by Sean Michael
“Nope. I haven’t had that pleasure yet.” He started moving toward the doors.
“It’s a few blocks away. I’m surprised you haven’t been. It’s an institution.” Kenn smiled, the expression lighting up his face. “They have an apple cinnamon cheesecake to die for.”
“I haven’t been in town long enough, I guess. To die for, eh?”
“It’s why I’m here. Tim promised to buy me cheesecake.”
“And then he bailed on you? Does he do that often?” They went out the door into the night.
“We’re neighbors, office mates, and close friends, but we’re not lovers. He is totally on the market.”
“But he promised you cheesecake.”
“He did, and if I’d fussed, he would have changed his plans.”
“Well, his loss is my gain.”
“If nothing else, I’ll introduce you to Alice’s.”
“Yeah, show me this miracle cheesecake. I need miracle cheesecake in my life.” He offered Kenn his arm.
“Oh.” That little surprised look made his balls ache. “Thank you. How gallant.”
“I like the sound of that. Gallant. Very old-fashioned. It suits you.”
“Thank you. I suppose I am.”
“The historic history professor. Has a ring to it.” He walked along with Kenn, enjoying the evening.
It was cool, but not cold yet in Ontario, and the campus was lovely, classic, like a picture. Dave loved this kind of thing, this ideal-looking slice of life. He loved knowing that all manner of mysteries hid beneath it. That it was never as clean and perfect as it seemed.
Kenneth seemed happy to walk along quietly. They turned down behind the math and engineering building, coming upon a well-lit fifties-style diner with a neon sign blinking Alice’s. The place was surprisingly busy, given they were well past the dinner hour.
He opened the door for Kenn and ushered him in. As soon as they crossed the threshold, they were hit by warmth, by the smell of food.
“Dr. B!” A group of young ladies waved at him. “You want to join us? We’re sharing the mammoth sundae!”
Mammoth indeed. The vast dessert came with plastic paddles.
“Not this time. You guys have at.”
“You’re a very popular professor,” Dave commented. “I’m going to have to fight for time with you once the semester truly starts.”
“You’ll find a group of admirers and be busier than you think.”
“I’m hoping for one admirer in particular, as it happens.”
“Oh?” He was interrupted as the hostess walked up. “Table for two, please.”
“Right this way.” They followed her to a small booth about halfway down the row next to the window.
Dave sat across from Kenn. The guy really was good-looking.
“They have a huge menu—they’re known for breakfasts and desserts.”
“But you have a favorite that I need to try.” He was totally a believer in recommendations.
“I’m going for the apple cinnamon cheesecake and a cup of coffee.”
“That sounds delightful. I’ll have coffee with mine too.” He liked cheesecake okay; most of all he wanted to taste the thing that Kenn was excited about.
“Good deal.” Kenn ordered for them when the waitress came over, then leaned back in the booth. “So this is Alice’s. Open 24/7. Incredibly popular. You’ll find RPGs, study sessions, bullshit sessions, and love affairs beginning and ending here at all hours.”
“I love it. It’s been here forever, right? As long as the university’s been open?”
“It’s been around since the twenties, believe it or not.”
“I do. I’ll have to look up the history of it. Maybe I’ll make it my thesis.” He let his foot touch Kenn’s.
“I’m not sure that qualifies as old enough for archaeology.” Kenn blinked at him, then shifted in his seat.
He slid his foot forward until he reached Kenn’s foot again. “That would be part of my thesis—why it does.”
“I…. Fascinating.” Those eyes were so green.
He held Kenn’s gaze. “I hope so. If I can turn the thesis into a book….” He grinned. “I’d be a modern day Indy. Not that he had anything to do with my wanting to become an archaeologist. Not at all….” He’d adored Indiana Jones from the moment he’d seen the beginning of the first movie.
“Yes? Not Jurassic Park?”
“Well, technically Jurassic Park would be paleontology not archeology. Besides, the first time I saw that movie it scared the shit out of me.” He laughed, remembering his older sister being such a shit. “The movie was helped along by some realistic sounding dinosaur noises and hot breath right behind me.”
