Page 11 of Devil's Kiss
As far as he was concerned, there were only two good reasons to ever be covered in sweat, and neither of them involved as many clothes as he was currently wearing,orthe students from his class—with the exception of maybe…one, the devil on his shoulder chimed in.
He was halfway across the lawn when he spotted Professor Brantley Hayes climbing out of his car, and stopped for a second to admire him.Mhmm, so fine,Jordan thought with a grin as his friend and colleague shut his car door and headed in his direction dressed in— “Avest? Are you serious? How in God’s name are you wearing a vest today, Hayes? My balls are sweating, and not in the gooditadds to the frictionway.”
“Eloquent as always, Jordan. Good morning.” Brantley laughed as they met up along the path leading toward their respective buildings.
“Morning,” Jordan replied, then brought his venti peppermint mocha to his lips and took a sip.Thank God for caffeine, really.How people functioned without it, he would never know.
“Second month of the semester and you’re still alive. How are you feeling, Professor Devaney?”
“Oldwhen you call me that. I swear, every time a student raises their hand and addresses me that way, I’m one step closer to a receding hairline and wrinkles around my eyes.”
Brantley shook his head. “You’re ridiculous. You know that, right? You’re barely older than they are, and I’ll be damned if I tell you you’re good looking when it’s clear by the smug smirk on your face that you already know it.”
“Well, that’s just mean-spirited of you. My ego isveryfragile,” Jordan protested. “Plus, a boy can never be told too many times how pretty he is.” He batted his lashes and Brantley shoved him in the arm.
Over the last few weeks the two of them had become really good friends. They’d gone out a few times after work to grab a drink, and ever since, they’d hit it off. They even had a regular Sunday brunch date at a tiny little hole-in-the-wall café down by the beach. It was an easy friendship. One he knew they would share for many years to come. Especially since sex wasn’t in the mix. That was now one hundred percent off the table. Not only because they worked together but also because Jordan had found out that they shared a positional preference that just wouldn’t work for him.
“I’m sure you have someone on speed dial who can feed yourfragileego, should you ever need it,” Brantley said.
“I have two, if you must know. But neither are as smartorsophisticated as yourself. So you can understand how your opinion would carry more weight.”
“You’re incorrigible,” Brantley said, but grinned as he brought his coffee cup to his lips. He took a sip and then said, “Okay. So be serious for a second. I know you’re capable.”
“’Tis true, but it’s so boring.”
“I’m sure you’ll manage for all of five minutes. I wanted to talk to you about Derek Pearson.”
At the sound of that particular student’s name, Jordan immediately sobered and came to a halt. He’d been paying a little more attention to Derek than he knew he should. At first he’d attributed it to their first encounter, but with every passing day the quiet, almost introspective nature of the guy, showed a vulnerability that had peaked Jordan’s interest. “What about him?”
“I heard something pretty disturbing going around about his father yesterday afternoon. I’m not one to pay much heed to gossip, but in a town the size of this one, it’s bound to happen.”
Jordan’s stomach tightened when Brantley wrapped his fingers around the crook of his arm and pulled him over to the side of the path out of the way of other students.
“I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I remember you telling me about that first day and his black eye.”
Jordan fingered the lid of his coffee cup and nodded, hating where this conversation was leading.
“Okay. Well, his father got picked up a couple of nights ago for public intoxication. Apparently one of the law secretaries lives down the street from them. He was brought home in a cop car and was acting belligerent. I heard her say that Derek was the one to smooth things over with the police.” Brantley paused and then said exactly what Jordan was thinking: “I have a sneaking suspicion his eye was courtesy of his dad. So you might want to keep tabs on him.”
Damn.Jordan had had a feeling it was something like that, but having it confirmed made it so much worse than just imagining it. When he remained silent, Brantley asked, “Have there been any more incidents since that day?”
Jordan shook his head and, in a voice much more serious than he was apt to using, said, “No. He’s very quiet for the most part.”
“A bit of a loner, then?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure about loner so much,” he said. “More…private, but that’s understandable now.”
“Yes. I suppose it is.”
Jordan nodded. “I mean, except for his surfer friend. You know, the one with the blond hair.”
“Ahh yes, Daniel Finley.”
Jordan thought he detected something reverent in Brantley’s tone, and couldn’t help but taunt him a little. “Know him well?”
Brantley’s eyes widened, and Jordan couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s shock.
“No. Why would you ask that?”