Page 31 of Tutoring Mr. Hotshot

“Five minutes,” he agrees, taking a seat at the desk. He sets a timer on his watch, leaning it my way to prove he’s keeping me on the clock.

I open my mouth and prepare to give the most important speech of my life.

CHAPTER11

Rodney

Andry looks as if he’s two seconds away from attacking me. I know he’s not really going to hurt me. But the adrenaline crashing through my body isn’t all that sure. It wants me to flee. To run as far as I can until this threat is gone.

Except I can’t.

Not when he pleaded with me for a few minutes of my time. Five minutes and it’s over. Five minutes, and I can restart the process of trying to forget him.

“Back in Russia, it’s not ok to like men. I’ve watched people get hurt for looking at someone else the wrong way. I never felt safe,” he starts.

While he’s already told me some of this, it still hurts my heart that he’s had to hide so much of himself. Ma and Aries have always supported me. My sexuality has never been an issue for either of them. I can’t imagine having to pretend for my own safety.

Andry continues talking, oblivious to my mood change. “The few times I could be with others, I had to enjoy it for as long as I could. That meant researching what I wanted before meeting them. There wasn’t time to experiment like others.”

“Experiment?” I ask, though I hadn’t meant to say it aloud.

“Yes. Kinks, you know.”

My eyes go wide at the single word. He can’t be saying what I think he’s about to say.

“Well, I found I really preferred one thing above the rest. I wanted to take care of someone. Wanted them to trust me to be there for them in all ways.”

Andry’s eyes meet mine. There’s nothing but honesty in his gaze. He’s not trying to make me uncomfortable or anything. It’s more like he just wanted to be honest.

I relax a bit as I wave for him to continue. The timer is moving pretty quickly.

“You bring out the caregiver in me. I want to date you, Rodney. I want to be the man you can turn to when something is wrong. I’m not sure what happened when we had dinner before, but I promise to fix it if you’ll give me a chance, little genius.”

“Little genius?” I repeat slowly. “You call me that because you’re a…”

He nods. “I am a Daddy. Or I’d like to be. I want to be your Daddy. Ugh! I’m messing this all up.”

“No, you’re not. I’m confused, yes. But I’m also curious. Why me? There’s nothing special about me. You could be with anyone else on campus. Anyone in the world, really, with the way you play.”

“You’ve watched me play?”

His voice is filled with emotion. It’s reverent, and I’m thrown back to Aries asking Ma if she’d be able to make it to one of his games between her busy work schedule when he was in high school.

I’m sure with the level of skill Andry has, he’s used to being fawned over. At the same time, with his history in Russia, maybe all the attention was unwanted. Being the apple of everyone’s eye would mean he had even less of a chance to be his authentic self.

“Not yet. I’ve heard all about you though. They say you’re a definite pick for getting drafted.”

“That is what they say,” he replies softly.

Does he… does he not want to be drafted? He’s not bragging like the other guys would if I mentioned it. My own brother went around shouting from the rooftops the minute he thought he’d make it all the way.

The timer goes off, startling me and leaving Andry frowning. It’s obvious he isn’t done.

“Keep going. I want to hear what else you have to say.”

He brightens a bit. “I know you might be wary of my intentions. The only thing I can say is that I do not want anything bad to happen to you, ever. If you gave me a chance, I’d show you I’m the perfect Daddy for you. I’d be everything you need.”

“I’m not sure how to respond to this. You’re telling me you want to date me and that you want to have a power dynamic relationship as well. I’m already a social pariah. This would only make things worse.”

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