She waved him off. “Of course, go take a shower. I’ll do—”
Rutledge walked out of Shawn’s bedroom, shrugging into his jacket. His hair was still wet after his shower.
Mrs. Hawkins stared. Then her gaze moved to Shawn.
Shawn felt a blush creep up his face. One didn’t have to be a genius to guess what they had been doing last night.
Mrs. Hawkins’s lips pursed into a line. Without a word, she nodded stiffly in Rutledge’s direction, took the girls and ushered them into the kitchen.
Shawn blinked at her back. Just a few weeks ago, Mrs. Hawkins told him to live a little and get a girlfriend, but apparently this was a problem for her. What the hell. His sex life was none of her business.
“Find another babysitter for the children if you don’t want them to grow up narrow-minded.” Rutledge headed to the door. “I have to go. I need to change before work.”
Shawn hesitated before following him to the door. Was it his imagination or was Rutledge really avoiding looking at him?
“Okay,” Shawn said, forcing nonchalance into his voice. “See you around, I guess.”
Rutledge went still before turning his head to him.
A beat passed.
Rutledge reached out, hooked his fingers in the waistband of Shawn’s shorts, and pulled him close.
He bent his head and pressed his nose against the side of Shawn’s neck before sucking hard on his skin. Shawn gasped from the mix of pain and pleasure.
In a blink of an eye, Rutledge was gone, and Shawn stared at the empty space he had occupied a moment ago.
What was that supposed to mean?
* * *
“Well?” Christian said when Shawn sat down next to him a few hours later.
Slumping in his seat, Shawn looked down at his hands on his stomach. “What?”
“Did you—you know?” The curiosity was clear in his friend’s voice.
Shawn nodded. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I fucked him again.”
“So what now? You get over him?”
Shawn said, “Sure.”
And then Rutledge entered the classroom.
As always, the hush was instant.
Rutledge walked to his desk, clad in a pristine three-piece dark suit that hugged his muscular frame. His strong jaw was clean-shaven—
“Yep, totally over him,” Christian murmured.
Shawn flushed and averted his gaze. “I am.”
“Sure you are. But wipe that drool off your face. Seriously, you’re freaking me out. It’s Rutledge. The guy is a total dick, he has no sense of humor, no heart—and he’s not even handsome to compensate for his personality.”
“He is handsome,” Shawn muttered.
“He’s not. All right, he has a great body and the confidence, but his nose is too big, and his eyes are cruel.” Christian smirked. “Unless you’re into that kind of thing, I guess.”
