Case Study: You (MxM Romance)

LUCAS

I’d always viewed life as unpredictable.

Things had a knack of not going exactly how you wanted them.

For example, when I was walking into class this morning, I expected another boring, but simple day.

I had absolutely no idea that my entire life was about to change.

As I looked toward the front of the lecture hall, I still couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Dark hair. Gray eyes. Black shirt beneath a charcoal blazer. A sharp, serious gaze.

He looked nothing like he’d looked a week ago at the club. Or even when he was on a bed beneath me an hour later.

He was currently standing behind the podium, looking calm and collected.

Like he’d never once ended up following someone to a cheap hotel room after too much whiskey.

Looking at him now, I expected to be hit with regret but instead, I felt strangely… victorious.

It wasn’t just that the sex had been mind-blowing— although I wasn't going to be forgetting it any time soon— but that it’d been fun breaking him apart piece by piece.

I’d made someone as composed as him lose control.

He hadn’t even wanted to dance when we’d met.

I’d spotted him standing alone near the bar, dressed a little too well for the dingy club, looking like he was wondering where and how his life had gone so spectacularly wrong.

He’d been wearing a black dress shirt, the sleeves rolled to his forearms, his dark hair a little messy like he’d run his fingers through it one too many times.

And his eyes… That was what drew me in.

His eyes had looked so exhausted. Like he was done with the rest of the world.

Unable to resist, I had stepped up to him.

“You look like someone just kicked your puppy.”

Those had been my first words to him.

He’d looked at me for a long moment before replying in a monotone voice.

“I don’t have a puppy.”

“No wonder you look miserable.”

I’d expected him to tell me to fuck off. Instead, a little smile pulled at his lips.

The smile was restrained, barely there. Like he hadn’t meant to release it.

And that just pulled me in further.

Before I knew it, I was asking to sit next to him for a drink.

One drink became two.

Two drinks led to dancing.

Dancing became… Well, let’s just say neither of us ended up spending the night alone.

I didn’t ask for his name. He hadn’t asked for mine either.

At the time, I thought it was better that way. A clean ending. No awkward expectations. Definitely no strings attached.

But now watching him stand at the head of the lecture hall, I was beginning to wonder if that hadn’t been the best idea.

Although, I didn’t think learning his name would’ve changed anything.

How was I supposed to know the sad-looking man I hooked up with a week ago was going to be my new professor?

His gaze swept across the room. It passed over me without stopping.

For a moment, I felt something in my chest twist. He’d looked at me like I was nothing more than a stranger.

And then he looked back and our eyes met.

I saw when the recognition hit him. It was brief and lasted less than a second.

His hand tightened almost imperceptibly around the sheet in his hand before his expression settled back into perfect professionalism.

If I wasn’t staring so intently at his face, studying every little change, I’d have missed it.

He was interesting.

Very interesting.

Noah, my friend, frowned beside me. 

“Dude.”

“Hm?”

“Why do you look like that?”

“Like what?”

“There’s this weird smile on your face.”

The smile I didn’t even know was there widened even more. “Oh, nothing. I just found something I lost. Something that I thought had successfully escaped from me.”

Noah looked like he wanted to say more but he had to stop because the professor started speaking.

“Good morning.”

His voice was just as deep as I remembered.

“I’m Professor Adrian Frost.” A pause. “I’ll be teaching Introduction to Psychology this semester.”

Professor Adrian Frost. 

That was the name of the man who’d written me the most offensive note I’d come across.

The one night stand I thought I’d never run into again.

And to think I hadn’t wanted to sign up for this course.

Adrian raised up the attendance sheet in his hand.

“If I call your name, let me know you’re here.”

He began reading and students answered one after another.

His voice never wavered. Neither did his expression.

You would’ve thought he hadn’t just discovered his one-night stand from a week ago was a student in his class..

I’d have thought I hallucinated the whole thing if I still couldn't remember the feel of his lips against mine. Or the way he’d moaned in my ear when I hit all the right spots.

I admired his composure. I really did. 

It would make it all the more fun when I succeeded in breaking him apart again.

“... Lucas Carter.”

I intentionally stayed quiet.

Noah elbowed me. “Dude. That’s you.”

“Lucas Carter,” Adrian repeated in a hard voice, his gaze scanning the room.

I leaned back in my chair and smirked.

“Present.”

There was silence as he looked directly at me.

Other than the edges of his mouth tightening imperceptibly, his gray eyes gave nothing away.

“Mr. Carter, I’d appreciate a quick response going forward.”

“I’ll try my best, Professor.”

My tongue rolled around the last word suggestively.

I sounded perfectly normal to everyone else but to him… yeah, I was sure he didn’t miss the tone in my voice.

Something flickered behind his eyes.

Annoyance.

It was gone as quickly as it appeared.

He continued taking attendance as though nothing had happened.

Around me, students opened laptops and notebooks as he started teaching.

No one suspected a thing.

They hadn’t seen those same gray eyes looking up at me with desire only a week ago.

Hadn’t seen the smile that bloomed on his face when I’d teased him.

Hadn’t watched the careful walls he’d built around himself crumble for one reckless night.

I should forget it. He clearly intended to.

That would be the sensible thing to do anyway.

Unfortunately… I’d never been particularly interested in being sensible.

As Professor Adrian Frost turned to write the course title across the whiteboard, one thought refused to leave my mind.

I was going to bring him to his knees again.

Hmm… maybe this semester was going to be far more entertaining than I’d expected.