Wanting His Professor (Gay Romantic Suspense)

Daniel Zenk and Hank Turcotte walked through the crowded hallway of Rowland Hall, the building that housed the English Department at Tri-State University. A confused guy carrying too many books glanced back and forth between the printed schedule in his hand and the room numbers on the doors. That left him no time to watch where he actually walked. He bumped into Dan and Hank. All his books tumbled to the floor. Hank bent down to help the young man while Dan just scowled, saying, "That's what I love about the first day of classes...clueless freshman roaming the halls like a bunch of lost kids in a toy aisle at Christmas." "Give him a break," Hank said as he packed the last book in the kid's arms and glanced at the schedule in his hand. He pointed the freshman on his way towards the correct classroom. The young man mouthed his thanks and scampered away. Hank continued, "It was only three short years ago that we were in his shoes." "Were we ever that young and pimply-faced?" Dan asked. "Pimply-faced, you? Um, no. Ever since I met you way back at freshman orientation, you've always looked like you walked out of the pages of GQ!" "Thanks, buddy!" Dan said giving his friend a playful punch on the arm. "Remind me again why we never hooked up, especially since we've been roommates for three years." "Because I want a husband and you just want a good time," Hank explained with no malice or judgment in his voice. "And you never tell that up front to the guys you date. They usually find out when you get bored with them and dump them!" "Good reasons," Dan winked. "You know what else I want? To blow through senior year, get my business degree and start raking in the cash." "I just hope I can get a good paid internship when I graduate," Hank said. "Internship? I expect at least a junior executive job in the financial district." Dan stopped walking and looked his friend directly in the eye. "And I never settle for anything less than I want." Hank raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement. "And why does that scare me?" Instead of responding to Hank's question, Dan pointed to the faded number painted above the window on the classroom door. "Room 105, looks like this is it." The two young men walked through the door of the mostly full classroom. They scanned the area deciding where to sit. Hank turned to face Dan so he could speak discreetly. "Don't look near the window." Of course, Dan craned his neck around his friend and did precisely what Hank had just told him not to do. "What part of 'don't' didn't you understand?" "What am I not supposed to be seeing near the window?" Dan asked. "Ed!" Dan glanced at Ed who didn't notice anyone because he was too busy spinning a ruler on the end of a pencil like a fifth-grader. "So?" "Isn't it going to make you uncomfortable to be in the same class with your ex-boyfriend's best friend?" "Hank, I think that's called 'projecting.' A situation like that might make you uncomfortable. I don't give a s**t!" "In order to find myself in that situation, I'd first have to get a boyfriend before I could end up with an ex-boyfriend!" Dan shook his head in agreement and took a seat. Hank sat down in the seat behind him. He looked over his shoulder at Ed. "You don't see that very often." Following his friend's gaze, Hank looked over at Ed too. "See what? A college senior trying to balance his books edge to edge to see how high the pile can get before it topples?" "No, well, that too, but I meant Ed's friendship with Mike. Unfortunately, you don't see a lot of straight guy-gay guy best friendships like that. If Ed was a woman, it would be like the whole Will & Grace dynamic and that I could see, but Ed is definitely all man and he's one hundred percent straight." Already bored with talking about Ed, Dan changed the subject. "I hate English classes. I've been putting this one off for so long, but it's a graduation requirement. Literature of the Western World! Didn't they shove this stuff down our throats enough in high school?" "Really. That must be the professor over there, the one with his back to us talking to that girl." Dan looked down at his schedule. "It says the professor's name is Jason Montell. I wonder if he's a tough grader." Dan's attention turned to checking out a tall guy with a goatee who had just entered the classroom. "I wonder if he's single..." "I love how you skip the part about wondering if he's gay." Dan glanced back at Hank. "You, my friend, need to stop letting irrelevant obstacles get in the way of your goals." "Oh, brother," Hank sighed. "Besides, it's been like what, two weeks since you broke up with Mike?" "Two weeks and two hook-up app meetings later." Hank winced. "Stop. Please." Dan shrugged. "You asked." "Do you think that Mike will be jealous if he finds out you moved on so fast?" "A little jealousy never killed anyone," Dan stated. Before his friend could respond, Dan reached across the desk and grabbed Hank's arm. "Look at that guy. Now that's s*x on two legs!" Hank scrunched up his face in confusion. "It looks like your pointing at-" "The professor!" Professor Jason Montell had turned around to face the class. Dan studied all the thirty-five year old professor's handsome classic features. Sexy