“Have you seen the newest one?” Kenn began to relax visibly as they talked.
“God yes. Owen was the hottest fucking alpha I have ever seen.” He might have rewound and watched those parts of the movie over and over. And over.
“I loved it when he said he was the alpha. Too sexy.”
“Oh yeah.” So Kenn had noticed how hot that was. Excellent. Dave was an alpha himself, and it was always nice to get confirmation that the guy he was with responded well to an alpha.
They chatted about movies, music, and work, and then the cheesecake was there—thick and creamy and decadent.
“Damn.” Looking at it made Dave drool, and he was pleased he hadn’t finished that second beer—it left more room for this cinnamony dessert. “Well, if it tastes half as good as it looks, it’s going to be epic.”
“It’s going to be epic.” Kenn waited for him to take a bite—and he’d have to explore that instinct later—then smiled at his moan.
The cheesecake itself was light and creamy, rather than heavy. The crust was just enough to support it and added cinnamon flavor with the smallest crunch. The caramelized apples on top were the slightest bit tart, which kept the caramel from making the dessert too sweet. Dave savored the bite for a long moment before nodding. He couldn’t help but tease a little, though. “Not bad.”
“If you don’t like it, I’ll take it home for breakfast.” Looked like Kenneth could tease right back.
“No, no, I think I’ll suffer through it.” Grinning, he took another forkful. He watched Kenn closely, though. He wanted to see how Kenn looked enjoying something.
Kenn took a bite and closed his eyes, the look purely sexual and deliciously sensual.
Fuck yes. He would take one of those, please. And he didn’t mean the cheesecake.
He continued to watch, and when Kenn opened his eyes, Dave smiled right at him, nice and slowly.
“It’s good. I indulge myself once a month.”
“Nice willpower, keeping it to that.” Of course the damn thing had to have about five-million-and-a-half calories in it. “My weakness is poutine.” He could eat fries with cheese curds and gravy like it was on the endangered list.
“Mmm. Yes, I can handle some of that, and it’s fewer laps in the pool to work off.”
“I should have known you were a swimmer. You have the body for it—broad shoulders, lean muscles. I bet you have a hell of a washboard for abs.” And Dave wanted to see them. He wanted to do more than see them—he wanted to touch, to caress and stroke.
“I try. I was a competitive swimmer once upon a time.”
“Oh, rock on! Did you ever get to the Olympics?” Those guys were amazing. The dedication had to be huge to get to that level.
“God no, but I was on the swim team all through my studies.”
“Very nice. I’ve never really been a sports guy. I mean, I did phys ed all through high school but never went out for the teams. I prefer, uh… more private activities.” One didn’t just come out and say, “Hi, I’m a Dom. Wanna be my sub?”
“It was more for the scholarship and exercise than a love for the competition. I like to eat, so I need to exercise.”
“That takes good discipline. I admire that in a man.” That and a whole lot more. Dave touched his foot to Kenn’s
again, rubbed them together for a moment.
“Thanks. I take it you are one of those lucky bastards who are naturally attractive?”
“I work out to keep my shape, but attractive is about more than just muscles. You, for instance, are very good-looking, and I’m guessing it’s not anything you’ve specifically done.” Kenn was a handsome guy, and it had very little to do with how many laps he did on a daily basis.
“I keep myself in shape. Hell, I’m not even available, but I like to be ready.”
“You’re not?” Dave worked to not show it, and he was pretty sure he was successful, but that took all the wind out of his sails. He liked Kenn, a lot, and there was a ton of potential there.
“No. I—I had a difficult breakup, and I’m not quite ready for the scene yet. For the first year, I didn’t even want to make friends, you know?”
For the first year? How long had it been? “I’m sorry to hear that. When did it happen?”
“Three years ago last June.”
Three years? Someone needed some damn help getting over his ex. “He must have been a hell of a guy.”
“He was…. Let’s just say it was brutal and leave it at that, hmm?”
