Devil's Kiss (Sunset Cove #2) (18 page)

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Exactly what I’m looking for.”

“Great. Then it’s yours.”
 

When Dylan left to walk back down to the small kitchen, Derek frowned and asked, “Do you want references? I can—”

“Nope.”

No? What the…?
Everyone wanted references. Derek didn’t really want to go to Jordan for one, but he would, and he could get one from his job, but— “What do you mean, no?”

Dylan leaned up against the sink and shrugged. “You seem chill. That’s what I’m looking for.”

“I seem
chill
? I have a purple face and you haven’t even seen the worst of it.”

“Hmm, yeah. That bothered me at first, but not so much now.”

Not understanding this guy in the slightest, Derek frowned and took his glasses off.

“
Jesus
, that looks painful.”

“Yeah,” Derek agreed. “And this is a week later.”

“Damn. And the other guy?”

The way Dylan asked, Derek figured this was an important answer, so he was brutal in his honesty. “He doesn’t have a fucking scratch on him.”

Dylan nodded slowly and pushed away from the sink. When he stopped opposite Derek, he studied him in silent contemplation. “I figured. And just so there’s no confusion, I’m gay, in case you didn’t get that from the way I was looking at you. That gonna be a problem?”

He’d figured, but having it confirmed made this an even better fit. “Not a problem at all.”

“Good,” Dylan said, then, as if they weren’t discussing such serious shit, he asked, “You surf?”

“Ehh…not really.”

“What? What kind of Floridian are you?”

Derek laughed, thinking how well this guy would get along with Finn. “Apparently a bad one? I love the beach, but I’m not coordinated enough to balance on a board.”

“Well,
Derek
, if I can pretend to be a surfer and I’m not even from here, you can at least try to fit in.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“I’m deeply ashamed. And where are you originally from, Prescott?”

“Prescott, huh? I can work with that. And the answer to that would be San Francisco,” he said, his voice taking on a slightly wistful tone. “I’ll get back there one day. Or at least to the West Coast.”

“Never been. Hate to say it, but I’ve never been much farther than an hour out of Sunset Cove.”

Dylan walked toward the front door and Derek followed. Once Dylan locked up and they were both standing on the little balcony overlooking the waves, he clutched his surfboard under his arm and headed toward the stairs leading down to the parking area.
 

Before he got too far, though, he said over his shoulder with a carefree laugh, “Not a bad place to be, all in all. Nice to meet you, Derek. I’ll see you tomorrow at ten. Don’t come earlier than that or you’ll be sorry. I am
not
a morning person.”

As Dylan disappeared down the stairs, Derek looked over the balcony and watched him cross the road and jog down onto the beach, and wondered if he really was an angel.
 

A beautiful figment of his imagination.
 

Guess he’d find out tomorrow—after ten.

* * *

“JORDAN? HEY, JORDAN. Are you okay?”

Jordan blinked and looked across the table to see Brantley frowning at him. It was Sunday morning, and the two of them had met up for their usual brunch and mimosas.

“Hey, yeah, sorry…I spaced for a minute.”

“I could tell. Anything interesting?” Brantley asked as he lifted his glass of OJ and champagne to his lips.

Jordan’s mouth pulled into a tight smile as he shook his head and pushed his eggs around his plate with his fork.

“Seriously. What is the matter with you? You look as if somebody stole your puppy.”

Well, kinda…
He’d certainly lost someone he cared about—he just hadn’t realized how much until they were gone.

“Nothing. I’m just not feeling myself. That’s all.”

Brantley lowered his arm, placing his glass back on the table. “Is it August?”

“What?” Jordan asked, raising his eyes.
 

“Your ‘friend’ August. You told me he was heading overseas last week. I was wondering if he’s the reason you’re so—”

Brantley’s words were cut off by Jordan’s phone buzzing on the table beside his arm. As his eyes flicked to the screen and he saw
He-Man
light it up, he snatched it off the table.

“Do you mind?” he asked quickly. “I’ve got to take this.”

