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“What good would that do? Blue Ridge’s code of conduct works both ways—for teachers and students. You need that lit class to graduate. The optics of you trading lays for A’s isn’t a good one. Whatever evidence Travis has could get Everett fired and you kicked out of school. Don’t let that dream job slip away, bro. You’ve earned it.”
After ending the call, Alex stood and leaned over the sink, trying to slow his breathing and rein in the thoughts whirling through his mind. The cheerful sunlight streaming through the window now seemed to mock his anguish.
The original plan had seemed so clear: take the job and move on. Now, choosing the sensible path meant leaving Julian and severing the bond they had only begun nurturing. Was Alex using practicality as a guise for running away from something profound?
Or did moving away protect them both from the fallout? Even if Travis’s scheme turned out to be bluster, something else would threaten to expose his relationship with Julian. Sticking to the original plan would get Julian through the tenure process and maintain his reputation. Besides, what did a future with Julian really look like beyond cheese-zesting and couch-screwing? Alex wasn’t sure that was worth throwing away four years of hard-earned academic achievement. The answer seemed logical, and Alex hated himself for the sliver of relief that gave him.
His throat burned with bile and regret. Maybe they had been reckless dreamers, foolish to think they could build something real. What was the best thing to do? The smart thing? Salvage his future, or stay and fight for Julian, consequences be damned?
Alex clutched the counter, his knuckles white. The right decision seemed agonizingly unclear, but he knew one thing—walking away would break his heart. Still, the words crept into his mind unbidden:It’s over.
Chapter 10
TheBlueRidgemountainswhizzed by in a blur, their rolling peaks catching the first light of dawn. Tendrils of morning fog still clung to the valleys, not yet burned away by the rising sun. The paved road twisted and turned as it ascended into the hills, each bend revealing another breathtaking vista.
Julian seemed oblivious to the passing beauty outside his windshield. His mind focused inward, replaying each vivid sensation from the hours spent entwined with Alex.
Only a few hours earlier, he’d watched Alex sleep peacefully beside him. The temptation to call in sick and spend the morning holding him, making slow, lazy love to him, was so strong. Alas, Julian had lectures to teach.
Reluctantly, he’d slipped from the warm bed and tucked the sheets around Alex’s sleeping form. After scribbling a quick note and leaving it on his pillow, Julian had pressed a soft kiss to Alex’s forehead.
“I love you,” he’d whispered before forcing himself out the door.
When he arrived at the English department office, he greeted Ms. Carol, who perched at the front desk, clacking on her computer keyboard. Through the bay windows, the same mountains stretched out.
“How do you get any work done around here surrounded by all this beautiful scenery?” Julian asked.
Ms. Carol stopped typing to peer at Julian over her cat-eye glasses. “The only thing keeping me from doing my job is you,” she said, a smile playing on her lips. “Why are you so chipper this morning? Not sure I’m liking this mood on you.” She adjusted her glasses to study him further, running her doughy hand against her cheek. “Rough night, Professor, or the reason you’re in such a good mood?”
Mirroring her gestures, Julian touched his stubbled chin. “I don’t kiss and tell, Ms. Carol. I’m a gentleman, after all.”
“Then I’ve got no use for you.” She lifted her mug to slurp coffee, leaving a ring of red lipstick behind. “Which reminds me, Nate wants you. He’s over in Dean Simmons’s office, said you should stop by when you got in.”
Distracted by the mountains, he took a moment to register the request. “Wonder what that’s about?”
“No one tells me anything,” Ms. Carol said, plumping her signature tight bun. “But tenure decisions are coming soon. You might have another reason to walk around with that buoyant step, Professor Everett.”
As he made his way across campus, his thoughts again returned to Alex. After last night, the future seemed filled with promise. With new beginnings. A new beginning that filled Julian with a warm, undeniable glow. Unlike the disaster leading to his fresh start at Blue Ridge. Did tenure at this college even matter anymore? Julian imagined moving to California with Alex. Perhaps not right away, but soon. Maybe a community college be a healthy change for him. No tenure strings he would need to pull. Perhaps a more relaxed atmosphere would free him up to return to this research, something he’d neglected in his short time at Blue Ridge.
The dean’s executive assistant rose from her chair and smoothed her black pencil skirt when Julian entered. Far more formal than Ms. Carol, this assistant moved with grace and precision, giving the dean’s door a curt knock before opening it.
Julian tensed as the door clicked shut behind him.
Dean Harrison Simmons sat behind his large mahogany desk, his lips set in a grim line. Though the morning sun streamed in through the windows behind him, his usual amiable demeanor was absent. As he clasped his hands, his shirt sleeve pulled back to reveal an ostentatious watch that seemed out of place with his typically understated style. His handsome face was now etched in a stern expression, his hazel eyes lacking their usual warmth.
Nate, dressed impeccably as always in a tailored suit and pressed dress shirt, occupied a chair across from the dean. Nate started to rise but seemed to think better of it and settled back down. Instead, he pressed his lips into a thin line while one hand nervously straightened his knotted tie.
“Have a seat, Professor.” Dean Simmons gestured to the empty chair beside Nate.
“Is everything all right?” Julian asked, trying to keep his voice steady as he sat beside Nate. He looked at Nate, who avoided his gaze.
The crackle of paper pulled Julian’s focus back to Dean Simmons.
“It appears we have a situation.” He slid the paper toward Julian.
Turning it around, Julian squinted at an image of himself and Alex embracing on the dance floor of The Crimson Lantern. Their bodies were pressed close, heads tilted together as if sharing a secret. His mind blanked before the recollection hit. Memories of that magical night made him smile, but his expression froze as he realized that the moments now lay on the dean’s desk.
“Where did you get this?” Julian asked.
