Art of Love (Valley Boys Book 1)

by Vicki Tharp

  Demetri glanced up, a sad smile softened his features. “One of the professors is taking an unexpected sabbatical. I imagine having to cancel her classes has added a bit of chaos to the schedule.”

  “If I didn’t need the class for my minor, I would—”

  “No. I wouldn’t ask you to jeopardize your ability to graduate on time for...” Demetri gestured between the two of them as if he didn’t know how to define their relationship.

  “Dick?” Roman said, filling in the blank.

  Demetri laughed but turned to him. “But it’s more than that. Right?”

  “Yeah.” But they didn’t have to define it. They only had to figure out a way to make it work if they both wanted it to. “There are no departmental rules about being friends, is there?”

  “No.” Demetri brightened, his smile now more genuine than guarded. “We can take things slow. If at the end of the semester, we want to see where things can go, then we can do that.”

  “Slow.” Roman chuckled. “I think we surpassed slow that first night when you went down on your knees and sucked me off in the alley.”

  Demetri sucked in a breath. “Fuck. That’s not helping. You’re going to make me hard just thinking about it.”

  “I’m already hard.”

  Demetri glanced down. In a pair of athletic shorts, Roman had no way to hide what Demetri did to him. Demetri pushed off the car. “I’m going to go before I help you out with that.”

  Roman waited and watched while Demetri pulled away, adjusting himself before he got into his car. The whole drive home Roman tried to navigate the fine line between appropriate friendship and an inappropriate relationship.

  A few months in the grand scheme of things wasn’t all bad, but he’d have the biggest case of blue balls by the end of it. He’d already jacked off more in the past week than he had since he’d first figured out how good it felt to come.

  Back at his apartment after spending his drive manufacturing ways to engineer more alone time with Demetri, he glanced at Moses sitting on the couch. Judging from the stack of beer cans, the pizza box, and the empty chip bags, Moses hadn’t moved from that cushion all day.

  Roman plucked one of the earpieces away from Moses’ head and said, “You need to disappear tomorrow night.”

  “What?” Moses did a double-take, then paused his game and tugged his headset down to his neck.

  “I need the apartment tomorrow night.”

  Moses grinned. Chip crumbs fell from his shirt when he shifted to get a better look at Roman. “You and the professor going to get naked?”

  “No. But I don’t want him to see another student here and have you scare him off.”

  8

  “You hungry?” Roman asked.

  It was Sunday night, and Demetri walked Roman to his car at the Center after a long day at the community lot. Roman had spent his day making concrete forms for the sidewalk and a flat-top area where the kids would be able to play games like hopscotch and foursquare, as well as helping Grant and the boys build above-ground planters for gardening.

  After painting a primer coat on the concrete walls, Demetri had tiny white flecks of overspray on his old T-shirt, in his hair, and on his face.

  “Starved.” Demetri glanced down at himself. “But I’m not dressed for anything fancier than a drive-through.”

  “I know a place where they don’t care what you wear, and the food is... passable.”

  Demetri’s brow went up. “Where?”

  “You’re going to have to follow me to find out.”

  “I’m supposed to be having dinner with my extended family tonight, but—”

  Damn. Roman had forgotten about that. “Another night, then?”

  “I’d rather have dinner with you.”

  “Won’t they be mad you missed?”

  Demetri shrugged. “They’ll get over it.”

  Roman couldn’t help the grin that broke out across his face. If he’d been going for cool and detached, he’d totally blown it. “Great. Follow me.”

  In his car, Roman waited for Demetri to fire off a text to let whoever know he had other plans. When Demetri gave him the thumbs up, he pulled out of the parking lot with Demetri on his tail.

  He should have thought the whole dinner thing through a bit better. He wasn’t even sure what he had back at the apartment. They may have to order out if he couldn’t find anything to throw together.

