23. Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Oliver

I 'm sitting in my car, staring at the university in front of me. After spending the night wrapped around Ronan, I told him this needed to be done today. Coming and talking to Dean Grey right after the fundraiser would be the most appropriate thing, so I needed to do this as soon as possible.

Giving myself a pep talk, I open my car door and step out into the sun. Closing my door, I bask in the heat for a few seconds before I start walking toward the Admin building. As much as I know this needs to happen, there's still a nervousness inside of me. Dean Grey has done so much for the start of my career; I don't want to disappoint her. But I know I need to tell her—Ronan's worth it. He's worth the risk of being on the other side of Dean Grey's disappointment.

I casually walk through the university, passing the quad and the students surrounding the area. There are students running around, laughing and talking. I pass them all, hastily making my way to the building. The closer I get to Dean Grey's office, the more my courage builds. The complete opposite of how I was the first time I walked to her office at the beginning of the school year. I know I'm doing the right thing and now I want to get it over with so I can either head to my class or head back home and wait for Ronan.

Dean Grey is expecting me, so I walk down the hallway toward her office. Reaching the door, I pull down on my jacket and take a deep breath before raising my hand and knocking loudly.

"Come in," a voice cuts through. Turning the handle, I open the door, softly closing it behind me.

"Good morning, Dean Grey," I say, walking up to her desk and offering my hand. She shakes it softly while smiling at me.

"Good morning, my dear Oliver. It's so nice to see you again. How did you enjoy the fundraiser?" she asks, sitting back against her desk chair casually.

"I really enjoyed it. Thank you for inviting me. I hope we got a lot of investors from it. "

"I've heard great things so far. It was a smashing success." She smiles at me, her expression slowly shifting. "Now, what's going on, Oliver? I know you didn't ask to meet to discuss the fundraiser. And you said it was urgent, and it worried me a little bit, to be honest."

"Heh," I chuckle, wondering how I should say it. Do I blurt it out? Do I start from the beginning? Fuck, maybe I should have rehearsed this more. Ronan enters my mind and I close my eyes, remembering that I'm doing this for him. For me. For us. "I actually wanted to come and talk to you about something important. And I would really love it if you would hear me out."

"I'm listening," she says, resting her hands on her lap.

"So, I met someone recently. And while it may not seem like a big deal, how I met this person might be. Which was why I wanted to talk to you."

I look in her eyes, wanting to see if her expression gives away anything she might be thinking. When she doesn't respond, I keep going. "As I was saying, how I met this person might be a big deal, so I wanted to come talk to you and be honest about the whole situation."

"And what's the situation?" She says, her expression not changing. My hands start sweating from my nervousness, so I quickly wipe them on my slacks trying to get rid of the perspiration.

"I want to preface this by saying nothing happened right away. And nothing happened until after the semester was over." Which isn 't technically a lie. Nothing in person happened until the semester was over, and there's no way in hell I'm letting her know about the video thing.

"Is this going where I think it is?"

Not bothering to answer her question, I keep going as though she didn't speak. "I even looked at the policies of the university and there was nothing in there. But I wanted you to know." Taking a deep breath, I let it out. "I started dating someone. And he was originally in my class. But like I said, he's no longer in my class and nothing happened until after the semester was over. I mentioned that, right? I wanna make sure you know that. I'm not sure what you're going to say and I'm worried about how—"

"Oliver." Her soft voice cuts off my rambling, and I look up at her. Realizing that I've been fisting my hands in my slacks, I let them go and swipe at my pants, trying to straighten out the wrinkles. "Okay, let's talk about this. From what I'm gathering, it's a previous student? But you're saying nothing happened while he was in your class?"

"Correct. Nothing."

"Okay, because the one thing I am concerned about is anyone thinking ill about his grades. Such as if he got good grades due to this relationship or whatever you want to call it." Her voice sounds calm, but as for me, I'm anything but. She doesn't seem angry, but that doesn't mean she won't flip in any second.

"No. Ty did all the grades. Well, the grades that didn't automatically populate online." That was something I made sure of. While I would grade the other classes, I purposely made Ty handle Ronan's class.

"Okay, good, good. I'm going to be honest with you. There are no rules against a student/teacher relationship as long as it's consensual, of age, and not a quid pro quo type thing. And while it's not the smartest thing to do, I do thank you for coming and talking to me and letting me know. I greatly appreciate it."

"Wow," I say, taken aback. That's how I was hoping this would go, but there was always something in the back of my mind that thought the worst. "So, I'm not getting fired?"

"No, Oliver, you're not getting fired. You've been a great asset to the university and I don't want to lose you. The students love you and the faculty loves you. We really enjoy having you here at BU."

"Thank you," I choke out, needing to hear those words. "I love this place and I was nervous about this entire conversation, but thank you."

"No, thank you again for being open and honest with me. Can I ask you a quick question?" I nod my head and she carries on, "Was it the young man I saw you with on Saturday?"

"Yeah, that's him." My cheeks warm, remembering the position she caught Ronan and me in at the fundraiser.

"Good for you, Oliver. Life is too short to be hung up on some things. If you've found someone that has made you happy, then hold on to them tightly."

"I will."

Saying goodbye, I rush out of the building quickly. My mind is still worried she's going to chase after me and say she's changed her mind.

Reaching my classroom, I pause outside the door. Holy shit, that went better than I expected. Knowing I get to keep both Ronan and my job gives me an extra pep in my step. Smiling widely, I head inside, ready to finish the day and get back to Ronan.

I'm bobbing my head to the music while roaming around my apartment doing a deep clean. After my conversation with the dean, I finished my classes and then came straight home. Ronan was due to head over soon, so I figured I would pass the time by cleaning up.

