17
The next few days crawled by. Will was counting down the hours—no, the minutes—until school got out on Friday. Gabriel had followed up with a time. 7 pm. One more day and Will would be back in Gabriel’s house. The two of them would be there, alone. He knew he was being eager, but he was way too excited to stop himself. He heard voices as he approached his classroom and paused where two halls intersected when he heard his name.
Dune was coming down the hall the opposite way. He stopped beside Will. He raised an eyebrow, and in silent agreement, they approached the corner to listen.
“Will Simmons?” He recognised the voice. It was a fourth-year that was speaking, one of the girls on the soccer team. “If he wasn’t gay, I’d be all over him.”
Will jolted.
Dune elbowed him and raised his eyebrows.
A male voice chuckled back, but there was a slight edge to it, making it come off as tense. “I guess he’s one of the more mature students.” The boy was clearly jealous.
“Absolutely! He drives, he cooks, he holds a conversation with anyone, he’s super nice—”
“Are you prepared for the Christmas exams?” the guy interrupted.
The conversation moved toward other schoolwork before their voices faded away down the hall. Will didn’t know what to make of what he heard. Coming from someone who didn’t know him, from an outsider’s perspective, and hearing something so positive —
“You can’t be that horrified by a girl liking you.” Dune chuckled at his expression. “I know. You’d rather it was O’Connor who said it.”
The comment caught Will off balance. Of all the people that Dune could have brought up… He studied Dune’s expression. Had he meant something deeper with that remark? Will plastered on a relaxed expression and shrugged. “You’d prefer O’Connor too.”
“He’s not my type,” Dune replied, completely sincere.
Will stared at him in disbelief. “He’s not your type?”
“Nope.”
“He’s everyone’s type.” Will shook his head. “I don’t believe you. What’s not to like?”
“He seems judgemental,” Dune answered. “He gave quite a few of the guys trouble with their grades.”
Will recalled his first meeting with Gabriel, and then he thought of him in his house. He’d told Will a lot that night. One of the things being how he was doing his best not to judge people by their exteriors. “He’s not judgemental.” Will’s voice came out harsh, and way too defensive. “I mean,” he added quickly, “he heard me out when I went to talk to him. Plus, I got the impression it was the teachers that put him on a witch hunt against the soccer players.”
Dune gave him a look. And even though Will had put distance between them since Dune’s party, Will realised that Dune was more observant than he had given him credit for. He got the feeling Dune saw right through him.
“Finally over Jack?” Dune asked.
It surprised Will that a wave of horror didn’t sweep over him like it had with Jack. Talking it out with Gabriel and then speaking to Jack had eased the sting of anyone other than himself knowing how he’d felt. Still, it was very disconcerting. “Does everyone know about that?”
“I don’t think everyone is as interested in who you liked as I am.” Dune paused. “Except Eileen.”
Will blinked. He tried to form a question, but he couldn’t. Had Dune just admitted that he liked him? No. He said he was interested in who Will liked. But didn’t that imply he was interested in Will?
The bell went.
Will glimpsed a flash of disappointment in Dune’s expression before that got buried beneath a look of acceptance. “You’re not great at dealing with people who like you.”
“Dune…” Will trailed off. He thought of the nights they’d tried things out. They’d connected physically, but it had never gone beyond that. Or maybe it had. Maybe for Dune those nights had meant more than just some experimentation?
“I was never sure if you didn’t realise, or pretended not to see it,” Dune said. “I’m sorry for getting angry with you. We good now?”
Will didn’t understand how Dune got from A to B. Dune had just told him he had feelings for him. How did that mean they were good? Especially when Will had kissed Birch in front of him and—
“Stop worrying.” Dune put his arm around his shoulder and steered him down the hall with other students. “It’s our last year together, and I want to spend it as teammates. Can we do that?”
Dune liked him? Will was trying to remember the first time they’d kissed. It hadn’t been long after Will had joined the team way back in second year. That was four years ago. Four years and Will had been oblivious. But maybe—
“Will,” Dune groaned. “Since when do you not talk my ear off? Say something. Stop thinking.”
“You did just drop a bomb on me!” Will lowered his voice so the other students couldn’t hear. They’d stopped outside Will’s classroom. “How long have you… Ah, actually, no. Sorry, you don’t have to tell me. Um…” He stared at the floor and then looked at Dune. He was close, his arm over Will’s shoulder, and his face was bent toward Will. Dune looked collected, not perturbed at all about his feelings being known. Completely different from Will, who’d literally thrown up. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Jack,” Dune said. “And, well, I didn’t think you felt the same. I didn’t think you ever would feel the same.”