stubble covered his strong jawline. Dan imagined caressing the professor's face and letting that stubble tickle the palm of his hand. He could almost feel it against his cheeks as they kissed passionately, each man's mouth seeking out the other greedily. The professor's piercing eyes looked through stylish hipster glasses. Dan imagined sitting by a fire with the professor and seeing the flames reflected in the lenses. Dan would carefully reach over and remove the professor's glasses and set them aside. They would stare into each other's eyes and Dan would suddenly discover an even sexier and more powerful man that had been hiding underneath the specs. Losing his glasses would transform the professor from a buttoned-up, shy academic to a s*x-starved wild man. Only Dan could satisfy the professor's previously unexplored urges. The professor's dark hair was cut short on the sides. The flawless style flowed seamlessly to the top of his head where the hair grew thick and full with a "slightly messy on purpose" look. Dan imagined running his hands over the professor's head, feeling the fine hair beneath his fingertips. Dan would be sitting on the professor's lap, facing him with their naked skin rubbing together. As the professor kissed his chest, Dan would curl strands of the professor's hair tightly around his fingers, pulling the professor closer to him, guiding the sexy man's head exactly where he wanted it... "Hey, are you listening to me?" Hank asked. Dan snapped out of the dirty daydream. "Sorry, what?" "I was agreeing with you that the professor is cute. You know, for an older guy," Hank conceded. "He sure does have that DILF thing going down..." Dan said, prepared to let his imagination run wild again. The professor checked the time on his cell phone. He looked up at the students and smiled. "And add in an irresistible smile," Dan whispered to Hank in case Hank needed any more convincing that Professor Jason Montell was the perfect man. The professor passed out the class syllabus as he spoke. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to English 203. I'm Dr. Jason Montell. The purpose of this semester is to introduce you to, and get you excited about, the beauty of Western Literature. This is a survey course so we'll cover a lot of material fairly quickly. We're going to start right in today talking about literature from the ancient world, specifically the Greeks..." Dan doodled in his notebook while the professor spoke. He was more than ready to start right in – on figuring out how to get Professor Jason Montell into bed! * * * An hour and a half later, Jason ended the class. Students gathered their books, notebooks, tablets, and bags. A short line formed at the front of the room where a few students approached the professor to talk to him. While exiting the room, Hank said to Dan, "Seems like the class will be pretty good. At least Professor Montell sounds excited about the topic when he talks." Dan looked over his shoulder to get one last glance at the sexy instructor. He sighed contentedly. Hank prattled on. "I took about one page of notes today. How about you?" Hank reached for Dan's notebook, but Dan pulled it away from him. "What did you do that for? As your roommate, I've seen you come out of the shower naked, but you don't want me to see some English notes you wrote during class?" Dan pulled the notebook away even farther. It slipped out of his hand to the floor, revealing the first page. Dan bent down to retrieve it, but Hank was faster. Hank snatched it away. His eyes widened as he scanned the page. "Why did you write Professor Montell's name over and over?" "I didn't want to forget it," Dan shrugged. "Get real!" Hank shot him a look. Then he flipped to the next page. "Where are your notes? The rest of the pages are blank." "Nothing gets by you, Nancy Drew." "Very funny. Seriously, the professor lectured for over an hour and all you did during that time was write his name in various fonts? We were making fun of Ed acting immature while you spent an entire class session acting like a schoolgirl with a crush on your teacher." Since Dan didn't deny or defend his actions, Hank continued as a cautious look came over his face. "Wait a minute, don't tell me you were serious about being attracted to the professor." Dan waved the thought away with a dismissive hand gesture. "No, of course not. I was bored to tears with that background info he was spouting about Athens and the Acropolis. I wasn't about to bother trying to remember any of that nonsense so I was just scribbling to stay awake." Picking up on Hank's look of doubt, Dan added, "That's all. Really." Hank couldn't decide if he should believe his friend. The indecision showed in his voice. "Well, I was just thinking that if you had, like, a thing for the professor... I know how you can be once you get an idea in your head." "Come on, Hank. Me and Professor Montell? He's older than thirty!" Dan made sure the outrage showed on his face as well as in his voice. "First, that should be my line. Second, I remember some of the guys you dated before Mike so save your righteous indignation for someone who doesn't know you as well as I do." Dan winked and shook his head in approval of Hank's boldness. "There's hope for you yet, Hank," Dan laughed.