Brantley shook his head and pulled his own phone out, and Jordan thought it funny that the two of them were now likely talking to their “students.”

After getting to his feet, Jordan hit the answer button as he wove his way through the tables and out onto the small deck that overlooked the rolling waves.

“Derek?”

He wasn’t sure why his heart was thundering like a million horses were galloping through it, but it was beating so hard that Jordan was positive the people seated out on the deck must’ve been able to hear it.

“You answered.”

Those two words made a smile stretch across Jordan’s lips. “I already told you—”

“You’ll always answer,” Derek finished for him.

“If I’m able, then yes,” Jordan confirmed as a comfortable silence fell between them. It lasted all of two seconds, and then he had to know: “Are you okay? How’s your eye? Your lip? Where are you?”

Derek’s chuckle made Jordan want to strangle him. This past week he’d imagined every possible scenario, from the good, to the bad, to the downright morbid. “Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

“I’m sorry,” Derek said, and then he sobered. “I’m not really laughing at you. I was just imagining your face getting all red and cranky.”

“I don’t get cranky.”

“Yeah, you do, Devaney. It’s really cute.”

Jordan sputtered a little and was about to protest when Derek spoke up again.

“To answer you. I’m okay. Or, at least, I will be. My face is healing. I had a pretty smart guy patch me up…”
 

As Derek’s words trailed off, Jordan pictured the man who’d sat in his bathroom bruised and bloodied just last week and shut his eyes.
 

God, until this very moment he hadn’t realized just how much he wanted to reach out and—

“Jordan?”

His name brought him out of his thoughts and had his eyes opening, almost as if Derek had appeared in from of him.

“Yes?”

“I’m okay. I promise.”

“The motel?”

“No,” Derek answered. “A roommate. He’s pretty cool, I think.”

Jordan wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the emotion that shot through him at those words, because if he wasn’t careful he’d almost believe it was…jealousy.

“Okay. Well, I appreciate you letting me know.”

As the silence stretched between the two of them this time, it felt gaping and vast. Final. And it was clear that this, whatever odd arrangement they’d had, was over.

“Jordan?”

“Yes?”

“I wish things were different.”

Jordan squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to stay quiet. He knew exactly what Derek was referring to.
 

That unspoken element. That moment in the bathroom.
 

The kiss that had imprinted itself somewhere on his soul.
 

“I just want you safe, Derek.”

“I know. I want the same for you. That’s why I left. I took your address off the records at work and left no forwarding one. You should be safe now.”

Jordan swallowed around the words he wanted to say, something along the lines of
I was always safe; no one could get inside my building
, but instead he said, “Thank you.” When it appeared neither of them had anything else to say, he added, “If you ever need me…”

“I know. I’ll call. Goodbye, Jordan.”

“Bye, Derek.”

The phone call ended, and Jordan wondered if he’d ever felt such detachment in his life. The answer was simple.
No
.
 

Never had he permitted someone to rely on him in such a way. And never had he allowed someone to be the reason for his highs, or, he thought as his gut churned, the reason for this all-time low.
 

But the question he couldn’t seem to answer was: how did one survive such disconnect? Could they?

Or would he merely crave that same connection over and over until eventually it destroyed the beauty of what drew him in the first place?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

One Year Later

Commencement Ceremony

DEREK CLUTCHED HIS commencement certificate in hand as he walked across the stage and wondered, not for the first time, how the hell he’d managed to get through four years of school and come out on the other side with a degree.
 

He made his way down the stairs, following behind the line of students who’d filed through in front of him. Today was a day to celebrate, and not even the absence of his father or brother could put a damper on this moment.
 

As his eyes scanned the crowd, he spotted a somber-looking Finn, whose expression almost had him tripping over his own feet as he continued up the aisle. When he got closer, Derek saluted him with his certificate and tried not to be overly concerned with the lack of response he got.
 