Will frowned at him. “Why?”
Dune glanced away and dropped his voice. “Because even after we were intimate, you never seemed to really care at all.” Will stared at him in silence. Dune continued, “Or maybe I was scared.”
*
Dune was on Will’s mind the full day of school. Right up until his hour with Gabriel began, and then his mind was all Gabriel, whether he liked it or not.
Will lingered when the clock ticked on five and their study session ended. He gave Cassie a wave as she exited. He was the last student left in the room. Gabriel was sitting at his desk, sifting through the homework he’d been handed up. He cocked an eyebrow at Will, noticing that he was staying behind. Will approached, choosing to sit against the side of the desk closest to Gabriel.
“My homework,” Will said innocently. He handed over the sheets, but Gabriel’s dark eyes didn’t budge an inch from Will’s face, watching expectantly. It made the pit of his stomach tumble over itself. “Aren’t you going to correct it?” he asked playfully. “I think I did good this time.”
Will flattened the paper on the desk, leaning down, hand touching Gabriel’s shoulder, and when there was no complaint, he stroked the back of his neck. He didn’t see the shiver that went through Gabriel, but he felt it.
Students’ voices rang out, giving both of them a start. Will jumped away from Gabriel, his heart leaping into his throat. His head whipped around to the door, but the students kept on going by. His heart hammered, regardless. Okay. He shouldn’t have done that at school. He glanced back at Gabriel and froze. To say he looked unhappy would be an understatement.
“Will,” Gabriel said, his head in his hands. “I think you should delete my number.”
Will’s gaze darted to the closed door before going back to Gabriel. Gabriel lifted his face to look at the homework in front of him.
“Delete your number?” Will repeated quietly.
“I’ll avoid meeting Leah at your house from now on so that our tutoring relationship isn’t confused,” Gabriel continued in a soft voice. His eyes were fixed on the front of his desk, and not on Will.
Will ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I don’t understand.” He couldn’t get any volume into his voice.
Annoyance flashed across Gabriel’s features. “You understand perfectly what I’m telling you right now.”
Will’s mouth was dry. “Two days ago, you wanted me to come over again. I don’t understand what changed between then and now.”
“That was a mistake.” Gabriel shook his head. “I’m sorry if I led you on. It was—”
Will’s pulse was throbbing against his temples. “You liked when I touched you.” A sharp pang of desperation went through him. “I know you did.”
Gabriel took in a sharp breath, his head turning to the door.
“So why can’t we—”
“Will,” Gabriel interrupted. His fists clenched as hard as his jaw when he stood up. Will shut his mouth and hunched down. The anger in Gabriel’s eyes melted, and his shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry,” his voice softened. “I may not officially be a teacher here, but I am a tutor, and you’re a student. And I can’t go making trouble for my gran.”
Will wanted to argue. He’d opened up to Gabriel, told him things he’d never told anyone, talked about things he didn’t with anyone else—he’d even told him about his parents getting a divorce, and he was the only person he’d shared that with. And now he had to delete his number?
“Can’t we still talk?” Will asked quietly. “Just talk? Nothing else.”
Gabriel seemed to have a hard time looking at him, and the emotions that flitted across his face gave Will hope.
“I like talking to you, Gabriel.” He leaned forward. “And I won’t push for anything else. Please.”
Gabriel wavered. His hands moved to grip the edge of his desk. In those tense seconds, Will’s heart went haywire, and the feeling of blood rushing through his ears was horrible. Gabriel gnawed on his bottom lip, his eyes darting between the door and Will.
Will cautiously approached. His fingertips brushed against Gabriel’s white knuckles, whose eyelids fluttered shut. Will took another step closer. “Please, Gabriel,” he whispered.
Gabriel’s breath hitched.
Will’s gaze moved to his lips. The scar. The stubble. It wouldn’t be soft, not like Will was used to. It would be different. It would be grown-up. Without conscious thought, his hand was on Gabriel’s chest. Gabriel, with his eyes still closed, bent toward him. His warm breath fanned out over Will’s cheeks.
The door handle rattled.
Will yelped as he was shoved back, tripping on his own feet.
Gabriel’s eyes were wide. The door didn’t open. “Christ,” he cursed. The realisation that someone could have walked in on them settled heavily on Will’s shoulders. He knew he wouldn’t get in much trouble for it. He was just the student. But the tutor... Gabriel’s expression closed off. He fixed his eyes on the door. “I’m sorry.”
Will was left at a loss when Gabriel left.