Page 55 of Finley

“A lot.”

Daniel glanced at his mouth, and Brantley sucked in a breath.

“How much is a lot?”

He was about to answer when the waiter stopped at the table to take their order. Daniel quickly told him that they were still deciding and could he come back later, without so much as looking in his direction. Then he asked again, “How much is a lot, Brantley?”

Brantley cleared his throat at the laser-like precision with which Daniel was focused on him. “Enough that I’m glad for the table and the long cloth covering it.”

Daniel groaned low in his throat as he drummed his fingers on the table, and Brantley caught that strap of leather on his wrist again.

“When did you get that?” he asked before he could stop himself.

Daniel’s gaze moved to the leather, and he fingered the wider part, which rested on the top of his arm, before looking back at Brantley. “The day I left.”

As that little piece of information drifted between them, Brantley sensed that there was more to it, but he was also smart enough not to push when it was clear Daniel wasn’t ready to share. Luckily for him, the waiter reappeared.

After they’d finished ordering, he decided that it was time to start getting to know the man across from him, and the best way to do that was to ask some basic questions. Questions he hadn’t dared ask—until now.

“So I have to ask. How do you like living in Chicago?”

When Daniel’s eyes cut to his, Brantley told himself not to back down. Hewascurious what Daniel thought about the city.

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I know you think we should just forget the rest of the world and our lives for two weeks, but I can’t do that. And I don’t think you can, either.”

“I can try.”

“Really?” Brantley repeated.

When Daniel rolled his eyes, he raised his eyebrows.Ahh, yes. There’s my Finn.

“I like it. It’s totally different than here. It’s busy and demanding, and it never gives you a chance to stop and think. But at the same time, when the winter comes around and the snow hits the ground, there are moments when it’s totally quiet and still…peaceful, almost. And you forget that the craziness of the city is just an elevator ride down to ground floor.”

Brantley smiled and nodded. “Yeah. It was like that where I grew up too. I used to love watching the first snow fall.”

“Yeah.” Daniel chuckled. “It’s the shit-ton that follows and the ice you have to scrape off your car windshield that I could do without. But the holidays are nice. The lights and decorations in all of that snow. There’s something magical about it. You should see it.”

Brantley didn’t dare answer the way he wanted to, because though it was issued like an invite, he hardly thought that Daniel had meant it that way.

“And work? What about your job?”

Daniel lifted his glass to his lips and took a sip before lowering it back to the table. “Wait. You mean you don’t ask my mother for weekly updates? I’m crushed.”

“No you’re not. You’re arrogant, is what you are. I asked your mother once, and after that, each time she saw me, she updated me.”

Daniel nodded and took another sip of his wine. “Yeah. That’s because she knows we used to sleep together.”

The sip of wine Brantley had just taken got caught in his throat and he coughed. “What do you mean she knows? How long has she known?”

“Apparently since the first student and faculty conference, when I couldn’t keep my eyes off you.”

“Oh, fuck.”

Daniel tsked, and Brantley narrowed his eyes.

“Language, professor.”