“Yeah?” he managed, fingers clenched in Rutledge’s sweater as the man kissed his face and his neck. God, his lips seemed to burn Shawn’s skin.
“Where the hell are you?” Bill, the manager of the restaurant. Fuck. “You’re almost late for your shift!”
“Sorry, give me fifteen minutes—”
“Five!” Bill hung up.
Shawn pushed Rutledge away. “Need to go. I’m late for work.”
He walked away quickly, his legs still weak and his body aching with want. “Idiot,” he muttered. He should have told Xavier to take him straight to work. Hell, he shouldn’t have gone to Sage’s place at all after he’d dropped the twins at Mrs. Hawkins’s. And he definitely shouldn’t have spent minutes sucking Rutledge’s tongue.
Tires screeched and a familiar Mercedes pulled up beside him. The car door flew open.
“Get in,” Rutledge said. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Shawn hesitated, but what the hell. He really was running late. Pointless stubbornness was stupid.
He got in and told Rutledge the address of the restaurant. Sometimes he got assigned to the restaurant at the other end of the city, but luckily for Shawn, tonight it was the one close to his place.
Neither of them spoke during the short drive. Shawn leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes as he fought for control.
Thankfully, it only took about five minutes to reach the restaurant.
“Thanks,” Shawn muttered, without looking at the other man, and opened the door.
Rutledge caught his arm.
Shawn took a shaky breath before turning to Rutledge.
Dark eyes looked at him grimly.
“Okay,” Shawn said. “But this is the last time, got it?”
He leaned toward Rutledge, buried his fingers in his hair and gave him a deep, wet kiss. Rutledge accepted the kiss passively, but Shawn could feel his body vibrate with tension, and it made Shawn achingly hard.
The cell phone went off again.
Sighing, Shawn pulled away and whispered, “This is stupid. We both know it.” He wiped his lips. “Let’s just pretended this never happened, okay?”
Rutledge said nothing—just looked at Shawn with dark, hungry eyes.
And god, Shawn wanted to kiss him again. Badly.
Swearing through his teeth, he practically jumped out of the car.
Chapter 15
Shawn was walking to his last class of the day when he saw Rutledge walking the other way.
His steps faltered for a moment before he averted his gaze and continued walking, determined to ignore him.
Except Rutledge didn’t let him.
He grabbed Shawn’s arm as they were passing each other. “A word, Mr. Wyatt.”
Shawn wet his lips, his heart pounding. He looked straight in front of him. “I don’t think we have anything to talk about, Professor.”
The grasp on his hand tightened. “A word.”
