Jensen was bored. The lecture on economics was putting him to sleep — and he noticed he wasn’t the only one. Even Max, the teaching assistant looked as though he was snoozing. After his quick trip to check on Evan after he and his roommate had gotten into it, he had gone to his room and called Hunter, but had gotten no answer. That was happening more and more often now. The time difference was making it hard on both of them.

He looked up to find Max looking at him. He smiled and then he looked back down. Jensen had looked at him before. He was really good-looking and a senior. The night Max and Cameron had rescued them from the strip bar, he had seen concern in Max’s eyes and maybe something else… he couldn’t be sure. He drew a line on his paper and put five lines below it and held it up.

“S.”

Jensen drew a head on the hangman. This went on for a few minutes until there was a whole man hanging. Jensen turned his head. “You suck, Sarah.”

“Yeah, well, the T.A. is looking at you again.”

Jensen looked up and caught him looking at him. Max smiled and chewed his pencil.

“Jensen Maddox?”

“Yes?” Jensen sat up.

“You will retake your final after class.”

Jensen sat back. “Shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing, professor.” Jensen sat back, cursing under his breath. If you got anything below a ‘B,’ you had to retake the test. That was England for you.

“Look at the bright side,” Sarah whispered. “Max is in charge of that.”

Jensen let out a chuckle and then his eyes met Max’s again. This time, Max didn’t look away. When the bell rang, Jensen had every intention of sneaking out. He had almost made it to the door when he heard Max.

“Nice try, Maddox.”

Jensen sighed. “Okay, tie me up.”

“Is that an invitation?” Max smiled.

Jensen’s jaw dropped. “Huh?”

Max laughed. “Here’s the final. Sit in the front.”

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The only sounds were Jensen’s pencil and Max rustling papers as he graded them. More than once Jensen had looked up and studied Max. He had black hair and his eyes were very light green. Half the girls in the school were in love with him and the other half were lesbians. Jensen chuckled and Max looked up, arching an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry,” Jensen whispered.

Max smiled, got up, walked over, and stood behind Jensen, looking over his shoulder. His eyes scanned the paper. He plucked Jensen’s pencil from his fingers and put a line through one of Jensen’s answers. He was so close, Jensen could smell his aftershave. He hardened and held his breath. Max scanned the first sheet and turned it over. He bent close to Jensen’s ear.

“Fix number five. Think about it.”

Max’s breath tickled his ear and a shiver ran down his spine. Goosebumps broke out down his arms and he rubbed them, trying to hide not only hide his boner, but his reaction to Max’s proximity. Max put his pencil back in his hand and strode back to his desk, picking up the papers and grading again.

As soon as Jensen looked down, Max looked up. Jensen Maddox was one hell of a gorgeous guy. Max had never seen anyone so hot walk through the school’s doors. They were all English. Okay, most of them were. He had grown up in New York, and since his parents wanted him to have the “European” experience, he’d ended up at Littleton Prep school.

This was his parents’ way of controlling him and making sure he did well in school. He already had offers from major football teams and he wasn’t even in college yet. He had first seen Jensen Maddox on the football field. He’d been hanging out with Evan Voronova, and while Evan was good looking, he wasn’t Jensen.

Jensen had talent, but his temper got in his way more than anything else. He had heard the stories about Jensen and Evan’s potential for violence. The way those two played, he believed them. Their dads killed people for a living — that didn’t faze him. Someone had to do it. Max chuckled and Jensen looked up at him.

“Sorry.” Max winked.

Oh holy hell. Jensen swallowed hard. He wasn’t the best judge of gay guys, but he was getting the impression that Max was hitting on him, which honestly confused him. He had seen him with a girl more than once. Granted, they hadn’t been kissing, but still. He had heard that Max was gay, but had never seen him with a guy except for Cameron, and he knew they were best friends. Jensen finished his paper and walked to the desk, put it down, and looked at Max.

“Sit down while I grade it.”

Jensen sat and put his books in his lap. Damn boners just showed up whenever, didn’t they?

Max took his time. He was loving Jensen’s impatient sighs, and the longer he could drag it out, the better. He heard Jensen cough and he put his finger up, telling him to give him one more minute. He put the final touches on it and looked up. Jensen had been staring at him. “Good job. You got an ‘A’ this time.”

“Thanks to you.” Jensen stood and grabbed his jacket and books. “I have to go to the library to study for the next test. Any chance you can tell me what to look over?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t think so.” Jensen sighed and walked out of the classroom.

Max smiled. The library was huge and he was tired of playing around. He was going to see if he was right about Jensen Maddox.

Jensen was looking down a long row of books. It was dark in the back of the library, and of course, this was where his book was. Somewhere. He walked to the other side and finally found it — on the highest damned shelf, no less. He looked around for a chair or ladder and didn’t find either one.

