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“Professor Winslow.”
Fuddy duddy.
“Nope, my little should be called by his first name in social situations. He’s not a stickler for formality, and it won’t help him see me as a Dom if I call him Professor Winslow.” No, that definitely didn’t set the right mood for a social interaction.
Even if I wanted just a date from the sexy professor, I had to get him to see me as an equal, not a student he’s trying to keep at arm’s length.
Levi scoffed. “You’re going to end up scaring the hell out of him.”
He was making it very hard to remember that I liked him and because of that I wasn’t going to point out that he was the one who’d scared the incredibly shy little.
Ruslan couldn’t be defined as outgoing by any means, but he wasn’t painfully shy. I’d always imagined his little side as cheerful and outgoing to make up for his slightly more reserved grown-up side.
“It’s going to be fine.” One step at a time. “I’m going to give him some time to get used to the idea. By that point he’ll have probably guessed it’s me. Then I’ll give him his next presents and ask him out.”
It was a sound plan and I wasn’t going to let the crazy asshole talk me out of it. I’d put way too much work into setting up and rigging the Secret Santa exchange to let him fuck with it now.
“Come on.” A distraction was definitely in order before I did something drastic. “I want to run by the campus store. I need to grab a drink before it closes. I need more caffeine if I’m going to finish that paper and you’re even more behind than I am.”
Yeah, I got a bit of a thrill pointing that out, but I tried not to let it show.
“Asshole.”
So it might’ve shown.
“I’m the asshole who’s going to take the cute sub out on a date before winter break, so fuck off, grumpy.” Levi was wrong and a worrier of epic proportions. This wasn’t rocket science. I just had to show Ruslan that I could take care of him and that I could see him as little and respect him in the morning.
The details about how that would work were a bit hazy, but I was working from an outline, so I knew I’d figure out the details eventually.
“You’re insane, and I don’t know how you’re even passing, much less staying at the top of the class.” Levi didn’t bother to hide his bitterness.
Friends were so great to have.
“Caffeine. Write. Plot.” Then I’d have all winter break to get to know the adorable Ruslan Winslow.
“Asshole. Stalker. Creeper.”
Levi was getting on my last nerve.
“I tried to flirt with him and he was honestly clueless. Even Professor Haslan thought it was ridiculous.” Mike had been the one to say I was going to have to take things up a notch. “It's not being a stalker to watch a neighbor. He lives just down the street.”
He owned his house where we just rented a room in one of the larger old homes on the block, but watching a neighbor walk down a shared sidewalk didn’t make me a stalker.
“I completely deny the creeper accusation.” Sure, it wasn’t the most conventional way to get a date, but I wasn’t doing anything creepy. “Last chance to back off before we have words.”
He’d been getting more and more insane over the last few months and I was done with it. “You don’t want me analyzing your life right now.”
Doing his best to freeze me out, Levi turned and walked toward the house as I went up the block the other way. Caffeine was a must and I was out of everything but coffee and that just didn’t sound good at all.
But the walk to the small convenience store on campus gave me time to decompress and I was in a much better frame of mind when I finally made it back to my house. Of course, I was a dork and couldn’t resist stopping on the front porch so I could look down the street.
I knew Ruslan would’ve opened his present, but I wasn’t sure what he’d thought of them. I’d tried to keep his presents fun and something his little side would like, but I didn’t know much about his little side. Hell, if it weren’t for a bit of fate, I wouldn’t know he was a little to begin with.
It’d been one of those a friend of a friend said something kind of moments and no one had deliberately outed him, but it’d just happened.
I just hoped we had more in common than little time and macaroni and cheese when we finally started talking about more than the club and college in general.
****