Brutal. That mixed with three years and not ready yet had Dave’s mind imagining all sorts of abuse. On impulse, he grabbed Kenn’s hand and squeezed. “I really am sorry. If you ever need to talk….”
“Thanks. I’m not suicidal or anything. Just cautious.” Kenn didn’t pull away from him, though. No. The sweet man held on the tiniest bit too long.
Dave conjectured Kenn was more ready than he realized. He didn’t think it was wishful thinking, either. Still, he would go fairly slow and not try to parlay cheesecake at Alice’s into sex in his bed. Not this time anyway.
“So, what do you do in your free time, David?”
“I’m a big reader actually. Mostly nonfiction, but I’ll go on a tear on various subjects.”
“I’d pretend to be surprised, but I’m not.”
“Yeah? Most people are.” He had the whole “workout alpha male” thing going for him, and not everyone looked past that.
“We’re academics. We read.”
Dave chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I can’t deny that. What about you? What do you do when you’re not teaching or eating cheesecake?”
“I swim, I read, I play a lot of Sudoku.”
“Now I know you’re smarter than me. I suspected it, but there’s the proof.” Math had been the bane of his existence. Okay, maybe it hadn’t been that bad, but it certainly wasn’t something he did for fun.
“It’s just to quiet my mind. I’m a bit of a worrywart.”
He had a few ideas on how Kenn could quiet his mind. Dave knew better than to suggest it yet to this man who was three years into mourning his breakup.
Kenn’s phone jingled, and he glanced down at it. “Tim’s okay. Spending the night with the cop he met.”
“Good for him, getting lucky.” While Dave wished he was going to be getting lucky with the lovely Kenn, at the same time he was pleased at the slower pace. He would need to woo Kenn, earn his attention.
“Indeed.” Kenn was only about a third of the way through his dessert. Maybe he wanted to linger as well.
“I bet you have some stories about crazy stunts your students have pulled.” He thought the kid who’d all but drooled over Kenn at the mixer gave proof of that.
“The biggest thing you have to watch for is the plagiarism. They find things on the internet and think there’s no way you can know.”
“I’m planning to run student papers through one of the plagiarism programs online.” It was his biggest worry, actually, not catching something.
“That’s good. You’ll learn too. They all have styles. You’ll begin to catch them.”
“I never could figure out why people cheated. If someone else writes the paper, you didn’t get to learn about the subject. You really only cheat yourself.”
“It’s all about the grade for a lot of these guys.”
“If you do the work….” He chuckled. “Sorry, I don’t mean to preach to the choir.”
“I know it’s hard to understand when you’re excited about teaching the subject, but….” Kenn shrugged. “It happens.”
“So do you have a regular get-together with other profs to blow off steam over a beer or something?” Dave would bet not. Which worked for him—he wanted that standing date with Kenn. Just the two of them, though.
“Not really, no. I mean, other than Tim. We got to be friends because we share space.”
Dave loved the little, barely visible flutter. Loved it. “Well, I think I’m going to need a debrief now and then. I was thinking Friday nights would be good. All I need is someone to debrief with.”
“Do you…? I would be willing to until you found someone in your department.”
“That would be great. Thank you very much. So can we start tomorrow night?” After all he wanted to see Kenn again, and he had a hunch the guy wasn’t going to go out on an actual date with him.
“Well, we are meeting for pizza, so yes.” Those green eyes were laughing at him.
“Right, right. But we’re going to make it a regular thing, aren’t we? You, me, beer, pizza, or some other comestible every Friday?”
“With the understanding that I’ll be fine if you change your mind, hmm?”
“I won’t, but it’s very sweet of you.” He supposed it would have been nice to make the same offer, but to be frank, he didn’t want to give Kenn the idea this might not be permanent or that Kenn might one day not want to spend time with him.
“Would you like to take a walk after our dessert?”
“I think that would be great.” He loved that Kenn wanted to spend more time with him too.
“Cool.” Kenn lifted his cup, wordlessly asking the waitress for more coffee.
