Page 24 of The Sunday Brothers Novellas

CHAPTER FIVE

PORTER

We were both soaking wet and covered in a mix of snow and sweat from hours working on the world’s largest downed tree.

Stacks of brushy branches formed messy piles around the edges of the driveway, and the remaining trunk lay naked and forbidding, a long, heavy reminder that regardless of all our hard work, we weren’t getting out of here anytime soon.

Because of the loud buzz of the chainsaw, we hadn’t been able to carry on a conversation while we worked, which was probably for the best. Instead, we’d worked side by side in what became…

well, not companionable silence, exactly, since it was more competitive than companionable and definitely not quiet.

But the interlude had begun with me truly angry, in a way I rarely was, and had ended as more of a teasing challenge.

There was something about physical labor, especially outdoors, that was always soothing.

It reminded me of all the times growing up on the orchard that my brothers and I had busted our asses trimming trees, harvesting apples, and generally hauling debris until our muscles ached and our stomachs cried out for a giant meal .

I couldn’t even be too sad that I’d technically lost the challenge.

“Go on in,” Theo said, nodding his head toward the small cabin. “You can grab a shower while I put this stuff away.” His mouth quirked up in a smile. “Never let it be said that I’m not gracious in victory.”

“Barely victory,” I muttered.

I was still mildly peeved at him for cheating with the whole “spare source of gas” thing earlier, so I didn’t argue. Instead, I jogged up to the cabin and helped myself to a long, hot shower without regard to saving him any hot water.

The scent of his fancy bodywash filled the steamy air around me as I scrubbed off the grime and tried to warm up.

I wondered idly if the bodywash had been a gift from someone.

It was a black pump bottle with “Salt & Stone” printed on it in gold lettering.

The smokey, woodsy scent was perfect for this place and the man who inhabited it, but the fact someone else might have determined that—might have known him well enough to select the perfect scent and splurge on a gift of it for him—made my back teeth clench in annoyance.

I ran my hands over my body and tried not to think of him, but that was impossible.

I’d watched him out of the corner of my eye while he worked to trim the largest branches off the tree with the chainsaw.

His muscles had moved under his shirt and jeans, drawing my eyes away from my own work so much that I would have lost the damned contest with or without the spare can of gas.

Christ , he was sexy. This was not new news, obviously, about a man who’d been nicknamed Doctor Hot-Cock years ago.

But being like this with him, when our student/teacher roles had been stripped away by circumstances and at Theo’s insistence…

even a monk would find themselves fantasizing about the man, and I was not a monk.

At least, not usually .

I hadn’t hooked up with anyone since the summer, which was…

shit, had it really been three months already?

It had been way longer than that since I’d had a regular relationship worth speaking of.

Between schoolwork, the gym, and the hours I’d spent both working and volunteering at the Hub, I barely had time for enough sleep, let alone satisfying sex…

and I instinctively knew that sex with Theo would be all kinds of satisfying.

When I’d let myself fantasize about him before, I’d imagined us having… well, hate sex. A white-hot, clothes-ripping, I’m-gonna-regret-this-but-it-feels-too-good-to-care stolen moment in his office, maybe, if I ever deigned to come to his fucking office hours.

But after being here with him, sharing a bed with him, seeing him relaxed and vulnerable and teasing… I was starting to envision something much different but every bit as hot.

I still didn’t understand the guy. I was still low-key angry after his explanation that morning.

And I still privately thought he was a professor on a power trip who wanted to make students beg…

but it didn’t matter. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t let Theo Hancock do to me.

There wasn’t much I wouldn’t beg for, sexually speaking, if he gave me half a chance.

I grabbed my cock under the pounding spray and began to imagine what that would look like. Me, kissing the smirk right off his face. Me, dropping to my knees and shutting him up by taking his cock in my mouth?—

“Get your ass out of there before I haul it out,” he shouted through the door. “You take any more of that hot water and I’m charging you for it.”

I clamped my lips shut to keep the laugh inside and let go of my dick—now was not the time—but I refused to hurry. Instead, I finished rinsing off as slowly as I could, half in hopes he actually would come in here and try to haul my wet, naked ass out.

