Page 87 of Finley

“Yes. I’m okay.”

Daniel placed a hand on his arm and tilted his head to the side. “Are you sure? Because you look…worried.”

Brantley pushed his chair back and got to his feet, and Daniel turned to watch him as he paced back and forward, whatever the paper was still clutched in his hand.

He was starting to freak out.Is he sick?

“Brantley, what’s wrong?”

Brantley stopped when he was on the other side of the kitchen and then rounded back to face him. “You have to promise not to get mad.”

Well, fuck. Whenever someone started a sentence like that, it never usually ended great, but Daniel couldn’t think of a reason he would be mad at Brantley. They’d been together for nearly three and a half years, and he knew him almost as well as he knew himself. They also had a one hundred percent honesty policy between the two of them, so whatever Brantley wanted to tell him, it obviously couldn’t be that bad, or he’d already have heard about it.

“Okay…” Daniel said, his stomach churning.

Brantley fingered the top of the piece of paper in his hand before coming over and handing it to him. Daniel took it and turned it around. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off Brantley, who was now walking back across the room to where he’d been standing and running an agitated hand through his hair.

“What is this?” Daniel asked, finally looking at the paper he was holding. The first thing he saw was:It is our great pleasure to offer you admission to the University of Chicago Law School…And that was as far as he got before he continued to read that same line over and over.

When he finally realizedwhathe was holding, he looked up at the man wringing his hands together and shot out of his seat like a rocket had just gone off under him. As he thrust the paper out in front of him, his anger boiled to the surface.

Then he demanded again, “What is this, Brantley?”

“Finn, don’t get?—”

“What the fuck is it?”

“It’s…” Brantley held his hands up. “It’s an acceptance letter to the University of?—”

“I knowthat,” Daniel said, and marched over until he was standing directly in front of Brantley. “What I don’t understand is how the fuck they are accepting me, since I didn’t apply.”

“Finn.”

“Don’t fucking Finn me. We had this conversation. I said no. But you sent it anyway?”

Brantley rubbed a hand over his face and then dropped it to his side. “Yes. Okay? Fuck, Daniel. You are so damn bright. The most intelligent student to step through my doors in years, and I wouldnotbe doing what I thought was best for you if I didn’t give you this opportunity.”

Daniel tried to remain calm, but he couldn’t seem to battle the hurt and anger raging up inside him, because Brantley had gone behind his back and done this without even considering what he wanted.

“I don’t fucking want it!” he shouted, slapping the paper on Brantley’s chest. He went to yank his hand back, but Brantley was too quick and wrapped his hands around his wrists, pulling him in so he couldn’t move.

“Finn,” he said again, but this time, his voice was low as he rested his forehead against Daniel’s. “It’s two years. Two years and then you can do whatever you like. Come home, practice here—whatever you want. But you owe this to yourself. You are too smart to pass up the opportunity of one of the most prestigious schools wanting you to study with them.”

Daniel shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. He didn’t want this. Didn’t want to leave here. Leave Brantley. But he was pushing him away. He’d arranged the entire thing.

“I don’t want it,” he whispered again as a tear slipped free and a shudder racked his body.

Brantley touched his fingers under his chin and raised his face so they were looking at one another. “You need to do this, Finn.”

“But I don’t want to.”

“I know. But you need to anyway. I’ll write—I promise. And I’ll still be here when you come back,” Brantley said as he leaned forward and placed his lips to his ear. “Go. Go and be brilliant.”

There was no fighting the tears now, and when Daniel pulled away and stared at Brantley, he saw the determined set to his jaw and the thin line of his lips, just as they’d been years ago when they’d first met and Brantley had told him that they would never be more than teacher and student.

How wrong he was.

Numb, Daniel stepped away from the stranger telling him to leave, and like a zombie, he headed toward the front door, forgetting that he’d dumped his bag in the living room. When he reached it, he turned around, and Brantley was directly behind him.