  Ten minutes later, they parked in front of his apartment block. Demetri smiled as he got out, locked his car, and met Roman on the sidewalk in front of the stairs. “Is this how you lure all your men back to your place? Promise them dinner?”

  Roman chuckled. “You make it sound like I have a long string of men knocking on my door every night.”

  “Valid question.”

  Roman started up the stairs and glanced back to find Demetri a couple of steps behind. “The answer is no. I don’t have a string of men knocking at my door. And it’s not because I’m new in town.”

  “Then, why?”

  At the door, Roman ushered Demetri in ahead of him, hoping like hell Moses hadn’t left the apartment looking like a herd of beer-drinking, pizza-gobbling, weed-smoking wildebeest had run through it. He let out a relieved breath when the apartment appeared relatively intact.

  “Excuse the apartment,” Roman said as he continued past Demetri and went into the kitchen to check the freezer for options. “My roommate is only marginally housetrained.”

  “Your place isn’t so bad.” Demetri gave the kitchen a quick scan. “I don’t see any rats or roaches. I’ve seen plenty of college apartments that were closer to a biohazard than this one.”

  How many other college guys had Demetri hooked up with, despite how concerned he seemed to be about dating a student? Maybe it was all a show. Maybe Demetri did this all the time, like a new guy every semester kind of thing.

  That light, flighty feeling he’d gotten in his gut when Demetri had said yes to dinner dropped with a nearly audible thud.

  His thoughts must have shown on his face because Demetri quickly added, “Not that I see a lot of my students’ apartments. Or any of them. What I’m trying to say is...” Demetri took a breath and blew it out again. “What I’m trying to say is I’ve never seen a student before.”

  Before sort of indicated he was seeing one now.

  That goofy, feather-light feeling roared back, and Roman took Demetri’s hips in his hand and backed him against the counter. Demetri’s breath caught when Roman leaned close, loving that he had that effect on him. “Oh, yeah? What makes me so special?”

  Demetri swallowed hard. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”

  Any other time, any other man, and Roman would have taken their hand and led them back to his bedroom—especially when they looked up at him with unadulterated need and want in their eyes—and shown them exactly what made him so special. But, he wanted to respect Demetri’s boundaries.

  As much as Roman wanted a chance to get his hands and lips and teeth and tongue all over Demetri’s body, he understood Demetri’s concerns.

  Demetri’s nose wrinkled, and then he sniffed himself. “I reek. Maybe a drive-through would have been better.”

  “I’m a fan of the way you smell, but you can take a shower while I cook if you want to get some of the grime off. Tacos sound good to you?”

  “Tacos always sound good.”

  “You’ll want to use my bathroom. The guest bathroom in the hall is also attached to Moses’ room, and I’m afraid if you go in there, you’ll need a hazmat suit.”

  “That way?” Demetri pointed to the hall on the left.

  “Yes. I’d show you the way, but I’m afraid if I get you in my bedroom, I won’t let you out again.”

  Somewhere deep down, Demetri found the strength to not invite Roman into the shower with him. Three and a half months. One semester. That’s all he had to get through. If Roman were still interested then, they’d have plenty of time for dual showers and everyth
ing else that went along with them.

  He didn’t waste time washing up, even though he could have used the extra minutes to jack himself off so he could keep his hands to himself the rest of the night. But since his spank bank for the past week consisted of nothing but Roman, jacking off to him while in his apartment—in his shower—might push Demetri to do what he knew he shouldn’t.

  After all the grime rinsed down the drain, Demetri cut off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist, dreading the thought of having to put his dirty clothes back on after getting clean.

  He stared at himself in the mirror. What are you doing standing naked in your student’s bathroom?

  A bathroom with pictures of Roman with several older men stuck to the frame around the mirror. Old friends? Old lovers?

  He pushed that out of his mind. Roman’s past relationships weren’t any of his business.

  He glanced into the bedroom. When he’d left to take his shower, he’d only closed the door to the bedroom and had left the door to the bathroom open. He walked out of the bathroom to find the dirty clothes he’d left on the floor were gone and, on the bed, lay a clean pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.

