He nods, gives me his greetings again, and takes his leave.
Dr. Filmore watches the chancellor leave before sneering at me. “Does he even know what you and your little boyfriend are doing to the university’s reputation?” His eyes land on Trent, and there’s something in them that makes me clench my fists.
I hit him with a wide smile, covering the rage burning in my chest at the disrespect in his voice and face as he glares at Trent. “The chancellor was the first person to subscribe to my fan site.”
With that, I turn away, heading back to the front of my classroom to check in with my students in case any of the groups need help. Maybe I need to start plotting how to get rid of Dr. Filmore in earnest. I’ve been tolerant of him, but I won’t stand for whatever is going on in his head when he looks at Trent.Taking a deep breath, I set the idea in the back of my mind where my brain can work on it while I finish today’s session.
When I turn to pull everyone’s attention forward so we can go over the worksheet together, Dr. Filmore is gone.
Good riddance.
Chapter 19
Trent
I readthe DM sent to me for the third time, and a chill runs up my spine that has nothing to do with the cold breeze coming in from the north today.
User67348273984:I used to wonder what Magnus did to receive special treatment. Now I see he’s been putting that pretty mouth of his to work.
Under that is a screenshot of Magnus from the end of our live stream on his knees with ejaculate on his face.
User67348273984:I wonder what the board is going to think about how he uses his mouth with Mehcad Mustafa.
This time the picture sent is of Magnus and the chancellor of the university, except the chancellor’s face has just been superimposed over mine and the background changed. It’s not a very good AI edited picture, but it would probably fool my parents, and every person on the board is older than them and probably just as out of touch with the internet.
Magnus is going to have to deal with this before it gets out of hand. He’s made sure our activity online doesn’t reflect badly on the university, he’s protected us both, and he’ll know what to do about this. Transparency with the university is probably the route to go, but now that I’m looking at something as heinousas this, we probably should have considered keeping our faces offline.
Hindsight…
“You’ve gotten bad news?” Magnus asks as he joins me where I’m leaning against my car.
I immediately hand him my phone. “Fucker probably expects us to panic, but I know you know what to do about this.”
Magnus reads it, frowning with the little wrinkle between his eyebrows that he gets when he’s furious. He takes a screenshot of the DM and sends it to his phone. “Whoever this is truly doesn’t understand the person they’re fucking with.” He hands me back my phone with a smile that on anyone else would make me legitimately question my safety. “I’ll handle this. If you get more messages, send me screenshots. Do you mind if I log in to your accounts on my computer?”
Anyone else asking that would get a firm no from me, but this is Magnus, and he already knows where I write down my passwords. “Go for it.”
From one moment to the next the worry about the person slips away and a completely different worry sets in. “You ready for dinner with your parents?” I ask, swallowing down the nervousness.
Sure, we aren’t technically dating, but meeting the parents is a big deal, and Magnus’s aren’t exactly the type of parents I’m used to. They literally gave a university guardianship over him as a teen; I can’t imagine doing something like that, and I’m not even sure I want to try my hand at parenting.
Am I judgy? Maybe a little bit.
Starting a kid off on a career when he’s fourteen isn’t a good parenting strategy in my book. Kids should be allowed to grow up before they have to figure out how to contribute to society. In this society we have fifty plus years of workforce to look forwardto from the time we start working until we’re retirement age; there’s no reason to get a headstart on that.
“You’re wearing your look of disapproval. Do you not want to have dinner with my parents?” Magnus asks, stepping in close enough to touch.
I might be new to the whole bisexual thing, but I can’t complain about the erasure of the usual friendzone bubble of space. I put a hand on his ribs and pull him in closer. We’re connected now at our bellies, but he’s bent so he can maintain eye contact with an expectant look on his face.
“I may have opinions about leaving kids in the care of universities.”
“Technically Evelyn Marconni and Morrie Servel took custody of me,” Magnus points out. “I realize that doesn’t make much of a difference to the opinion, but I think my parents did the best they could with the resources available to them. I don’t hold it against them, and I don’t want you to either.”
I press my lips into a firm line, mostly to squash the sudden impulse to kiss him, which we aren’t scheduled to do until after we explore anal sex?—
This timeline of intimacy might actually kill me. Next time we revise our schedule for the channel, I’m going to push for kissing sooner.
“I’ll try,” I promise, releasing him even though I want to pull him closer.
