Max nodded and eased away, getting to his feet. He stared around the room like he’d never seen it before, squinting his eyes at the tree while his fingers twitched. I had no doubt he was mentally rearranging it all again.
“I’ll be checking your progress. I was serious. No porn. No sitting on the other side of the table getting hard instead of focusing.” Pleasure simmered in my stomach as I said those words, and then I promptly wanted to slap myself. Why couldn’t I just stop? He flushed with a nod and I wanted to bite off my own tongue.
Clearing my throat, I tried for slightly more professional. “I was serious about your schoolwork.”
The shifty look that lit up his pretty eyes, the same as when he was out of materials at the office and hoped I didn’t notice for a bit, settled onto his delightfully flushed features and let me know, clearer than a billboard, there was an issue with school he hadn’t clued me in on. The typical irritation with him fired to life in me, though it wasn’t the same as it had been before he’d blown me last night. I almost found his poor attempt at hiding things endearing, and that wasbad. I should leave him to his quiet panic and allow him to attempt to untangle whatever mess he’d created out of his life. Ishould, but I couldn’t.
Standing, I wrapped my arms around him, and he clung to me like he needed my strength. The guarded curl of his body against mine, like he was scared but needed me too much to stay away, lit a fire under every protective instinct I had.Fuck, he needs help.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” I wanted to say “boy” but refrained.
“I… I don’t….” He closed his eyes and cowered—there was no other way to describe it—with his forehead pressed firmly against my neck. I curled my body forward and drew him tighter into my arms.
“This is the last time I ask with words,” I murmured, and his breath caught. “Tell me the issue.” I lowered my hand to his ass and gave it a quick squeeze. He shuddered.
“I’ve been strung out by everything going on at the office and at home.”
“And?”
“I don’t even remember my password to get into my class dashboard. I haven’t been in there in about a month and a half. The online classes are more flexible than the in-person ones, but I’m not sure if I’ve missed anything right now. I don’t know. I’m scared to look.”
“How were you doing at the beginning of November?” My tone was too sharp, but this was so maddening. Was no one at his home paying attention to him?
He stiffened. “Moderately acceptable.”
Well, that’s clear as a brick window.I gave him another squeeze. “Okay, you’re not in any way stupid. How are you going to retrieve that information for yourself?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Let’s go figure it out.”
We didn’t move toward the kitchen, but he nodded. His stomach grumbled and I had to laugh, but his lips barely twitched upward as he raised his head, flashing me red cheeks and wincing eyes. He was embarrassed, or maybe ashamed of the hole he’d allowed himself to sink into with his work, and I wanted to… make that embarrassment so much worse, and then fuck him better. And then fuck him for fun. And then fuck him till he begged. I gave myself a mental shake.
My phone began ringing, dragging my attention toward the kitchen, and I was still reluctant to let him go. The annoying sound started up again, however, as soon as it died. Vane probably needed something dramatic. I released Max and it was a hardship, but I made myself step back and go to the kitchen. When I snatched my phone off the table from where it rested beside my iPad, Vane’s name was indeed on the screen.
“Mr. Elwood,” I drawled as I answered.
“Can you help me out?”
“Have I ever failed you in the past?” Guilt twanged through me when Max stepped into the kitchen doorway. I turned my back on him, lowering my head to fiddle with my iPad and wake it up.
“I’m looking for something, and I know you know where to get it.”
That certainly had my shenanigans detector blaring. Humming only made him laugh. “Is it something in the air today? Or is it simply that a snow day feels like a holiday and makes even the most passably responsible adults I’ve ever known think they can neglect their work?”
“I resemble that remark.” He snickered like a naughty little boy, one of his more charming qualities, while I tapped my fingers on the back of my chair.
“Get to the point. What do you need me to do, sir?”
“I’m looking for a thigh spreader bar that isn’t too big. The one I have right now makes Jaxson’s hips ache, I guess he has this hyperextension issue, and I love the way it makes him look when he’s—”
“That’ll do,” I murmured with a smile. “Measurements for the one you already have?”
He harrumphed. “I don’t know. If I had to guess, about three feet?”
“Standard size,” I murmured. “I’ll get back to you when I’ve tracked down something on the smaller side that is of substantial quality.”
In the background on Vane’s side, I thought I heard a door slamming and something that sounded like a wounded duck, and then a thump that had Vane laughing into my ear.