  Demetri turned on his heel and glanced into the bathroom. The way the bathroom was designed, he had a direct line of sight to the shower with the frosted shower curtain on the back wall.

  Had Roman stood there and watched Demetri shower in silhouette?

  “Down boy,” Demetri said as his dick woke beneath the towel. That’s the last thing he needed when all he had to wear was a pair of sweatpants.

  He got dressed in Roman’s borrowed clothes. The sweats were too big, and the short sleeves on the T-shirt went nearly to his elbows.

  At least the shirt’s long hem covered his semi.

  He lifted the fabric to his nose and breathed in, the clean scent reminding him of Roman, making the situation beneath the sweats more immediate.

  Maybe he should have jacked off in the shower after all.

  The smell of ground beef and spices cooking met him as soon as he opened the bedroom door. He followed his nose to the kitchen and found Roman stirring and swaying his hips to some song he had playing through his earbuds.

  He tapped Roman on the shoulder, and Roman plucked one of the buds out of his ear and turned, his grin going wide. He loved the way Roman’s smile bunched up his cheeks and crinkled the skin around his eyes.

  But what Demetri loved most about Roman’s smile was how it made Demetri feel, like he was the beginning and end to Roman’s world. That he made Roman’s world brighter by existing. That all battles could be won. That all trials could be overcome.

  “Thanks for the clothes. Even if they do make me feel like I’m ten years old and wearing my father’s clothes.”

  Roman raked his eyes up and down Demetri’s body. His smile turned smoldering and salacious. “When I look at you, I don’t see a kid.”

  He should have let the thread of conversation stop there, but Demetri didn’t always do what was best for him. “What do you see?”

  Roman cut the heat on the burner and pushed the frying pan to the back of the stove. “I see a man who I want.”

  Shit. Demetri shouldn’t have led him on like that. “Roman...”

  Roman took a step back, and Demetri wanted to follow but didn’t. “I know. You about ready to eat? The beef’s cooked, and the shells are about to come out of the oven. All we need to do is put the condiments on the table.”

  Demetri could think of other things to do with that table, like bend Roman over it and—

  Roman cleared his throat. “When your eyes get all smoky and half-lidded like that, it makes me want to ask you what you’re thinking.”

  “For both of our sakes, I think I’ll keep it to myself.”

  “Probably best,” Roman said, though the way he said it, all sad and melancholy, made Demetri think that Roman didn’t agree with the very words he’d said.

  They each grabbed a beer from the fridge, served their plates, and sat down across from each other at the four-top table. Demetri loaded his tacos up with grated cheese, diced tomatoes, and sour cream and dug in.

  They didn’t talk much while they ate, each too hungry after a long day of work. The tightness had already started to settle into his shoulders from working the paint roller. At the rate his muscles were stiffening up, he’d be lucky to be able to lift his arms over his head in the morning.

  Good thing you don’t need to raise your hands above your waist to jack off.

  No one has to know. You could have sex right now, and no one would ever find out.

  Except he would know.

  And even if he got past the havoc having sex with a student could wreak on his career, he still had to get past the whole HIV disclosure thing.

  Fuck.

  HIV wasn’t something he could outrun. It would tag along with him for the rest of his life. It had gotten easier, day to day, living with his diagnosis, but the disclosures never got easier.

  Neither did the rejection.

  And the hell of it was, he liked Roman. Making whatever potential reaction Roman might have to the news even more consequential. It was one thing for some dude on the apps Demetri had never met to turn him down, but it was entirely different telling someone you had a connection with. The potential rejection was much more devastating.

  “What’s the matter?” Roman asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “You still have a taco left, and you haven’t touched your refried beans. I know I’m not a Cordon Bleu chef, but this isn’t half bad, so what’s eating you?”

  Say it. I’m poz. Two words. Easy.