“Shit.” Jensen climbed the bookshelf and the bottom gave way. He was going down. Strong arms wrapped around his waist and then he was standing on the floor looking into peridot-colored eyes.

“The library is full of peril.”

“Thanks for the save.” Jensen realized Max’s hands were still at his waist and tried discreetly to move away.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Max pushed him back into the shelf. His hands came down on either side of Jensen, trapping him.

“No.” Jensen looked around to see if there was anyone paying attention.

“It’s just us.” Max leaned closer.

Max pushed up against him and he hardened on instinct. He cursed under his breath and heard Max’s soft laugh.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No, testing my theory.” Max let go of the shelf and held Jensen’s head still.

“What’s your theory?” Jensen asked, before licking his lips.

Max watched Jensen’s pink tongue dart out and moisten his lips and almost moaned. Jensen had delicious lips. “That you find me attractive.” Max caressed his cheek, his thumb gently rubbing his lower lip. He moved himself closer to Jensen, feeling his erection on his hip.

Jensen was so turned on he didn’t know whether to throw him on the floor, rip his shirt off, or run for the hills. Max was getting closer and Jensen chose the first option. They hit the floor and Jensen kissed him hard. Max was in such shock it took him a second to respond, and when he did, he flipped Jensen on his back and gripped his hair, taking his mouth.

Jensen’s mouth was warm and Max made a slow sweep of his mouth seeking out Jensen’s tongue. He moaned softly when Jensen’s hands scooted under his shirt. He pulled his hands away from Jensen’s pants and stroked one hand up his chest, feeling the muscles on his chest and abs. The kiss was becoming more passionate and Max had a feeling they were going to have to leave the library.

“We should get out of here.”

“Okay.” Jensen was breathing hard. He had only kissed Viktoriya a few times, but it hadn’t been anything like this. He had never kissed a guy.

“What?” Max looked at Jensen’s flushed face and it took him a minute to realize… “Oh God, I’m sorry! That was your first kiss, wasn’t it?”

Jensen blushed. “It shows that much?”

“Oh no, trust me: you’re very good at it.”

Jensen sat up propped against the bookshelf with Max. He wanted him and he wanted him now. He pulled him back down and kissed him again. Max was slowing things down for him and Jensen loved it. They rolled on the floor kissing, and Max caressed his face as he kissed him. For someone who was just kissing for the first time, Jensen had him turned on beyond belief. He was a natural.

They broke from the kiss and Max ran his tongue over Jensen’s bottom lip, nipping at it playfully. “We still need to leave.”

“Okay.” Jensen stood up and fixed his shirt. Max’s hands rubbed his ass and he leaned back into him.

“I want to take you out. Will you?”

“Go out with you? Like on a date?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I thought…” Jensen hesitated. “I thought you had a girlfriend.”

“I do?” Max chuckled, thought about it, and smiled. “My cousin.”

“She’s pretty.”

“Are you bi?”

“No. I’m sure about that.” Jensen thought of Viktoriya.

“So, is that a yes?” Max squeezed Jensen’s ass and kissed his neck.

“Yes. Does that mean I get an automatic ‘A’ on the next test?”

“No.”

“Tease.” Jensen pouted playfully.

Max pulled him into his chest. “I’ll take things slow. Any time you feel uncomfortable, you let me know. Okay?”

“You aren’t anything like I pictured.”

“Did you picture me naked?”

“Once, during our speed test.”

“No wonder you tanked that one.”

“I got a ‘B’!”

“No, you didn’t.” Max shook his head. “You know the answers, Jensen. That’s why I let you slide. You just don’t care.”

“You changed my test score? Why?”

“Because you’re smart. You have a rare talent and you choose not to use it. You’re so much more than that.”

“How long have you been helping me?”

“Since the first day I saw you. I knew you were special.”

“I’ll do my best from now on; I don’t want you in trouble.”

“Well, we have two options. We keep this a secret. If we don’t, I’m no longer the TA and you’re on your own. As soon as prof finds out we’re together, I’m someone else’s TA, or we go public.”

“We go public.” Jensen answered immediately.

“Are you sure?” Max looked at him. The kid had balls.

“Yes. If I’m going to have someone like you dating me, I want everyone to know.”

“Cute, very cute. You’re quite the hottie yourself.”

“Hot enough to go back to my room with me?” Jensen rubbed against Max.

“Oh, you are so bad.” Max breathed. “As much as I want to, I want to go slowly, so I’ll pick you up tomorrow night. Okay?”

Jensen smiled and leaned in, kissing him softly. He ran his tongue over Max’s bottom lip and bit it. “If you say so.”

“Oh, hell.”