Page 83 of Brighter Shades of Light
Cody sat in the armchair in the corner of my study and looked up from his book. “What did they say?”
“We got the green light to move forward,” I said, standing up. I was too excited to sit.
Several of the grants I had applied for were accepted, and the school would be replacing the roof on the math and science building with solar panels. It would start with that building and hopefully, with time, move to the others on campus.
“I’m proud of you, baby.” Cody walked over and slipped his muscled arms around my waist from behind.
Baby.No other lover had ever used the endearment on me, and I found that I quite enjoyed it. The ring I gave Cody for Christmas was still on his right hand, and I ran my fingers over it, smiling.
It was the end of April. We had been together for seven months and had been allowed to be open about it for four of them. There had been questions in the beginning. When Vance had spotted me kissing Cody on the cheek back in January before Cody went to class, he had pounced.
“You and that Miller kid, huh? Wow. I didn’t even know you swung that way, Sebby. That explains why you weren’t into Claudia, eh?”
I had smiled to be polite, not having the energy to argue with him.
A member from the board of directors came to my office in February and questioned me not so discreetly.Accusinglywould be the appropriate word, as if whoever voiced their concern had made it sound like I was some type of egotistic asshole who forced myself on Cody.
“It’s come to our attention that you’re dating a former student,” she’d said, faking a smile. “I’d like to ask a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
I couldn’t be positive as to who it was who approached them, but I had my suspicions, Vance being the prime suspect. Especially since he acted guilty for days following it.
When did the relationship start? Who initiated it? And other questions of that sort. It was one of the very few times in my life I had lied. Cody had come up with the story for us, and I had repeated it to the board member, telling her that Cody approached me at the start of the spring semester and asked me out for coffee. A relationship blossomed from there. They had then spoken to him, and our stories matched.
“Also, one other thing,” the woman said. “A student of yours said he often saw you and Cody Miller speaking after class. He mentioned your body language was more familiar than it should have been.”
Brandon Powel.
“Well, I’m not sure what this student thinks they saw, but I spoke to many students. Last I heard, talking to a student after class about the homework assignment wasn’t against policy.”
Fortunately, nothing more was said about it, and Cody and I were free to go about our business.
We often ate lunch together in the dining hall, sitting across from each other and not hiding our feelings like we used to. I wasn’t comfortable with public displays of affection, but holding hands and the occasional kiss on the cheek were acceptable. Cody had a thing about holding one of my hands sometimes as we ate.
“Do you want to go into town today?” Cody asked, turning me around in his arms. His bright eyes were only equaled by his smile. “I thought we could grab lunch and maybe walk around. Just kind of have a day out since the weather’s nice.”
“That sounds excellent.” I brushed my lips across his. “Give me five minutes to finish grading, and then we can go.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” He grabbed his book from the armchair and left the study.
Cody spent four nights a week with me. The three we spent apart was only because of his physical training early in the morning. When with me, he had a hard time getting out of bed. He practically lived here, though, and had even moved some of his things into the spare bedroom with the telescope. Not that he stayed in there. I only wanted him to have his own space for when he needed it.
Strange how I went years sleeping by myself, and now on the nights Cody didn’t warm my bed, I had trouble falling asleep. On those nights, I usually stayed in my study.
I finished grading the last student’s assignment before walking downstairs to the bedroom. If we were going to be outside, I wanted to change clothes. Ever since Cody came into my life, I had added more casual clothing to my wardrobe, little by little. It made me feel better about myself.
I put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and joined Cody in the living room.
“You look hot,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you. As do you.”
“Ah, shucks.” Cody gripped both of my wrists and yanked me toward him. His lips meshed with mine, and he pushed his tongue into my mouth.
I sighed against him and breathed him in. The kiss ended quickly, but the effect of it lasted much longer, the evidence of it straining against the front of my jeans.
Cody noticed and gave me a wicked smile. “When we get back home, I’msosucking that delicious cock for dessert.”
Thatvisual didn’t help calm matters any.