  “I’m...” The words wouldn’t come. They latched onto his tongue with tiny barbed hooks he couldn’t dislodge. “I’m wondering when your roommate is due back.”

  “Liar.” Roman dropped half a half-eaten taco onto his plate and carefully wiped his mouth. “Wanna try again?”

  “Do you always date older guys?”

  Roman barked out a laugh, tossing his napkin on his plate. “Okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

  Demetri sent him an apologetic smile. “Thanks.”

  Roman picked at his taco shell and broke off a corner and chomped it between his molars. “You really want to know the answer to that question?”

  The question had been asked as a diversion, but Demetri did want to know the answer. “If you don’t mind.”

  “Yes.” Roman met his eyes and didn’t look away, as if he wanted to see every nuance of Demetri’s reaction. He’d have to disappoint Roman because, in the grand scheme of things, the age thing didn’t bother Demetri one bit.

  “Daddy issues?” Demetri was only half kidding.

  “Some people say I have an old soul. I seem to relate better to people older than me.” Roman shrugged. “But truthfully, I do have some abandonment issues playing a part, but not in the way you might think. My father didn’t reject me... But let’s say it taught me that one of the most important things in this life is honesty.”

  Demetri picked up the taco he’d laid down and started eating again, not wanting Roman to feel self-conscious that Demetri focused all of his attention on him.

  Filling the void in conversation, Roman continued, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you promise never to leave me.”

  Demetri choked and chuckled. “No?”

  “This is only our second date. I usually save that for the third.”

  Demetri swallowed. “This isn’t a date.”

  “Great. Then there isn’t an issue.” He stood and placed his plate next to the sink.

  “I’ll get the dishes. Why don’t you get a shower while I clean up?”

  “That mean you’re going to be here when I get back?”

  Demetri brought his plate to the sink as well, snagging the front of Roman’s shirt and pulling him in for a brief kiss. He tasted of beer and ground beef and the forbidden. Fuck.

  That kiss wasn’t even close to enough.

 
“I’m not going anywhere.”

  Before Roman returned from his shower, Demetri finished with the dishes and walked to Roman’s bedroom door, his hand on the knob before he stopped himself.

  He rested his forehead on the door, the exhaustion of the day catching up with him. He knew if he opened that door, he wouldn’t stop until he had Roman beneath him. And without a disclosure, that couldn’t happen.

  You’re undetectable. You’re untransmittable. You wouldn’t be putting his health in danger.

  Yet Demetri had made that promise to himself.

  The same way you promised yourself you’d never get involved with a student?

  Jesusfuckingchrist.

  Demetri thumped his forehead on the door. One. Twice. Trying to knock some sense into himself before he got himself into insurmountable trouble.

  “Come in.”

  Demetri turned the knob, even though that hadn’t been his intention. The door opened in his hand, and Roman stood there in a pair of athletic shorts, his chest still dotted with drops of water. “Um... I... Dishes are done.”

  Roman opened the door wider and stepped back, a clear invitation.

  For a college professor, Demetri was remarkably short on words. “I could turn the television on.” He sounded like an idiot. Maybe he should grab his things and leave. “Or I could go.”

  “I threw your clothes in the wash, so unless you want to go home in my clothes or naked, you’re going to have to wait.”

  “You washed my clothes?”

  “Like dinner, it’s all part of the evil plan when I lure unsuspecting men back to my place. Stealing their clothes makes it nearly impossible for them to leave.”

  “Tricky.”

  Roman took Demetri’s hand, and his heart spun up, the acceleration making his head spin. If Roman pulled him into the bedroom, he wouldn’t fight it. Instead, Roman led him back into the living room, killing the overhead lights as he went.

  With the kitchen lights on, they had ample light. Roman sat, and when Demetri went for the opposite end of the couch, Roman pulled him onto the cushion beside him. “I’m not going to bite. No promises about licking, kissing, and sucking, though.”