Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Ash nipped at Luke’s ear in an attempt to wake him.
The room was aglow with the sun from the beautiful morning.
A blanket pooled around Ash’s hips and was pulled up to Luke’s chin.
Luke was a peaceful sleeper; all the stress from two days ago seemed to have left him.
Ash couldn’t believe this was real. That Luke was here.
That they had finally given in to their desire and found themselves back in bed together.
Part of Ash had worried the sex wouldn’t be as good as it was the first time, worried they had built it up so much in their head.
But as they fucked, Ash was reminded just how perfect Luke was for them, because the sex really was that good.
They loved the stark difference between the tender way Luke held them and the filthy things he whispered in their ear.
Ash had never slept with a reader before.
The words that spilled from Luke’s mouth were straight out of a smutty romance novel.
No one had ever talked to Ash like that, and it made the sex even better.
Ash nipped at Luke’s ear a second time. When Luke’s eyes fluttered open, he turned his gaze to Ash, and a sleepy smile spread across his lips.
Luke wrapped an arm around Ash, pulling them to his chest.
“Mm,” Luke sighed. “This is what I was missing last time.”
Ash melted into Luke, resting a hand on Luke’s chest and allowing their eyes to close. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay. But I’m glad I’m here now.”
Ash lifted their head and slowly peppered kisses along Luke’s neck, eliciting a groan from him.
And when Ash playfully kissed Luke’s collarbone, it was game over.
Suddenly, Ash was on their back, Luke above them, arms caging in their head.
Luke hovered above Ash, the blanket falling from around his shoulders.
Luke leaned down and ran kisses along Ash’s neck up toward their ear, where he nipped at Ash’s earlobe. Luke’s voice was low and deep in their ear. “Was last night not enough for you?”
Ash sucked in a breath. “I’ll always want more with you.”
Just as Luke leaned down to nip at Ash’s neck, the loud, blaring sound of Ash's morning alarm filled the room. Ash groaned and pushed Luke off them so they could silence their alarm. How was it already seven in the morning? If they didn't get up now, they were going to be late for school.
“You have class this morning, don't you?” Luke asked, rolling off Ash.
Ash groaned. “Unfortunately.” Ash slowly slid off the bed and stretched. Of all the days they had class, they certainly did not want to go today. They wanted to stay here and spend time with Luke, but they weren't about to cancel their class to do so.
“I want to see you later,” Luke said, slowly standing and moving over to Ash. He stood behind them and wrapped his arms around their stomach, encasing Ash in his familiar sandalwood scent. “Can I take you out? Like on a proper date?” Luke’s voice rumbled low in Ash's ear.
Luke's hot breath on Ash's neck made a shiver run through them. Ash nodded. “I would like that very much.” They wanted to spend every second they could with him.
Ash could feel Luke smile against their shoulder.
“I'll pick you up at eight.” Luke released Ash from his grip, but not before pressing a light kiss to Ash's neck.
If this man didn't stop, Ash would cancel their class and jump his bones again.
Ash shuffled over to their closet and rummaged through to find an outfit for the day—a pair of light brown dress pants and a maroon button-down shirt.
Ash finished getting ready for the day, shrugged their messenger bag over their shoulder, and placed a quick kiss on Luke's cheek. “I'm excited to see you later.”
Luke finished shrugging his clothes on and tying his shoes before responding. “I'll plan something fun for us.”
Ash led Luke from their apartment and gave him a quick kiss goodbye at the bottom of the stairs before turning away and heading in the direction of their car. Ash could hardly think of anything other than last night.
Though they had known Luke for such a short amount of time, they were completely smitten. When they got behind the wheel and drove to class, they just hoped the day would go by fast so they could spend the evening with Luke.
Thankfully, Ash's class went by fast. They taught chemical kinetics. There were a few students absent that morning; Friday 8 AM classes were always poorly attended. Binghamton's undergraduate student body had a proclivity for partying on Thursday nights.
The Rat, a popular basement bar, had flip night on Thursdays, where every time you ordered a drink, the bartender would flip a coin. If you guessed correctly, you would get your drink for free. Ash remembered one night, they won seven coin tosses.
At the end of class, one of Ash’s students, Maeve, came up to them.
“Professor Pierce?” Maeve asked as Ash put their laptop into their bag. “I was wondering if you had time to go over redox reactions this week?”
Ash smiled at Maeve. “You're not able to come to my office hours, right? What does your schedule look like? Let's set some time up.”
Ash was giving the first quiz in class next week, and they were pleased so many students had been coming to their office hours or setting up other times to meet.
The quest to create a positive atmosphere in their class seemed successful.
They were glad their students felt comfortable enough to admit when they didn't know something and seek out help.
When Ash was an undergrad, that was one of their biggest gripes.
The professors didn't seem like they even wanted to be there.
It always made Ash nervous to reach out when they needed help, because if they didn't even want to be in the class during scheduled times, why would they want to help students outside of class hours? Now that Ash was a professor, they still didn't understand.
As Ash left the lecture hall, they spied Luke heading into the hall beside theirs.
Ash was curious about Luke as a professor.
They wanted to know how and what he taught.
But most of all, Ash just wanted to listen to Luke speak, so Ash snuck into the back of the lecture hall filled with three hundred undergraduate students.
When Luke surveyed the classroom, he didn't even seem to notice Ash sitting there in the back.
Ash sat beside a young man with a hoodie pulled up over his forehead, nearly shielding his eyes.
Ash wondered if this kid was going to fall asleep halfway through the lecture.
Ash didn't know much about biology, but they had taken cell bio in undergrad.
