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

“I’m afraid we’ll do something to upset your daughter.”


Back against his headrest, “Yeah. That, too,” Edison said.


The flight took just over an hour. Sure enough, at the front desk, “Mr. Larrabee and Mr. Riser, you’ll be in room nine-seventeen.” The hotel concierge was under the assumption Edison was Lee, apparently, as she passed out keys to all the students and chaperones.


“Ground rules,” Stone said, throwing down his bag to claim the bed by the window the moment they entered the blue and gray room nearly identical in color to the airplane’s interior. “No touching one another. When we’re both in the room, no walking around naked. No walking around in a towel fresh from the shower. No asking if you can brush your teeth while I’m in the shower. In fact, we should both just stay fully dressed at all times.”


And yet, they both laughed. Then, they hugged.


Chapter 25