Page 107 of Dear Mr. Brody

The door opened, and Parker walked in, his wide smile, usually a breath of fresh air, had sweat breaking out across my forehead. He stopped abruptly as she turned to look over her shoulder, and I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.

“Have a seat… Mr. Mills. We can go over your assignment in just a moment.”

The authority in my voice came out of nowhere, and I swear to God his lips twitched.

“Sure thing, Mr. Brody.” He gave me a lopsided smile, and my collar became a noose.

I pulled open the top button on my shirt as Vivian turned to face me again. Pushing a strand of her black hair behind her ear, she said, “I’ll take a seat in the back, but please, pretend like I’m not here.”

“Easier said than done,” I muttered under my breath as she walked away.

She chose the very back row, but even once the room was filled with students, she wouldn’t be hard to miss. Parker waited until she was seated before he approached my desk with his notebook tucked under his arm. To make my life more miserable, he had on a black sweater that hugged every ridge of muscle in his arms and chest. His hair was damp, and I could smell his shampoo. He’d kept the sides trimmed short but hadn’t touched the length on top since we’d started dating. When I asked him about the change, he’d said it was because he liked the way I ran my fingers through it when he gave me head. And holy shit, I couldn’t think about that right now.

“Mr. Brody,” he said, his smooth voice, his cocky smile, there was nothing I could do to stop my cheeks from filling with that familiar shade of pink. “Who’s the chick?”

“That would be the dean of the English department,” I whispered, and his smile died. “Did you finish the paper?” I asked, this time loud enough anyone in the room could have heard.

“Um… shit.”

I heard her soft laugh, and Parker opened his notebook to a random page with equations and math notes.

“I think I want to change the ending,” he said, and I knew he was talking about his play. On the nights he stayed over, we’d work on it together, and sometimes on the nights Anne was there too. Sometimes she’d chime in with ideas, and I loved that he’d listened to her as intently as he would have if she were an adult. “Everyone pretty much has their roles nailed down, but I don’t want Silas to die.”

“He doesn’t die. Tink sacrifices herself so Pan can have his happily ever after.”

“I know, but… what if Pan saves Silas, instead.” His lips parted into one of my favorite smiles. It was the same smile he’d given me the first morning we’d woken up together, or whenever Anne told him some amazing fact about the weather, or when his best friend said something outlandish in class. It was one-hundred-percent real and unfiltered. “What if Pan sacrifices himself. Tink will still give up her magic and sacrifice her life, but it will be for both of them, which makes more sense anyway.”

“One last grand gesture to show Silas how much he loves him,” I said. Parker wet his lips, and God, I wanted to reach up and brush my thumb over the curve of his mouth. “I think that’s very romantic, Mr. Mills.”

“Maybe we can talk about it some more after class?” he asked as a couple of students walked in.

“I think that’s possible.” I lifted my head and noticed Vivian had her phone in her hand, her attention glued to the screen. “I have something I want to go over with you as well.”

“Oh?” Parker took a step toward me as another group of students walked in. “What’s that?”

His spiced soapy scent was thick in the heated air between us. My body reacted to him, not giving one single shit that the room had begun to fill with students, or that my boss was only a few rows away. Half hard, I took a step back and moved behind my desk.

“I’ll see you after class, Mr. Mills.”

He rapped his knuckles on the desk before making his way to his usual seat. I tried, unsuccessfully, to pretend Vivian wasn’t there as I pulled up my lesson on the laptop. A few minutes passed as I read over my notes and wiped down the whiteboard. When I turned around, the seat next to Parker was no longer empty. Marcos had shown up, and already had Parker laughing about something. I hadn’t had a chance to spend any time with Parker’s friend, and I thought maybe that was a shitty boyfriend thing to do. Anders and Ethan were having dinner with us tonight at my place, maybe I should invite Marcos too. I had a few minutes to spare before class started, plenty of time to shoot off a quick text.

Me: Do you think Marcos would want to have dinner with us tonight?

Parker: Are you sure?

Me: I wouldn’t have asked otherwise. I want to know your friends.

I pressed send and glanced up in time to catch his small smile.

Parker: He said sure.

Parker: He also said he’s not into threesomes.

Me: Did you actually ask him?

Parker: No. Not yet.

I coughed to cover my laugh, even though the room was buzzing with conversation.

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