14
Without a backward glance, Will made for the door.
“Oh, no. Will stop.” Gabriel scrambled after him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He caught his shoulder. “I didn’t let go because you’re gay. That’s not it. It’s—”
Will shrugged him off.
Gabriel blocked the door. Will didn’t find his big body intimidating until right in that moment when he was blocking the exit. How the hell was Will meant to get past a boxer twice his size?
“Let me talk,” Gabriel pleaded, his wide brown eyes looking a lot like a puppy.
The sting in his chest made him immune to any cuteness Gabriel had. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“I need a minute. Please?”
“Move.”
“Will—”
“How would you like me to tell the principal you forced me to stay in your house?” Will snapped. He wasn’t proud of the threat and felt guilty when the colour drained from Gabriel’s face. He knew as far as tutoring relationships went, Gabriel was far, far past the line of what was proper.
With a look of shaky resolve, Gabriel put his hand on the door handle. “It isn’t appropriate to text your student, but I gave myself a pass because you’re Leah’s little brother. It isn’t appropriate to be alone with a student in their bedroom, but I gave that a pass for that as well because of your girlfriend.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“I figured that out just now,” Gabriel said dryly. “Up to now, it was a slap on the wrist at most if someone brought up our relationship outside of the school. But, Jesus,” Gabriel closed his eyes. “A gay tutor inviting his gay student into his home in the middle of the night is grounds for a lot more than just a slap on the wrist.”
Will stared at him. “You’re gay?”
Gabriel, his eyes still closed, nodded.
Will thought back on all the physical contact Gabriel seemed to initiate between them, and any flirting Will had started felt a lot more real. Gabriel had flirted back sometimes, hadn’t he?
“Are you okay now?” Gabriel peeked at him through his eyelashes. “I didn’t mean to recoil like that. That was crappy of me. I just hadn’t realised and—”
“It’s okay, Gabriel,” Will reassured. “I understand why you panicked. But, your blinds are closed, we walked over in the dark, and nobody even knows I’m here. And I promise not to say a word about it to anyone.”
Gabriel went slack against the front door and let out a long sigh.
“And,” Will continued, “I wasn’t serious about the principal thing. I was just trying to get you to move.”
Gabriel gave him a soft smile. “I know.”
Will worried that he was about to be kicked out, but given the recent discovery, he wasn’t ready for that. “So,” he said, “you’re kind of the perfect person I could have come to for advice. Ever had to deal with a crush on someone who’s straight?”
Gabriel chuckled. “More than once.” He hesitated, then nodded to the couch. “Go take a seat.”
Will did, and when Gabriel came back, he had two beers. Will took one when Gabriel handed it to him. He thought maybe if he had it, Gabriel wouldn’t think of him as a kid. “Thanks.”
“The first time I properly liked a guy, he was straight,” Gabriel began. He sat on the same couch as Will, but there was definitely more distance than before, and he kept both hands on the beer bottle. “He had a motorcycle, a mohawk, a leather jacket—I thought he was the coolest thing to walk the earth.”
Will had to bite his lip to suppress a laugh. “Are you joking?”
“I was an idiot and thought the chain-smoking bad boy was hot. Screw me.” Gabriel shrugged. “I didn’t know him personally. Friend of a friend. Dude always had a different girl with him. Everyone acted like he walked on water. He never talked much, so there was always an air of mystery—okay, you want me to tell the story or you want to keep laughing?”
Will took a long sip of the beer. “Mysterious bad boy. With you so far.”
“One night, while I was very, very drunk, I noticed that he was leaving alone. None of his boys were with him. No girls. And I thought, here’s my chance.” Gabriel took a drink. “So I followed him out. I’d been crushing on the guy for months at this point and doing a load of stupid crap just to run into him. I called out. Introduced myself.”
Will noticed the way Gabriel spun the bottle around in his hands, and he worried this story was going somewhere bad. He didn’t want to interrupt though, and he wanted to hear how this went.
“I think he knew me from the fights I was getting into around that time, fights, by the way, I was mainly starting just to get his attention, ‘cause I thought he’d appreciate a guy who knew how to handle himself.” Gabriel shook his head a little, like he couldn’t believe that he’d actually done the things he was saying. “Before I could even get to the point, he told me to get on the back of his bike.”
“And how was that?”
“The fantasy was more pleasant than the reality, but still, I was happy out riding through town with him.”
“Happy out? Not scared you were about to be murdered?”
“Oh, it was worse than that.” Gabriel sighed. “Dude brought me right to my uncle’s boxing gym, who, let’s just say, was not impressed I was out drinking when I was meant to be resting up for a match.”
“Ouch.”
“Turns out my big crush was one of my uncle’s trainers, and that big mystery that always circled around him? Dude was married. Happily married.”
“That’s traumatising,” Will said.
Gabriel nudged him with his elbow. “Don’t make fun.”
“I’m serious,” Will teased. “Not just married, but happily married?”
