Page 101 of Finley

“Yeah… That’d be weird,” Derek said with a laugh. “Especially considering youweremy professor and all. I’m still adjusting.”

“Don’t be offended,” Daniel assured Brantley. Then he whispered in his ear, “Some students are slower learners than others.”

“Fuck off,” Derek grumbled as he made his way back toward the doors. “I’ll leave you two to, you know…christen the office or something. Don’t be a stranger, Danny boy. You could do with a little bench-pressing in your life.”

Taking immediate offense, Daniel looked down at his arms. “The fuck I could.”

“Nah… But it would be nice to see your face regularly.”

“Then you should stop by the house,” Brantley suggested with a smile.

But Derek grimaced and shook his head.

“Why not? It’s Daniel’s house too?—”

They answered in unison.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s Jordan.”

Brantley looked back and forth between them. “Will one of you please tell me what is going on there? Jordan won’t say a word. Which is totally unlike him.”

Derek pointed a finger at him and said, “You promised.”

“I know. I know.”

His friend glared at him so hard that Daniel couldn’t help making a dramatic show of zipping his lips closed.

“Do not say a word.”

Brantley shook his head. “It really can’t be that bad.”

“I’m leaving now,” Derek announced. “Keep your mouth shut, Finn.”

“But what use will I be to him then?” Daniel joked.

Derek flipped him off and stormed out of the office.

Daniel drew Brantley back between his legs and kissed him, as he leaned against the railing. With the sun starting to set and the waves crashing behind them, he closed his eyes and thought that life had a funny way of giving you exactly what you needed. Exactly when you needed it.

“Brantley?”

“Hmm.”

Daniel lowered his mouth to his ear, kissed it gently, and then smiled. “I love my teacher.”

Brantley turned to look at him and took his mouth in a sweet, sweet kiss. When he released him, he winked and patted him on the chest. “I know. And he loves you,” he said.

And those six words forever changed the course of his life.