Ember has been running in and out of my legs the entire time. I think she can sense my good mood because she hasn't left my side, purring and scratching all around the kitchen. In between scrubbing everything down, I give her pets and kisses, and a joyful energy fills the air throughout the apartment.

Wiping down the counters, I startle when my phone starts buzzing on the table. I hustle over to the table and pick it up, smiling when I see Alexander's name on the screen.

"Hey," I say as I toss the towel down and put the phone on speaker.

"Hey man, just reaching out to see how you've been?"

"I've been good. Gearing up for the end of the semester."

"That's actually one of the reasons I'm calling."

"Oh, how so?" I ask, curious as to why he would be interested in the semester ending.

"Elias and I have been talking about coming out to visit, and we figured the summer would be a good time. If it's okay with you, of course," he adds quickly, as though I would ever say no to him and Elias visiting.

"Oh, hell yes. I would love for you both to come out and visit. Just let me know what dates you're thinking of and I'll make sure to make time or make sure I'm free."

"Sounds good."

We talk on the phone for a little bit longer until I hear Ronan pushing his key into the lock. Getting off the phone quickly, I stand up and rush toward the door to meet him.

"Hi," I whisper, walking up and planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"Hi, yourself. How did today go?"

Ronan and I haven't had a chance to talk about my conversation with the dean earlier. I made sure to send him a quick text to let him know I was done, but then I had class and he had his own to deal with, so this will be the first time we're able to discuss everything.

"Today was good."

"Was it?" He looks at me skeptically and I snicker, giving him another kiss.

"Yes. Come on, let's take a bath and we can talk about it."

Grabbing his hand, I drag him down the hallway into the bathroom. I've always been a bath person, so I'm convinced it's the best way to relax. And I love that Ronan enjoys it as much as I do. After a long and stressful day, Ronan will pop a bath bomb into the tub and we'll soak in the water, talking about our day. Knowing how much it settles him, I want to do it tonight.

We step into the bathroom, I turn on the water and then strip out of my clothes. Gathering the hem of his shirt, I pull it up over his head. Leaning forward, I suck on his Adam's apple, smirking when his breath hitches and his body trembles. I'll never get over the effect I have on this man.

My fingers deftly flick open the button on his jeans, then slowly pull down the zipper. I reach my hand inside, taking hold of his cock. Gently squeezing his dick through his briefs, I grip his chin, capturing his lips with mine, slowly forcing them to open for me. His hands snake around my waist, pulling me closer to him. Taking my hand out of his pants, I pat his chest lightly, pulling away from the kiss.

"Come on, let's get in the water."

"Tease," he quips, slapping my ass, then stepping out of his pants and briefs.

"Always," I say, stepping into the steaming water. I scoot up to the front, leaving enough space for Ronan to slide in behind me. He does exactly as I anticipated, sitting behind me and pulling me against his chest. I rest my head back, loving the secure feeling of being in his arms. The water splashes around us as we move our bodies trying to get comfortable in the small tub. The scent of oranges fills the air and I grin at the bath bomb Ronan picked out for us. We're trying all the scents one bath bomb at a time.

Lying back, my body slowly rises and falls in rhythm with Ronan's breathing. His hands slowly glide along my side, shivers racing up and down my body at his touch. I will never grow tired of this. Him being wrapped around me tightly, his heart beating wildly being in my presence.

"I love you," I whisper, turning my head and placing a kiss on his pec.

"I love you, too." It's quiet for a few moments when his voice cuts through the silence. "So, uh, again, how was today? "

"It was really good. I wasn't lying. I went into her office knowing exactly what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it."

"And she wasn't mad?"

"Nope. She was more appreciative that I came and told her the truth. She more so thanked me for being honest. I did make sure to tell her nothing happened while you were my student."

"Liar." He pinches my side and I laugh full heartedly.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell her the whole truth. I told her what she needed to know, and she was okay with it."

"Wow, that's amazing," he tells me, grabbing the body wash off the ledge. I watch as he pours a generous amount into his hand and begins rubbing me down with the soap. "I guess this means we're free to be ourselves. To go out in public, holding hands, loving on each other. Fuck, Oliver, I finally get to call you mine."

"I've always been yours," I tell him, my body trembling when his hand reaches my happy trail. His fingers play with the hair before sliding down and gently tugging on my cock. His hand lets go just as quickly, and I slump down against him. "Now who's a fucking tease?"

"I can't wait till everyone knows this sexy-ass man is mine."

My face heats at the compliment and I can tell the second he notices, because a groan rumbles deep in his chest as his hand caresses my neck. "So fucking pretty for me, your blushing. I love watching as it spreads across your naked body, letting me know how much you love the words I'm telling you."

"I do," I moan, arching into him. "I love the words so much."

"Such a good fucking boy for me. I think you're clean enough." Nodding my head, I lift up a little so his cock is nestled in my ass cheeks. "God damn, Oliver, this ass." His hands grip my ass, spreading me apart. He pushes his cock in the crease, rubbing himself on me. The water is splashing everywhere and fuck if I care.

Today was an emotional day and knowing I get to keep my job and Ronan, I'm more emotional than I thought I would be. Standing up, I step out of the tub and dry myself off. Ronan stays in the tub, eyeing me with a lustful gaze; his pupils dilated, his breathing heavy. I take my time, using the towel to dry my legs, my chest, my hair. I lift my leg up onto the ledge of the tub and slowly start drying between my legs.

"You're such a naughty boy, Oliver. Teasing me like this." He stands up, the water slowly rolling down his body. "Go get onto the bed and show me you can be a good boy."

Whimpering, I toss the towel at him and make my way to the room.