laughing harder.
“And if there’s any decision that effects both of us, we

work it out together in the future,” Griffin added.

Julian held him close. “Okay,” he whispered as he kissed

Griffin’s cheek. “Okay,” he said again, pressing his lips to Griffin’s
earlobe. “Okay, to all of it. When are you resigning?”

“I already did. I wrote it on a sticky note and gave it to

Mrs. McNally.”

“What?” Julian jerked his head back. “And what if you’d

come here, and I’d said no? You’d be out the job for nothing.”
“Not for nothing. For you. You’re worth the risk.”

Epilogue

One year and three months later…

Julian lifted his champagne glass. He looped his free arm

around Griffin’s waist. “Welcome faculty and staff to Claybourne
College!”

Griffin tuned out the rest of what he said, thinking of the

night two years ago when he’d first seen Julian from across the
room. It was the thing of fairytales, a romance of chance with a few
bumps along the way. The student loan hadn’t come through in
time, pushing Griffin’s graduation out another semester, but he’d
finally finished last Christmas.

He bided his time through the party, smiling until the last

person left their home, and Julian threw the bolt on the front door.
The Dean sighed, leaned against it and motioned for Griffin to lean
against him. Griffin didn’t need a second to think about it.

“I’m so glad that’s over,” Julian murmured. “I’ve been

thinking about you all night and these briefs are beginning to bind.”

Griffin laughed. He pushed his hips to Julian’s. “I’m ready

and willing.”

“I see that,” he answered appreciatively.
“We have a celebration of our own,” Griffin told him.
“How so?”
“I got a promotion at work today. They’re letting me head

up my own research team based on my thesis last year. It seems
they agree that my hypothesis has some far-reaching benefits.”

Julian sucked Griffin’s earlobe, scraping it between his

teeth. “Mmm.” He let the morsel slide free. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you. You can congratulate me better on the couch,”

Griffin suggested.

“Why wait?”
Julian dropped to his knees, unzipping Griffin’s suit pants

and pushing them down his thighs. Griffin barely had time to
complain for the fast treatment when Julian’s hot, wet mouth took
the full length of Griffin’s cock. Whatever Griffin thought he wanted
to say got lost in a bone-shuddering moan.

All he could do was hold on to Julian’s thick head of hair as

he bobbed on Griffin’s dick. His knees went week, but falling
wasn’t an option if it meant removing the blissful suction for any
length of time. A finger tickled at his crack and delved inside to rub
Griffin’s hole.

Julian changed tactics then, dipping low and catching

Griffin’s sac in his mouth. The younger man’s head swam. The
finger went deep and was joined by another.

“Julian, you fucking tease,” he gasped.
Julian laughed, the vibrations carrying through his balls and

shooting pleasurable tingles along his spine. Griffin hissed and
opened his legs as far as the restricting fabric of his pants would

allow.

“Evil,” Griffin moaned. “And magical.”
Julian went back to sucking Griffin’s cock, and the cool air

on his wet dick suddenly going hot again had him bucking hard into
Julian’s mouth. Julian fisted the base of Griffin’s cock, while his
finger continued to pluck at the tight ring of muscles in his ass. Torn
in both directions, Griffin went mindless, driven on instinct to come
as fast as possible.

He held Julian’s head steady, thrusting his hips in and out of

the delicious heat. Ecstasy whispered at his tailbone, coiling to
spring, and Griffin pursued it like a crazed man. Julian shoved three
fingers inside him. Orgasm ripped from Griffin’s control, spilling cum
down his lover’s throat until Griffin felt empty and shaken.

“Dear, Lord, you have mad skills,” Griffin gasped.
Julian cleaned him off and wickedly wiped excess moisture

from the corners of his mouth with his thumb as he looked up at
Griffin. “Oh, honey. I’m just beginning to get started.”

Griffin, not wanting him to have the upper hand, stripped the

rest of the way out of his pants, shoes and socks. Then he shucked
his formal shirt with his coat and tie. He was naked inside the two
minutes Julian realized what he was doing, and got to his feet to
watch.

Bare as the day he was born, Griffin turned and headed for

the stairs. He glanced back over his shoulder. “You coming?”

“I will be very soon at this rate,” Julian said, smiling. He’d

begun removing his clothes, letting them fall to the floor as he
followed Griffin.

Griffin made it to the top step before Julian had him by the

waist, the mushroom tip of his cock pushing on Griffin’s hole.

Griffin gasped. “Bare back?”
“Do you have another partner I need to know about?”

