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"Take a look,"Parker said, pulling out his laptop and putting it in front of Kell. On the screen was their final project rendering, and it looked incredible. The color was beautiful and the design striking; the perfect realization of theiridea.

"Wow,"Kell said. "This is... Just, wow." It was amazing to see his line work combined with Parker's masterful color work, and it could easily pass as the best professional work found in a magazine or up on a high-profilebillboard.

"Ithinkwe did a pretty damn good job," Parkersaid.

Jessie leanedover and peeked at their work. "Yikes," she said quietly. "My group was a nightmare. I'm almost embarrassed to turn in what we made." She whispered into Kell's ear. "Powercouple."

Professor Young wentto the front of the class and said, "Okay, everyone. Critique day. I'll give everyone a bit of time to confer with their groups to get organized and their files set up. Looking forward to seeing what you came upwith."

The classimmediately erupted into a moving of chairs and chattering as everyone hurried to get into their groups. It was obvious that not everyone was happy with what they'd done. Kell and Parker exchanged a look and a brief smile as they sat quietly amongst the chaos. By all rights, they should've had the most trouble of all the groups. Kell had completely expected to fight with Parker over every little decision, but it'd actually been incredibly smooth. Parker might've been a dick, but he also was professional and had an impeccable eye. He was definitely not afraid to speak out against something he felt was bad, but he also recognized when things weregood.

Kell realizedthat it'd been no different with all of the project critiques. He realized that because of his sensitivity, he'd taken only Parker's harsh criticisms to heart. He hadn't read between the lines and seen the deep compliments he'd been giving him this entiretime.

"After class,"Parker said in a low voice, leaning over to Kell. "Meet me in art studioB."

"O-okay,"Kell said, a little surprised. He wasn't sure why he'd want to meet there of all places—art studio B was the dingy backup studio and wasn't really used much except as a room to store all the extra easels and otherequipment.

The groups wentup one by one presented their projects to the class for critique until finally, it was their turn to show their work. Being no secret that the two of them were the best in the class, everyone was anticipating seeing what they'd come up with. Parker plugged in his laptop and brought up the image. There were groans, whistles, and murmurs of awedapproval.

"Iquit,"someonejoked.

Kell felt proud.Not that he didn't feel proud showing all his other work, but there was something special about having done this with Parker. It made him happy knowing that they'd done it together, and that they were compatible in their skills. Maybe it meant they would be compatible elsewhere, too. He wanted this thing with Parker to keep going. It may have just been physical now, but he could actually see himself in a relationship with him. It'd be a challenging relationship, no doubt, but as he was beginning to discover, Parker's challenging personality was actually drawing him in, not repelling him as he'd once thought. As much as it heated and irritated him, it also attractedhim.

He snucka glance over at Parker, who was addressing critiques and questions about design choices, and felt his heart flutter a bit. Parker looked so damn hot when he was talking aboutart.

He lookedhot all the damntime.

"Excellent work,Kell and Parker. Thank you," Professor Young said, and they returned to their seats. Kell wondered if Parker might offer some sign of affection for the job well done, but he continued to keep his hands to himself. Kell was dying to touch him, and when they sat down he was tempted to reach over under the table and give him a little squeeze. His palms started sweating and his heart pounded as he debated whether he should just go for it. It was possible someone would see him do it, and that only made him more excited, but he wasn't sure how Parker would feel about that. He didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, and yet the desire to touch him was so damnstrong.

Kell openedhis hand and slowly, hesitantly started to move it across his right thigh towards Parker's left leg. He swallowed nervously, anticipating Parker's reaction. Would he bepissed?

Then,suddenly to his shock, Parker reached over and took his hand in a brief action that lasted only a few seconds. He squeezed Kell's hand and then let go, as if he was saying that he was thinking the same thing but wanted him to restrain himself. Kell pulled his hand back into his lap as his face burned red. His cock had stiffened up immediately and strained sorely against his jeans. His heart pounded hard, and he snuck a look at Parker's face. Again, unaffected. Except... He could see color beginning to flush just ever so slightly on his cheeks. Parker lookedaway.

After class got finished,Parker left in a hurry without saying a word. Jessie watched, eyebrow raised, and turned to Kell. "Uh, is everythingokay?"

He nodded."He asked me to meet him, so I think so." Suddenly, all sorts of thoughts started to run through his mind. Maybe Parker grabbing his hand had actually been a rejection? He could've sworn he'd given him an affectionate squeeze, though. Had that just been hisimagination?

Kell felta cold chill go through hisbody.

Maybe he was goingto tell him that it'd all been amistake?

"Imean,"he said, "I'm pretty sure it's okay. That's just how he is, I think.Right?"

Jessie shrugged,wide eyed. "I don't know,man."

Kell grabbed his bag."I'll see youlater."

"Good luck,"she toldhim.

He hurriedout into the hallway and made his way through the art building, up to the third floor where studio B was located. The floor was quiet—there weren't many classrooms here, mostly just professors’ offices and supply rooms, and then the backup studio. He walked down the hall towards the studio's door, his mind and heart racing. Were things going to end as quickly as they'dstarted?

Damn Parker,he thought.Don't fuck around with me. Don't tell me you're just an asshole afterall.

He reachedthe door and drew in a nervous breath. Then, he pushed the door open and wentinside.

All the lightsinside the studio were off, and the only illumination was what sunlight filtered through blackout curtains partially pulled over the windows. It felt a little eerie. The room was filled with rows of spare easels, racks of folding chairs and several mannequins from the fashion department. Parker stood in the middle of the room, and a smile spread across his lips. Kell felt a wash of relief seeing that smile, and he walked over to him. Parker didn't hesitate—he wrapped his arms around Kell and pulled him in tightly and kissed him. Kell felt himself melting into him as all the anxieties disappeared. He held Parker as tightly as he could, reveling in the feeling of his body against hisown.

"Ididn't wantto make a scene in class," Parker said. "Not that I give a damn about what anyone thinks about us. But it's just better thatway."