They had no idea what this class was, but they waited with rapt attention until Luke started speaking.
As Luke began talking about organelles, Ash was mesmerized.
Luke didn't just teach: he commanded the room.
His very presence was alluring; even the students seemed incredibly engaged with him.
Luke had that air about him, one of confidence and authority.
But when he smiled and encouraged his students to ask and answer questions, he did exactly what Ash did: create a space where people felt comfortable and safe to be wrong.
Several students raised their hands to answer his questions, and even when they got it wrong, Luke smiled, thanked them for answering, politely corrected them, and then repeated the same topic again.
Ash loved watching Luke teach because he didn't just talk about what was on the slides. He talked about his own research, about his research with Ash, about research he had done in his undergrad and graduate career. He brought real-life examples into the classroom.
Ash found their fingers twitching towards the pen in their bag; they almost wanted to take notes. Luke let his class out 10 minutes early, and Ash waited for the throng of students to exit the room before slowly making their way down the stairs to the desk.
“Dr. Hastings,” Ash said, hiding a smirk from spreading across their lips.
Luke jolted back in surprise and blinked at Ash. “Ash, what are you doing here?” Luke asked with a laugh. Luke looked around the room, ensuring it was empty before leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to Ash's lips.
“I saw you go into this room, and I was curious. I wanted to see how you were as a professor.”
“And how was I?” Luke asked.
Ash placed a hand on Luke's forearm. “You're a wonderful professor, Dr. Hastings.”
Luke's eyes darkened, and his tongue darted out to lick his lips. “I like when you call me that.”
A vibration went through Ash, and while they were calling Luke “Dr. Hastings” to be funny, there was something undeniably sexy about it.
Luke had the sleeves of his white button-down rolled up to his elbows. His gray dress pants hugged his muscular legs and fell over his cowboy boots.
Ash didn't know how Luke could always wear the same damn cowboy boots, but they had to admit, they did like it. Just as Luke leaned closer to Ash, presumably to kiss them again, the door at the top of the stairs of the lecture hall opened, and they jumped apart.
Ash's heart sank as they realized this was going to be the reality of their relationship. wanted nothing more than to hang off Luke's arm as they walked through campus. Ash loved touching Luke and just wanted to be close to him all the time.
“Ash,” Jenn’s voice filled the room.
Ash looked up to see their dissertation advisor making their way down the steps.
“Jenn, hi,” Ash said, pulling their gaze from Luke. “What class are you teaching now?”
Jenn reached the bottom of the stairs before answering. “I'm subbing in for Dr Katz's orgo class. He's out sick but really needed someone to teach today's lesson, so I offered to help. Who's this?”
Ash gestured to Luke. “This is Dr. Luke Hastings. Luke, this is my dissertation advisor, Dr. Jenn Mellencamp.”
Luke extended his arm to shake Jen's hand. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Jenn.”
“Likewise. What do you teach?” Jen asked Luke, releasing his hand.
Luke picked up his bag and slid it over his shoulder. “I teach cell and micro bio. What do you normally teach? Not orgo?”
Jenn let out a laugh. “No one can teach orgo like Dr Katz. No, I teach biophysical chemistry and biochemistry.”
Luke straightened. “Biochemistry… That was my favorite class.”
“I have a PhD in biochemistry.”
Luke smiled at Jenn. “What was your dissertation on? Do you still do research?”
“My dissertation was on the regulation of gene expression, and now I am continuing that research,” Jenn said. “What about you?”
Luke explained his degree and dissertation before launching into the research he and Ash were working on. “Actually, Ash and I are working on this research together.”
Jenn turned her gaze to Ash. “I didn't know you had started doing research.”
Ash nodded. “Luke asked me to help with his project, and how could I say no? We learned our dissertations were so similar and thought it best to collaborate.”
Jenn smiled. “How did you two meet?”
Ash's palms went sweaty. They couldn't very well tell Jenn the truth, but thankfully, Luke swooped in with an answer. “We ran into each other in the hallway on the first day of classes and got to talking.”
Jenn laughed. “That's wonderful. I hope you two find success in your research. I can't wait to hear more about it. You'll be presenting at the poster session at the end of the year, won’t you?”
Luke smiled. “You can count on it. Well, we should get out of your hair, Jenn, so you can set up, but it was nice to meet you.”
Ash said their goodbyes before pulling their bag higher on their shoulder and slowly making their way from the room.
Luke followed behind them, waving goodbye to Jenn as they exited.
Once the door was closed behind them, Ash breathed a sigh of relief.
Could they do this? Could they keep their whole relationship a secret?
They wouldn't be able to touch Luke at work or stand too close to him.
They'd have to keep a professional distance and only a professional demeanor.
They couldn't let on that they were more than colleagues.
Ash had never been a good liar. When they were sixteen and had their first boyfriend, they kept it a secret for all of two days before telling their mom.
They couldn't stand the pressure of having a secret, especially one so big.
As soon as Ash realized they were queer, they came out to their mom, who then told their dad; neither of them cared.
Ash did the same when they realized they were nonbinary.
“I hate to leave, but my next class starts in five minutes,” Luke said.
Ash nodded. “I'll see you later.”
Luke almost reached out to touch Ash but seemingly thought better of it and gave Ash a curt nod before turning on his heel and walking in the other direction.
Was this worth it? Could Ash trust themself enough to keep their relationship a secret?
Or would they put their jobs in jeopardy?
As Ash watched Luke disappear around the corner, they let themself feel a pang of guilt. Was Luke willing to risk it all too?