He put a sign on his door that said he was available if any of his students needed him, and went through some emails as he sipped his coffee.
He’d changed to grading papers when the first knock came. The student, a freshman girl who was still nervous around him, had questions about changing a class and attending one of his instead. She was already in one of his other ones and had decided she’d wanted to learn more from him instead of some throwaway course she’d picked before the school year started.
Once she was gone, Seth had about ten minutes of grading before another visitor came.
This time, Angel peeked in. “You have a minute, Professor?”
“Yeah, sure, come sit,” Seth answered automatically, trying to read Angel’s body language.
Angel, with his light brown skin and black hair, looked nothing like his brother. They didn’t share any DNA, but it still somehow got to Seth a little. The thing that connected Dev and Angel were striking eyes. Dev’s honey or whiskey was evenly matched with Angel’s light blue.
“So, you know the project we have, the triptych thing?” Angel started, going for a casually lazy pose in the chair while still staying respectfully upright, unlike some other students who looked like they’d melt off the damned thing.
“Yes, the group project.” Seth was pretty sure where this was going because he’d already gotten one other email about another group in the same class.
“Hannah isn’t pulling her weight. At all.” Angel grimaced, obviously uncomfortable with having to rat out a classmate.
“Okay. It’s pretty basic that someone or a couple of someones mess things up for group things. Happens each year, every group project class. Don’t worry. I’m glad you came to me with this,” Seth said, hoping his sincerity would be obvious to Angel.
“What do we do about it, though, Gerty and I?”
“Write down what each of you have done and will be doing. That way there’s proof of each step, and if Hannah’s name isn’t on much when it’s done, then that’s on her. If she hasn’t picked up her act in couple of weeks’ time—you have, what, a month to finish, right?”
“Yeah, just about.”
“So in two weeks, email me if she hasn’t done her part. I’ll have a word with her. I don’t like doing it, but she can’t think she’ll get graded the same as you and Gerty if she doesn’t do her job.”
“Okay, good to know.” Angel seemed to deflate, knowing Seth would handle it. Then he tensed a bit and looked at Seth through his long dark lashes.
“Do you want to talk about the elephant in the room?” Seth asked, smiling slightly at Angel.
Angel shifted in his chair, dropping his gaze to the things on the desk.
“We don’t have to, but I’d rather not have our personal lives mess with our professional relationship. I am your mentor, and….”
“And it would get awkward, fast,” Angel murmured. He seemed to think about it for a moment, then looked at Seth. “I don’t like it. Whatever it is you’re doing with Dev. It’s weird for me. You’re my professor. It’s not about gender or age—it’s about professionalism and the fact that you and your husband have been together for so long. I’m….” Angel dropped his gaze and sighed.
“You’re worried that your brother will get hurt and then you have to look at my face for another year anyway?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, so you’re an adult and you know nobody can guarantee anything,” Seth said, trying to not sound like he was dispensing life lessons for a youngster. “It’s not just physical. We’re all in love with one another. I know your brother wouldn’t say it out loud to you, so I will. It’s not up to me to make you believe, but it’s the truth.”
Angel frowned at his words, probably disturbed about the mention of anything physical happening between Dev and Seth.
After another thoughtful silence, Angel said, “I don’t want to see it. I don’t want it to affect the fact that you’re my mentor. And if you hurt him….”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll be waiting here with a baseball bat you can use on me, I promise.” Seth grinned, and one corner of Angel’s lips curled a little.
Angel got up from the chair and picked up his messenger bag. “I’ll let you know how it goes with Hannah.”
“Talk to you later,” Seth said and Angel left the office.
Seth felt… okay. It hadn’t gone awesome, but it could’ve certainly gone much, much worse. He wasn’t sure if Dev and Angel could just miraculously get over their fight, but he hoped so. For now, Dev had told Angel he’d be staying at Seth and Leaf’s for the time being. Leaf wasn’t sure if Dev had told Angel about the kitten or not.
Seth wanted to talk to Leaf about extending an invitation for Dev to move in permanently. Maybe they needed more time, but Seth wanted to be ready. Hell, his organized mind liked to be ahead of things anyway, so why should this be any different?
Chapter Twelve