When I finally turned off the spray and reached for a towel, I called out, “I’m sorry, what did you say?

I couldn’t hear over the sound of that heavenly hot water pounding down on my sore muscles.

You should try it. Feels amazing. Maybe give it twenty minutes to let the hot water heater catch up, though. ”

His grumble moved away from the door as I continued to laugh silently. The man was easy to tease.

After wrapping the towel around my waist, I realized I couldn’t put back on the wet, frozen sweats he’d loaned me earlier.

But I’d be damned if I was going to hide in here like a meek little maiden and ask for him to bring me something else.

I gathered my courage and strode out into the cabin, ignoring the way the cold air hit my skin and caused my nipples to tighten.

Something crashed to the floor, causing me to glance up at Theo. His eyes were locked on me, even as he crouched to pick up the lamp he’d knocked over. Time slowed as I felt his eyes roaming over my chest and abdomen, down to the towel, where his gaze definitely lingered.

“You…” He swallowed. “Don’t…”

“Have anything to wear? Yeah. Are my clothes from last night dry yet?”

“The, uh… the machine needs another dry cycle,” he said, finally looking away to straighten the lampshade. “But I’ll give you something that’ll warm you up.”

I quirked a brow, and wonder of wonders, Theo blushed.

Interesting.

“I meant clothes ,” he explained. “Warm clothes .”

He moved to the dresser on the far side of the room, muttering something about several layers of clothing and too many muscles .

Even more interesting .

He pulled items out of the dresser, tossed them on the bed, and pointed to them without saying a word before skirting past me to get to the bathroom for his own shower. I leaned toward him—not threateningly but sort of experimentally—just to test a theory.

Theo’s eyes flared with heat for just a second before he sucked in a breath and leaned away. “Excuse me,” he said very primly, looking over my shoulder. He stuck his chin in the air. “Please stand aside.”

Ugh . Nope, I so did not get this guy. This was where we were drawing the line, then? You’re not my student anymore, Porter . And don’t censor yourself, Porter . But also, you’re good enough to look at but not to kiss?

I wasn’t sure why this nettled me so much.

Maybe because Professor “You May Call Me Theo” Hancock had been consistently throwing me off my stride since I’d woken up beside him that morning?

Because I’d been hard for him for hours and had to forcibly stop myself from getting the release I needed in the shower?

Either way, I hated that he could make me so frantic while remaining so perfectly in control himself. It made me want to provoke him.

“You’re not scared of me, are you, Professor?” I murmured.

“Hardly.” He narrowed his eyes. “And I thought we agreed I’m not your professor anymore.”

“You’re right. We did. And that’s good because it seemed like you were looking at me some kind of way a minute ago. Almost like you might want to… kiss me.” I let my voice go low and husky. “Which makes me wonder why you’re trying so hard not to touch me now.”

“Porter.” Theo crossed his arms like a shield. “While you might not be my student anymore, you’re still a student. And I would not kiss a student if he had lifesaving anti-venom on his lips and I’d been bitten by a snake. ”

Then he scrambled past me into the bathroom and slammed the door.

I stared at the back of the door in surprise. He’d just admitted both more and less than I’d hoped.

It was common knowledge that while professor/student relationships (or hookups) might not be smiled upon at Hannabury, they weren’t forbidden.

They simply needed to be disclosed to the administration to make sure that the student was never enrolled in the professor’s class after that and that the professor didn’t exert any undue influence over the student.

It was similar to the way professors and other staff members weren’t allowed to date their supervisors or direct reports—which, I remembered Nolan telling me, had caused a scandal once upon a time.

Neither of those situations applied to me and Theo.

Also, it must be noted, Theo had not denied looking at me or about what he’d been thinking.

So what was his problem?

I yanked on another set of Theo’s clothes.

This time, he’d loaned me a soft pair of flannel pajama bottoms and an old NYU tee that must have been from his undergraduate days.

After pulling on the thick wool socks he’d set out for me, I padded over to the kitchen to see if I could help fix us a couple of sandwiches or something to tide us over until the stew was ready for dinner.