Julian challenged.

“No. I only do the Dean.” He laughed breathlessly when

Julian pushed the tip in and it caught beneath the flared rim.

“Because you’re mine,” Julian rasped.
“I’m yours,” he agreed, his heart swelling. “And you’re

mine.”

“Forever,” Julian finished.
The friction stung like fire in a way that branded Griffin with

pain and pleasure. It had never felt so good to be taken raw,
without lube. It might not be a regular thing, but today it felt right. It
felt necessary to have the sweet sting of his man pushing through his
barriers.

Griffin hissed. “Keep going,” he urged when Julian seemed

to slow.

Julian rode in, swearing under his breath. He placed several

kisses on Griffin’s spine, almost like an apology for the discomfort
he knew he was causing.

“Julian, I want this. Don’t be gentle.”
Julian shuddered, pulled out partially and shoved in. He

liked it when Julian took his time, made love to him spooning from
behind or hovering over him in bed. He liked all the seasons of the
man he’d chosen, but he had to say, there was something about
making Julian lose control that got him off.

Julian plunged in again. Griffin’s balls swung over the carpet

and he decided he liked the sensation. Though he wasn’t hard yet,
Griffin’s dick seeped and filled a little. He reached down to rub
himself while Julian bucked against him from behind.

The older man shouted, spurting hard inside Griffin, and he

swore he felt every jet hit satisfyingly. His ass throbbed, but he
didn’t care. It was a pleasant reminder of who he belonged to.

He waited until Julian pulled out, before he tried to face him.

Griffin took his wrist and led him the rest of the way to the
bedroom.

“Next time, it’s my turn,” Griffin said.
Julian tumbled with him to the bed. “One of us should get

up and turn out the lights downstairs. Put away dishes. Pick up the
clothes. Food,” he mumbled tiredly. “I gotta put it away.”

Griffin pulled Julian’s head to his chest. He smiled that the

loss of control had lasted only as long as Julian was inside him and
dropped a kiss on Julian’s forehead. “You rest. I’ll take care of it in
a few minutes.”

“I can do it, just need to close my eyes a minute.”
The phone rang. Griffin caught it before a second chime

sounded. “Hello?”

“Hey, is Dad there?” Tony said cheerfully.
“He’s asleep. Whatcha need?”
“Just wanted to talk.”
“What am I for?” Griffin teased.
Tony laughed. “Baking cookies and tying my shoes.”
“Bite me.”
“Just kidding. Tell him I’ll come over for dinner tomorrow. I

have this girl I want him to meet.”

“Kara?” Griffin asked.
“Yeah. Don’t let him scare her, okay? Meeting the Dean is

freaking her out.”

“I’ll tell him.”

Julian’s even breathing fluttered across Griffin’s chest. He

stroked the Dean’s hair, finding comfort in the normalcy they’d
found. He said goodbye and hung up the phone.

Julian’s arm around his waist tightened. “Do I have to be

nice?”

“I thought you were asleep.”
“I was, but your dick is poking my thigh. I think we should

take care of that,” Julian told him, looking up. “Thanks for loving my
kid.”

Griffin rolled with him. “I haven’t met a Rickman yet I didn’t

fall for.”

Julian parted his legs, letting Griff fall between them. “Oh

yeah? Show me.”

Author’s Note

After extensive research, I settled on the New York Times article
by Kate Stone Lombardi, published May 9, 1993. In her article
Student-Faculty Dating: It’s Not in the Rule book, she reports that
while dating is frowned upon, it is most often in circumstances
where a faculty member supervises the participating student. She
further notes that in the case of the University of Virginia, a ban to
prohibit dating between non-supervisory faculty and students was
voted down.

In most circumstances, it was found that the dating policies of most
campuses, private and public, are implicit and not actually stated.

Though this article is dated, Claybourne College is written with such
implicit guidelines in play. It’s for this reason the author chose to
allow flexibility on the matter concerning the two heroes of this
book. The Dean was not supervisory over the student and the
student’s ending term were considered along with his age as a
consenting adult.

Adequate research was applied in order to make the circumstances

of this book feasible and realistic. Any errors in research are at the
fault of the author, and any stretching of implied guidelines is done
for the sake of the story.

About the Author

Mia makes her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she divides
her time between a job and spying on people. Mia enjoys long
walks in Como Park, daisies, dancing in the snow...(Delete prior
sentence, meant for personal ad)...

Mr. Perfect may apply in person for a thorough evaluation and trial.
All others will be towed.

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