Page 4 of Painted

He was pretty sure he failed at that.

“Don’t you have a class you’re supposed to be teaching right now?” Early asked, their expression turning all business as they glanced at the master class schedule on the wall behind the desk. That color-coded bit of genius had been Early’s idea.

“His model hasn’t shown up,” Rebecca said. “Have you heard anything this morning from Gary Fisher?”

“Oh, yes,” Early said, their voice both soft and masculine. They smiled up at Rhys as they said, “He called half an hour ago to say he isn’t going to be able to pose for the class after all.”

Dread pooled in Rhys’s gut. He should have known that Gary would back out at the last possible moment. Posing nude for a roomful of strangers sounded great, until you actually had to take your clothes off.

“Shit,” Rhys sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. “I was afraid of this. This is one of the new classes, too, and it’s full.”

“What are you going to do?” Rebecca asked. “You can’t just cancel the class when—” she glanced to the side, at the clock on the office wall, “—when it’s already started. We can’t go handing out refunds like that.”

“I know, I know,” Rhys said. He rested his weight on one leg and glanced out at the rush of students running to get to classes that had just started. “I suppose I could ask one of the students to pose. It’ll just be for three or four sessions.”

“I could do it,” Early said, standing from their office chair.

Every instinct in Rhys shouted for joy, for more reasons than one.

Then sense kicked in.

“I’m not sure that would be a good idea,” he said.

“I’d love to do it,” Early said, stepping proactively out from behind the desk. “I’ve always wanted to be a model for a drawing class.”

Rhys winced a little as he studied Early. He was in a pinch and no one else was offering, but it felt like a terrible idea for him to see Early nude when his emotions about them were going places they really shouldn’t.

Time was ticking.

“Seriously, I’d love to pose for you,” Early said, then immediately stammered, “I mean, for your class. The class is only an hour long, right?”

“Right,” Rhys said hesitantly.

Early glanced over their shoulder at Rebecca. “You can spare me for an hour, can’t you?”

“I can,” Rebecca said, her eyes dancing with mirth as she tried to keep a straight face.

“Then let me do it,” Early said. “Let me help you out.”

Rhys sighed and glanced at the clock. Class had started five minutes ago. He didn’t have any choice.

“Alright,” he said, heading out of the office and gesturing for Early to follow him. “I just hope you’re ready for a bunch of mischievous old ladies ogling your junk.”

TWO

Early nearly trippedover their feet as soon as Rhys mentioned old ladies ogling their privates. It hit them about thirty seconds too late exactly which class Rhys needed a model for. The nude class.

They should have guessed sooner. They’d helped Rhys schedule the class and send out release forms and FAQ sheets to everyone who had signed up to make certain no one was surprised.

Now they were the one who was surprised. Way more than surprised.

The only thing that kept them putting one foot in front of the other as they followed Rhys down the hall to his painting classroom was the force of the crush they had on him.

“You have no idea how grateful I am to you for stepping up like this,” Rhys said, his voice and his expression conveying that relief even more than his words. “I was seriously worried I would have to strip off and pose myself.”

Early laughed breathily. “We wouldn’t want to have that now, would we?”

It came out as far too much of a genuine question. Mostly because imagining Rhys naked while touching exactly the part of themselves that the world was about to see was something Early had done far too often.

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