Page 41 of Finley

When he resurfaced on the other side and slicked his hands back through his hair, the only thought on his mind was how much he loved living by the beach. It’d been one of the biggest draws for taking the job down at UCF, and now he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. The fact that Daniel had been gone from it for so long still blew his mind.

Seven. Years.Wow.

When Daniel had first left, Brantley had expected it to be for two or three years, because he’d gone there to finish his degree in law. But never had Brantley suspectedseven.

Daniel might have been kidding earlier when he’d told Brantley not to miss him, but as the waves took him under and he let himself drift in that moment with the tide, he thought that truer words had never been spoken.

BRANTLEY HURRIEDDOWN the stairs from the second floor, where his morning faculty meeting had just ended. He glanced at his watch, happy to see that he still had twenty minutes until his first class. His first class withDanielafter he’d practically humped the guy on the dance floor of Boyz.

Shit.That sure as hell was going to complicate life. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Friday since he’d gone home and spent a little too long in his shower getting off to it.

Hell, who could blame me?Finn had blown his mind. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how he’d feel if he’d actually blown?—

No,stop it, he admonished himself as he rounded the corner and headed down toward his office, needing a few minutes to get himself together.

That wasn’t on the agenda, however, because the current object of his obsession was waiting for him by his office door.

As he drew closer, he made sure to straighten his shoulders. This was exactly the kind of situation he’d been hoping to avoid bynottouching Daniel. But now that he had, that was all he could think about as the young man, the permanent fixture in his head since Friday, aimed a smile at him that was so bright that it practically lit up the hallway.

“Good morning,” Daniel said as Brantley came to a stop by his door and fished his keys out of his pants pockets.

Trying for nonchalance, he found the key he was looking for and concentrated extra hard on inserting it into the lock. “Good morning, Daniel.” Out the corner of his eye, he saw Daniel shift his bag up his shoulder.

“Oh, we’re back toDaniel, are we?”

He raised his eyes to Daniel’s laughing ones and made sure to pull his lips into a firm, no-nonsense line as he nodded. “Yes, Daniel, we are.”

Once the door had been unlocked and he’d pushed it open, Brantley stepped inside, thinking that would be the end of that. He should’ve known better, though. Daniel followed him into his office, and what usually felt like a good space to him was suddenly claustrophobic.

“Did you need something?” he asked as he made his way over to the opposite side of his desk.Yes,something between them other than the sexual tension pulsing in the air was good.See? I can do this.

“Yes. The answer to that question is definitely yes. I need something. Or someone.” Daniel’s eyes were bold as they moved over Brantley.

He told himself not to reach up to adjust his tie. But that stare alone had him unable to breathe. “I think you should go to class.”

“And I think you should stop acting like you didn’t kiss the fuck out of me on Friday night and cause me to practically break my cock from masturbating to it all weekend.”

“Daniel—”

“Finn.”

The surly tone in his voice had Brantley crossing his arms in a defensive move.

“Okay. Finn. I don’t think this is an appropriate time or place to discuss this.”

“Then tell me a time and a place where itwouldbe.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face before he gripped the back of his neck.

“You’re so fucking hot.”

As Daniel’s words met his ears, he couldn’t help but bring his eyes back to the hungry ones watching him. Then Brantley heard himself chuckle. “Okay, yeah. This conversation needs to happen later. Not here. We are both due in class in”—he looked at his watch—“ten minutes.”

“Later, then. Tell me where.”

He slid his hands into his pants pockets, and when Daniel’s eyes dropped to his groin, Brantley cursed himself for having drawn attention to his obvious erection. Knowing he needed to get Daniel out of his office ASAP, he said the first thing that came to mind.

“My house. I’ll turn the light on when I’m home.”