Gabriel was grinning. “Regardless of the outcome, it was the start of a very long lesson on judging people by appearances. One you reminded me I clearly haven’t learned yet.”
“Are appearances important to you?” Will asked. “When you’re interested in someone, do their looks play a big part in it?”
Gabriel looked surprised, and then he relaxed back with a thoughtful expression. “That’s not an easy answer. Obviously, I want to say no, looks don’t matter. But that wouldn’t be completely true. I don’t think it’s true for anyone. Everyone has a type they prefer.”
“Mysterious bad boys are your type?”
“When I was a kid ,” Gabriel said emphatically. “I outgrew that. I had a phase of being really into smart guys, then sports guys, then career-driven guys. And now…” He gave a lost shrug. “I’m not too sure. But I like guys who always try to do their best even if the circumstances aren’t great.” Gabriel’s gaze lingered on Will, his expression unreadable. “What about you? What’s your type?”
“Physically speaking…” Will had to think hard about it. He only had two guys he’d been with: Dune, who was bigger and stronger than Will, and Birch, who was leaner and smaller. He’d liked both experiences for different reasons. “I think I could go either way.”
“Either way?”
“Top or tail.”
Gabriel made a choking sound, and then shook his head with a grin. “I didn’t mean sex.”
“I know.” Will blushed. Why did his mind immediately go there? “But that’s part of it too.”
Gabriel inclined his head. “Go on, what else do you like?”
Will sank back into the couch, nursing his beer. He’d never talked boys with anyone. It was odd he’d never even given the type of people he liked much thought either. “I think I like it when they’re genuine.” He thought of Jack. “And they don’t take anyone’s nonsense. Like, being brave enough to stand up for your friend, even when it’s hard.” What else? He thought of Amanda’s dirty looks, and little things about why he liked Jack jumped out to him. “And I like nice guys. People who don’t try to one-up others, or put people down for no reason at all.” He trailed off. “After your mysterious bad boy story, I feel lame.”
Gabriel was watching him with a soft smile. “You’re the opposite of lame. But I think you’ll have a hard time finding a guy like that. It sounds to me like you were describing yourself.”
“No,” Will said, thinking of Birch and that kiss. Had he done it to spite Amanda? Maybe. Either way, he’d done it knowing it would upset her. “I wish I could be like that.”
Gabriel met his eyes, and Will could see that he was inclined to argue. But that disappeared with a sigh. “Agree to disagree.”
“I think I have a more informed opinion on this one.” Will sat up, putting the empty beer bottle next to Gabriel’s. As always, one drink and his head was swimming. He kicked off his shoes and returned to the couch, sitting closer to the crook of Gabriel’s arm.
Gabriel leaned toward him, his free hand resting down on his lap. His head tipped forward, his dark eyes almost black as they studied Will. He didn’t object to Will sitting closer. Gabriel ran his hand through his own wavy hair and brought it back to his lap, his fingers brushing Will’s thigh along the way.
“Next question,” Will said.
“If Cassie isn’t your girlfriend, who were you with the other day?”
Will froze. Gabriel saw him tense and reached out to give his leg a reassuring squeeze. “I’m changing the question. If Cassie isn’t your girlfriend, why were you flirting with her during study?”
“I wasn’t flirting with her.”
Gabriel gave him a look. “You don’t think leaning in and holding hands is flirting?”
“It wasn’t flirting.” Will shook his head. “We were talking about you, actually.”
Gabriel looked intrigued. “What were you saying, and how did that lead to hand-holding?”
With his skin buzzing, he shuffled against Gabriel. “It was a game…of hypothetical situations.”
“What kind of situations?” The curve of Gabriel’s smile said he knew very well what they were.
“You need to move this arm down for me.” Will tapped the one on the back of the couch. Gabriel did, watching intently as Will leaned in close and rested his chin on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Imagine,” he dropped his voice to a hushed tone, “you’re in the middle of class and you can’t figure out this sum. It’s some dumb trig nonsense, and it’s driving you insane.”
Gabriel’s eyes darted over Will. “Math. Insane.” His voice was low. “Got it.”
“And the tutor comes over.” Will trailed his hand down Gabriel’s arm, caressing his muscles and then threading their fingers together. Gabriel’s eyes darkened and became fixed on their hands. “And he takes a more hands-on teaching approach.” Will rested his forehead against Gabriel’s hair, letting his lips brush against his ear as he spoke, dropping his voice down to a whisper. “Guiding you through the question.” He guided their hands against Gabriel’s thigh, drawing imaginary numbers.
Hazy, Will saw that Gabriel’s eyes squeezed closed. He could feel how hard his shoulders were heaving.
Gabriel’s breaths were harsh.
“Another one we talked about was how you rewarded good students.” Will dragged his lips against his ear as he spoke. He slipped his hand to the inside of Gabriel’s thigh, massaging, inching up and up. As he got closer to Gabriel’s body, he encountered a problem. “Open your legs for me,” Will whispered.