Art teacher Stone Larrabee dreads parent/teacher conferences. One following Christmas break becomes especially awkward, when a man with whom he shared a hot anonymous hookup and a nasty argument afterward walks in. Edison Watts.<br><br>The moment they’re reunited, sexual sparks reignite. Too many conflicts force Stone to decree there can never be anything between them but the one night, though, even as fate keeps throwing them together throughout the school year, and developing feelings become hard to ignore.<br><br>Some problems are easily solved while others, including the reason for Edison’s initial attraction to Stone and the chip on Edison’s shoulder bigger than the high school’s football field, prove more difficult. Stone can teach, but he decides must also be willing to learn and grow. When Edison promises to do the same, can they find a way to make one and one equal two?

Substitute Teacher

The dogs were just trotting along, so calm and happy.


“Yeah. I guess it was sort of like the framework for who I am,” Stone replied. “And then I work toward the middle…my heart.”


“So far. We should never be finished, right?” Stone glanced over. “Always adding and growing.”


“And your use of color coincides with your emotions at the time?”


“What color am I now, Teacher Man?” Edison nudged him gently. “When you get home and add a swish for this walk, what paint will you choose? What color was I yesterday?”


“It does depend on the day,” Stone told him honestly. “Bright, sunny yellow, which is sort of my happy color. Then, as you noted before, fire comes in at times. Red, for anger, orange is heat. There’s an ugly color in there, a non-color, almost, a mix of a bunch of paints to kind of illustrate a mix of emotions. I call it blah.”


“I’ve also used green…green for hope.”


Chapter 21