Stephanie Vaughan

"Adult Ed"

"Excuse me, Mr. Jeffers, do you have time for one more question?"

Greg Jeffers looked up into the biggest, brownest pair of eyes he'd
seen in a long time. Ever, maybe.

"Sure. It's…don't tell me…"

It was a stupid stalling tactic, but the best he could come up with
on short notice. So busy packing away his materials, Greg hadn't
noticed anyone lingering as the students filed out of the classroom.
First night of Poli Sci 101, a night class at that, and most people
were eager to be on their way.

Now here he was three feet way from the beautiful face he'd been
avoiding all night; avoiding him because he was drawn to it like
metal to a strong magnet. He'd spent way too much energy fighting
it-looking anywhere but at the lanky, dark-haired figure in the
back-as he'd laid out the course outline for the next twelve weeks.

Staring helplessly, his mind a blank, Greg could only admire the
velvety depths of the man's eyes and pray that his open briefcase
hid the thickening state of his cock.

"Rothko. Mark Rothko. And I promise I'll make this quick."

"No problem, Mark. So what's your question?" No problem. Ha. Big
problem, was more like it. If tonight's class was any indication, it
was going to be a very long twelve weeks.

His notebook and text bundled together and clutched to his chest, a
nervous smile flitted over the student's face. Taking a deep breath,
the man plunged ahead. "Could you explain 'paradigm' again? I'm just
not getting it and I didn't want to take up any more of the class's
time. No offense, but they didn't seem all that into it."

Greg smiled ruefully. "No, they didn't. Comes with the territory.
So…paradigm. Sure. Basically it's a context for the way we look at
things. Mindset would be another way to think of it. It's the values,
or a way of thinking of things, in a group or society that are broadly
understood and accepted at any given time. It comes from things
like cultural background, general conditions, newspapers-"

Pausing for breath, Greg checked for signs of boredom, but Mark
Rothko was paying rapt attention. In fact, he seemed riveted and
Greg couldn't help a little rosy glow of pleasure at being the focus of
attention of someone as good-looking as Mark. Still… "Does that
help?"

"Kind of." Licking his lips briefly, Mark shifted his weight and Greg
fought to keep his gaze above Mark's waist. Mark's gaze falling, Greg
could swear Mark was staring at his mouth. "Could you maybe give
me an example?"

"Okay, um… flat earth, for instance. Everyone knew that the world
was flat and they understood the world in terms of that as a
background. It took a long time for word to spread, but as science
got better and communication got better, understanding grew and it
changed the way people thought about a lot of things. A lot of
people think of paradigm as a scientific term, but it has sociological
meaning as well. In fact, the flat earth idea would actually be an
example of a paradigm shift that was both."

"Yeah?" Mark's expression could only be called encouraging and Greg
had never felt more fascinating as a lecturer in his life. Okay, so he
only had two years' experience to draw on. Sue him. "Go on."

"Hey, prof, you 'bout done here?"

A new voice, calling from the door, made both their heads turn. One
of the school's custodians, anxious to get on with his cleaning
chores, stood tapping his thumbs along the top of his supply cart.

"Uh, yeah. We're done. Thanks." He turned to Mark. "Looks like
they're kicking us out. So does that help? I could give you some
websites to check out that could probably explain it better. They
might even have pictures."

"No, that's great, Mr. Jeffers. That helped a lot. I… I like the class a
lot so far." Maybe it was wishful thinking on Greg's part, but he
could swear Mark had just checked out his ass. In fact, Mark was
rubbing a circle on his own thigh, his gaze fixed on Greg's chest.

"Well, there hasn't been a lot of substance so far, I know. But it
gets better, I promise."

"Yeah?"

There was no mistaking the flirtatious light in those dark brown
eyes, now.

He was pretty sure.

Oh, yeah, that was definitely a teasing light in that sidelong glance
Mark was giving him now.

"Yeah. So… I guess we should get out of here and let this guy do
his job, huh?"

"Oh, for sure. Where are you parked?"

That definitely sounded like an invitation. A leading remark, at the
very least.

"Out front. They don't bother to open the faculty lot for the night
classes. You?"

"Yup. Me too."

As if by agreement they both headed for the door and as they
walked Greg quietly enjoyed the fluid ease of Mark's lanky stride.
The man couldn't have more than five percent body fat. And tall?
There was just something about a tall man that pushed his buttons.

But this was a student.

Adult, sure. But still… He had an obligation to fulfill as an instructor.

"Thanks for your time, Mr. Jeffers." Mark's gaze was fixed on his
mouth again. Again, the quick swipe of the tongue over that full
bottom lip. "I can tell already I'm going to like the class."

"You're welcome. Any time, Mark."

"Awesome. Thanks."

Mark stuck out his hand and Greg was momentarily startled. He put
out his own, though, and Mark made the final move that connected
them.

Palm to palm.

Startlingly personal.

Intimate, even.

"You're welcome."

The reluctance in parting had to be all in Greg's head. Had to be.

"'Night." A quick glance down at Greg's mouth, a crooked smile, and
Mark was turning to go. He took a couple of slow steps, then turned
back. "See you next week."

"See you next week."

It was going to be a seriously long twelve weeks.

***

© Stephanie Vaughan, 2007

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