Dave had the last few bites of his cheesecake and sat back with a satisfied sigh.
“See? You’ll be back now. Alice’s sucks everyone in.”
“What’s the dinner here like?” He liked to have an alternative to pizza.
“I like the meatloaf a lot, and the patty melt. Also, the chili is to die for.”
“Good to know it’s more than just the dessert that rocks.” The waitress refilled their cups, and he asked for some water. He’d had enough coffee really. One was enough for him or he’d be awake all night. Besides, the company was more than stimulating enough.
They continued to discuss a variety of topics, talking like they could go all night. Finally Kenn finished his cheesecake and sighed. “We should give them their table and walk off a few calories before bed.”
“It’s a plan.” Dave glanced around. The place was crowded, but there were a few tables free and nobody was waiting, so at least they hadn’t held anyone up. Frankly, the place could have been packed to the gills, with two to a chair, and he wouldn’t have noticed since he was so wrapped up in his conversation with Kenn.
He left a couple of bills on the table and got up, offering Kenn his hand.
“I said I would pay, David.”
“Force of habit.” He picked the bills back up. “I’m getting our pizzas tomorrow, though.”
“You are?” Kenn paid the tab and left a generous tip, which Dave was pleased to see.
“Yep. You got tonight, and you’re doing me a favor by introducing me to pizza tomorrow.” They left the restaurant, the air outside cool, refreshing.
“I suppose. What a lovely night.”
“Yeah. I was thinking the same thing. So are you gonna show me around the campus?”
“You haven’t explored?”
“A little, but I want to know what you think is worth seeing.” He offered Kenn his arm, and, to his surprise, Kenn took it.
Smiling wide, he let Kenn guide their steps.
They found the duck pond, the student union, the pool hall right off campus that was just a dive.
The Wilde Building where Dave shared a cramped office w
ith three other TAs. “My so-called office is in this one.”
Kenn looked over at him and grinned. “Really? Me too. I’m on the third floor.”
So they were close. He liked that. “I’m on the fifth. I’m pretty sure they’ve put all us bottom-of-the-ladder TAs on the fifth floor so the actual professors don’t have to climb so many stairs.” There was an elevator, but it looked like it was from the Dark Ages, and he’d yet to see it without an Out of Order sign on it.
“Could be. In fact, I think that’s probably completely right.”
“I knew the profs got all the perks,” he teased, bumping their shoulders together.
“The ones on the tenure track. I’m just a glorified TA.”
“You’re on the third floor, though. So maybe halfway between TA and tenured prof. Can I see your office?” He bet it would tell him something about Kenn.
“Sure, come on up.” Kenn pulled out his keys, unlocked the heavy door, and ushered Dave into the building and up the stairs to the third floor. He unlocked the door to his office and flicked on the lights.
Dave looked around, taking it all in. The room was marginally bigger than the one he shared, though the two big desks that backed each other made it seem smaller. Kenn’s chair looked comfortable, the two that sat next to his desk, no doubt for students, far less so. The desk was neat and tidy, almost fastidious, but the shelf with books behind it was crammed full.
The other desk was pure chaos. Papers stacked wildly, coffee cups and pencils and sticky notes everywhere. He didn’t have to guess which desk was which.
“Does it drive you nuts having an office mate who’s so chaotic?”
“Not at all. We have an agreement. He never interferes with my space; I don’t clean his.” Kenn smiled at him and sat in his chair, spinning idly. “He’s a mess, but he’s one hell of a teacher, and he’s a good friend.”
“That’s great. My desk is a cross between yours and his.”
“We’re all different, huh? My mom would say that’s what makes us special.”
“Yeah? I like that attitude.”
“Have a seat if you want. Or if it’s creepy, we can go back outside.” Kenn looked so at home sitting in his chair, so in control.
Dave liked the dichotomy—knowing that Kenn was a sub by nature but seeing him in the alpha role of a teacher. “It’s not creepy. I was enjoying our walk, though.”
