Chapter 2

Andrew whistled. “Nice set-up. No wonder you don’t want any of your students coming around. All you need is a game system, and you’d never get any of us to go.”

Levi snorted. “That’s not why I don’t want any of my students coming around. Haven’t you figured out yet that I don’t like any of you people?” He gestured at the couch, indicating Andrew should sit down. “Plus, I suspected if I ever let you come around, you’d take that to mean you had an open invitation.”

Andrew deliberately sat in the middle. “Nothing wrong with wanting some privacy. Personally, I’m very glad I don’t have to worry about you getting any more visitors tonight. It means I finally get you all to myself.”

“You had me all to yourself every week when you monopolized my office hours,” Levi said, perching on the arm of the couch. “What else do you want?”

“Oh, I can think of one or two things.” He crossed his legs, resting his ankle on his knee. “We can start with you saying yes to a date.”

Levi laughed, though not unkindly. “With who? You? You know I was married, right? To a woman?”

“And do you know how many married guys I know who wish they had the balls to just come out and admit they like other guys?” Andrew shrugged. “It just means you knew the truth all along.”

“Knew what truth all along?”

“That there’s nothing wrong in being gay. Or bi maybe. Though frankly, I’m leaning toward gay. You don’t have nearly the same spark with any of the girls in your classes that you do with me.”

“What makes you think that’s a sexual spark? Maybe I respect you for your mind.”

Andrew pretended to contemplate that possibility, then shook his head. “You wouldn’t have invited me in if you didn’t want me physically close. You would have asked me on the porch what I wanted, and if you really didn’t wonder what it would be like to bend me over your desk, you would have turned down my date offer and sent me on my way.”

Levi tilted his head and studied Andrew for a long beat. “Or maybe I invited you in because I wanted a chance to say goodbye to my favorite pain in the neck.”

“Goodbye? I’m graduating, I’m not dying. If anything, it’s finally a chance for us to throw the door open on a new beginning.”

Levi took a swallow from his cup, and his knowing hazel eyes were still fixed on Andrew. He had the tendency to do that in class, too. He would just watch patiently until Andrew finally twigged on the answer or the concept Levi was trying to make him understand. “You’re going to law school and moving on with your life. Now is as good a time as any to say goodbye.”

“Except law school’s just a jaunt down the road to Stanford.” He stretched his arm along the back of the couch, letting his fingertips graze over the elbow Levi leaned upon. “Did I tell you that it was your recommendation letter that got their attention? I’m not sure I would have gotten in without you.”

Levi glanced down, his gaze falling briefly on Andrew’s fingers, before refocusing on his face. “That’s not true, Andy. You probably could have waltzed in to any law school in the country.”

His throat tightened. Levi didn’t use his first name very often; nine times out of ten, it was Mr. Parish this, or Mr. Parish that. Every time Andrew heard it, the sound of it rolling in his smooth baritone made him sizzle.

“Only because you pushed me.” In long, languid strokes, he let his fingers glide over Levi’s skin, never pushing too hard, always within easy control to retreat should Levi make noises about wanting him to back off. Each caress electrified his veins, until it felt like there wasn’t any piece of him not scorched by just that careful contact. “I’ve never known anyone like you before.”

Levi allowed the contact to continue for a few more seconds before straightening, moving just out of Andrew’s reach. “Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere. I’m not going to agree to a…” He shook his head, like he couldn’t quite believe what he was about to say. “A date. Or anything else.”

“Why? What are you afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid of anything, Mr. Parish. I just don’t want to go on a date with you. I don’t date students orformer students.”

Another man might have taken the refusal at face value. Andrew had spent four years falling in love with him. He wasn’t about to give up at the first sign of opposition.