When he’d called earlier that week, Finn had seemed excited to be invited to the ceremony, and asked Derek if he wanted to come to his, which was to be held later that afternoon. But as Derek moved to retake his seat, he couldn’t help but worry that something had happened. Usually Finn would be the first to flash a grin and cheer him on, but today…today he looked like a zombie.

As he took his seat, his eyes continued to move over the crowd to the faculty members who sat off to the side, and he chided himself for even looking.

There’s no reason for him to be here,
he reminded himself, even as he continued to search the faces of his professors.
I had him for one semester; he isn’t going to be—
But he was. There, standing behind the row of professors and university personnel, was Professor Devaney.

He was dressed more conservatively than Derek ever remembered seeing him, and the fact that he was wearing a light gray suit with a very proper blue tie had Derek grinning. It wasn’t that the look didn’t suit Jordan, because hell, the guy pulled the polished look off to a fucking T. It was that he looked so…proper, so professional, which were two words Derek would never normally think of when he thought of the man who’d danced around a penthouse to Britney Spears.

Jordan’s eyes were locked on the speaker announcing the final names, but Derek wasn’t about to look away from the man until finally, as if Jordan sensed his focus, his gaze shifted and found Derek’s.

He couldn’t help himself, and aimed a wink at Jordan. At first he wondered if Jordan had caught the gesture, but when his eyes widened slightly and he quickly averted his gaze, Derek knew that he had.
 

Damn, it’d been way too long since he’d seen Jordan, and the man looked fucking great. He’d been secretly hoping that Jordan would turn up today, but he hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up just to have them crushed. There was no reason to expect that he would show at a commencement ceremony he wasn’t one of the teachers for. But Derek had been curious if Jordan would be there for one simple reason—him.
 

Derek turned back to face the stage with a big, cheesy grin. And as he sat there, not knowing the reason Jordan had showed, the fact that he was there at all meant the world to him.

* * *

JORDAN FELT AS though the tie around his neck was going to strangle him, but as he stood behind the row of economics and finance professors, he couldn’t find it in himself to care.
 

He’d been keeping an eye on Derek’s progress over the past year. His grades, his classes, and yes
—to add to my full-on stalker status
—the day he would graduate. Jordan had told himself he was doing what any concerned teacher would if they were worried about the safety of their student. But as he stood there willing the heat on his cheeks to subside, he admitted to himself that this was about a hell of a lot more than concern for a student.

He’d come there today with two goals in mind.
 

To see a student he knew had fought tooth and nail through school finally graduate. And his other reason was much more selfish.
 

He’d wanted to see Derek. Plain and simple.
 

Throughout the year, they’d run into each other a couple of times, and it had been cordial and polite, but for the most part Jordan hadn’t seen him in any capacity other than teacher and student—just as they were right now.

As the ceremony came to a close and everyone stood to go and greet those they were there to see, Jordan’s eyes cut through the crowd to where Derek was getting to his feet.
 

Straightening his suit jacket, Jordan told himself this was an appropriate setting for them to meet up and talk. Surely it wouldn’t look odd for him to approach and congratulate a former student on his accomplishment.
 

He greeted several of his colleagues and wove his way through the crowd, heading toward the tall man he could see wearing his cap and gown. Just as he was about to say his name, though, Daniel Finley slipped between him and his target, and Jordan came to a stop.

Shit.
He looked around, trying to see if Brantley was there with his man or if… O
kay,
it appeared Daniel was on his own.
Thank God.
Jordan wasn’t sure he was that great of an actor. As it was, he was now turning on his heel to walk away from the two students he’d once found so interesting. He needed distance from them, and not to be under any kind of scrutiny. Lord only knew what Derek would do if that wink he’d thrown his way earlier was any indication.

He’d just catch up with him later.

* * *
 

“WELL, HELL. WHO would’ve thought that Derek Pearson would stick with school long enough to actually graduate?”

Derek turned around, recognizing Finn’s voice in a second, and pulled him into a tight hug. “Hey, fuck you, man. I can stick with things.”