Page 14 of Kiss Me Honey Hone

Kenny exhaled a weary sigh. “Never ends, does it?”

“Not for me.”

“All right.” Kenny scrubbed a hand down his face. “Send me the full report when it’s ready, and I’ll get in touch with pathology. If this person is following a pattern, we may be able to establish a motive. And, hopefully, predict their next move.”

Jack extended his hand, gratitude and tension in his grip. It was still strange. To be so formal when they’d once been so much more, regardless that Jack was now a married man and Kenny…well, Kenny’s status was‘it’s complicated’.

“Guess I’ll see you Friday at the dinner.”

Kenny stood from his perch. “Yeah. Guess you will.”

“You should reconsider.” Jack searched his face.

“Going to the dinner?”

“No. Heather. You wanted to have something normal. To take you away from all this shit.” Jack gestured to the file. “It works wonders to have someonenotinvolved in it all. Trust me.”

Jack squeezed his arm, then left the lecture theatre. Kenny stayed where he was for a while. Sat back at the desk and did some work from there, where it was quiet. He had no idea how long it was, engrossed in his emails and checking through historical cases of undetected substance death, before the doors burst open and in walked another academic.

“Dr Lyons?” Professor Vijay Menon checked behind the door at the timetable for Lecture Theatre One. “Am I in the wrong place?”

“Ah. No.” Kenny stood, slapping his laptop shut. “Was just finding a quiet place to work. Podium’s yours.”

Kenny gathered up his things, stuck his pen between his lips,unplugged his laptop, and clutched it all to his chest as he made his way to the exit, ready to vacate the room for the next class—year oneIntroduction to Natural Sciences.Using his back to push the door open, he stumbled out into the main student centre. The noise hit him, louder than usual. The lunch crowd must have swarmed the building. He’d been squirrelling away unnoticed for two hours. Information booths and activity stalls for the new fresher cohort took up every corner, making navigating the bustling space quite the challenge for an academic juggling a bunch of stuff and late for his next appointment.

As he manoeuvred through the thick crowd, he awkwardly tried to check his watch, worried he was now late for his PhD student’s mentorship, and he was about to slip through the gathering crowds when a sudden break between groups gave him a clear view of what had caught their attention.

His mouth dropped open, pen falling to the ground.

Because there, in the centre of the corridor, was Aaron—pole dancing.

In a loose T-shirt and tight fitting Lycra shorts, Aaron claimed that pole with fluid, practiced ease, lean muscles flexing under the sharp lights as he twisted and wrapped himself around the fixed retractable pole provocatively slowly, and Kenny watched, unable to look away as Aaron arched his back, slithering down before swinging back up with effortless grace. His mouth dried as Aaron then hooked his legs around the pole, body rising and stretching out horizontally, as if defying gravity, expression confident and teasing.

Then Aaron turned, dipping into a slow, tantalising spin, latching on Kenny through the crowd. He paused, upside down, T-shirt ruffling down to expose his pale, defined torso and that utterly mouthwatering barbell clamped through his left nipple. His lips quirked up in a daring smile. One that could undo a person in a heartbeat, and it sent a pulse of heat through Kenny.He felt his control slipping, lost in how Aaron commanded every single eye in the room.

Most notably,his.

Aaron slid down the pole, landing lightly on his feet, and tilted his head as if questioning Kenny’s presence. Before Kenny could do or say anything, the crowd moved again, everyone gathering in to sign up to the bloody Pole and Aerial Society.

Kenny used the moment to get himself in check and left.

* * * *

Aaron ached in muscles he hadn’t even known existed.

After a full afternoon demonstrating pole moves in the student centre, enticing first years to join the Pole and Aerial Society, he was ready to collapse. It had been relentless. He’d shown off spins, inversions, and climbs, switching out occasionally to let some girls take a turn on the pole, but mostly it had been him on there. Cause, apparently, he drew in the crowd. The only crowd he was interested in had been when Kenny had watched.

He still thrummed at the look of hunger in Kenny’s eyes.

But sadly, Kenny hadn’t returned and Aaron had to help a few nervous freshers go upside down, holding them steady while they fumbled for balance. By six o’clock, they called it a day, and as the last crowd trickled away, Aaron pitched in, helping pack up the stall and retract the pole with the other committee members. Somehow, Sade, the society president, had convinced him to be Social Secretary. Laughable, considering his social life comprised Mel, this pole dancing club, and the occasional car ride with Kenny. Oh, and Taylor. He always forgot about Taylor…But being on the committee would at least look good on his CV, maybe even help bolster his case for the bursary he’d applied for.

“Thanks for today,” Sade said, cramming the last of the pamphlets and sign-up sheets into a cardboard box.

“No problem.” He helped her lower the pole into the duffel bag she’d either cart home or stow in the Student Union’s storage. “Was all right, in the end.”

“Bet you loved it.” Sade winked as she scraped her curly hair up into a severe bun.

Sade was a final year biochemistry student. A total science nerd by day. By night, she rocked the pole like a pro. Aaron suspected she worked part time at a club, bringing in cash from patrons who liked their entertainment a touch more risqué than what university students could demonstrate in a communal corridor. But she never mentioned it, and he knew better than to ask. Coming from a strict Christian family, she kept her university life under wraps from her parents. Like he did.

---