At 16, Stacy Evans dropped out of high school in the hopes of moving on with his life. But four years later, he's stuck in an abusive relationship with Lamar, a "friend with benefits," and works long hours at a dead-end job just to get by.<br><br>Then his mother enrolls him in a program to earn his GED. There he meets Darian, a woodshop teacher who is everything Stacy's friends are not -- smart, successful ... and who seems to take a personal interest in helping Stacy turn his life around. The two develop a rapport that keeps Stacy after school just to spend extra time with him. In intimate moments alone, they grow closer than just student and teacher.<br><br>On the right track for once, Stacy has a chance to choose between his troublesome past and a promising future with Darian. But his jealous friends won't let him go so easily.

Stepping Up to the Plate

“Twenty-eight,” Darian corrected. Still not bad. “I only went to school part time my last two years of college, and I liked ninth grade so much, I took it twice.”


“No shit?” With a lopsided grin Stacy studied his teacher, unable to believe the man in front of him once failed a grade or ever got held back in school. “How’d that happen?”


Darian shrugged. “I was a cut-up in class.”


“Really?” The image of Darian goofing off in class came all too easily—a guy like him had a personality as irresistible as the call of the distant tide. He crashed through any room he entered, drawing others to him with an irresistible attraction. In school he must’ve been the big man on campus, everyone’s friend, people clamoring to get next to him. “Were you in the principal’s office a lot?” Stacy stopped himself from adding, like me?“Detention and all that shit?”


Chapter 49