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“I’m gonna tell him. Today.”
Genevieve raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell him the truth?”
“No, I’m not gonna tell him the truth!” Jared glared at her. “What am I supposed to say? ‘Hi, I need a new advisor because I’m hopelessly in love with you and every time I see your face it’s a painful reminder that I can’t have you.’”
“I don’t know why you think that,” replied Gen. “Grad students have been marrying their professors since, like, the eighties. Didn’t you read part of Final Negotiations in 525? Yeah, she got criticized for being married to her grad advisor, but she didn’t let that stop her from marrying another professor afterwards.”
Jared took a deep breath. “I just—he’s so gorgeous and smart and funny and I’m just—I’m not in his league.”
“He gives you A’s on every paper, doesn’t he? He asked you specifically to take his Sports and Leisure class. He spends more time responding to you during discussions than anyone else. I really think you should tell him the truth. Odds are good that he feels something for you, too.”
Jared shook his head so hard his hair flopped into his eyes. “If he turned me down, I could never face him again. I’d never be able to take another class with him, and I really wanted him for 591.”
“What will you hate yourself the most for: trying and failing, or not trying at all?”
Jared sighed. “Why couldn’t I have stayed in Interdisciplinary Humanities?”
“Because they wouldn’t let you study comic books as literature,” answered Gen with a small smile. “And they didn’t appreciate your creativity the way Dr. Ackles does.”
Jared closed his eyes. “If he shoots me down, I’ll never speak to you again.”
Gen’s smile widened. “I’m pretty sure he won’t, but that’s fair.”
Jared stood up. “Here goes nothin’.”
Jared trudged up the stairs to the third floor. Dr. Ackles’s office was nestled in the back of the American Studies main office, and, naturally, he had a bead curtain hanging in his doorway, because he was far and away the coolest professor in the whole department. Which was why Jared was madly in love with him.
Jared parted the beads. “Dr. Ackles?”
Dr. Ackles looked up from his computer monitor and smiled. “Jared, please, come in.” He grabbed a pile of books and notebooks from the wooden chair and set them on the only clean edge of his cluttered desk. “Have a seat. What’s on your mind?”
Jared’s breath caught in his throat. He swallowed hard and ran his hand through his hair. “I just—there’s something I need to tell you.”
Dr. Ackles frowned. “Is something wrong?”
Jared looked down at the floor. “Um, sort of?” He glanced up to see Dr. Ackles sitting forward in his chair, looking so concerned that Jared wanted to cry. “I think—I think I want a new advisor.”
Dr. Ackles’s eyes widened. “Have I done something to upset you?”
Jared shook his head. “No, it’s not you, it’s—it’s me.”
Dr. Ackles leaned forward and placed a hand on Jared’s knee. Jared’s heart started beating in triple time. “Please, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on with you.”
Jared’s mouth went suddenly dry. He licked his lips, and he could have been imagining it, but it seemed like Dr. Ackles’s eyes locked onto Jared’s mouth just then. “I don’t know how to say this,” he said, barely audible even to himself.
“Jared.” Dr. Ackles’s voice was commanding, but warm. “Are you trying to tell me that you have feelings for me?”
Jared nodded. “Yes,” he whispered, and let out a huge, relieved breath.
Dr. Ackles smiled, really smiled, and Jared felt the corners of his own mouth turning up. “I’m glad you finally told me,” he replied softly. “Because I have feelings for you, too.”
Jared’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “You—you do?”
Dr. Ackles nodded. “I know it’s inappropriate, and I didn’t want to make things awkward between us, but—we need to decide how to move forward.”
Jared frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, there are rules,” said Dr. Ackles. “If we proceed with a romantic relationship, I couldn’t be your thesis advisor, and you couldn’t take any of my classes. So if you want to continue to work with me, we have to put the relationship off until after you graduate, which is only one more semester.” He smiled softly. “It’s up to you, Jared. I’ll go along with whatever you decide.”
Jared sank back into his seat. Dr. Ackles was right—he only had one more semester, and if Dr. Ackles was willing to wait for him…well, Jared really did like his classes, and he still wanted him to be his advisor, because he was the best, and he’d already invested a considerable amount of time in Jared’s project. He took a deep breath. “I want to wait. I still want to work with you.”
Dr. Ackles nodded. “The second you turn in your thesis, I’m taking you out to dinner,” he promised with a smile wide enough to make his eyes crinkle up at the corners the way Jared loved.
Jared smiled back. “I would really, really like that.”
“Then it’s a deal.” Dr. Ackles extended a hand, and Jared took it with a grin. “But, there is one thing you could do for me.”
Jared sat up straighter. “What’s that?”
“Try to finish the body of your thesis over the break.” Dr. Ackles handed Jared the copy of his second chapter he’d turned in two weeks ago. “And sign up for Dr. Sheppard’s 591 section. I’ll help you write your introduction and conclusion after the break, and I think you can get the whole thing done before Valentine's Day. And then…” He winked at Jared.
Jared beamed. “That sounds like an excellent plan.” He stood up. “Thank you. For everything.”
Dr. Ackles stepped close to Jared and spoke in a low voice. “I’m not supposed to say this, but you always were my favorite.”
“You’re my favorite, too,” replied Jared.
Dr. Ackles clasped Jared’s shoulder and looked deep into his eyes. Jared shivered, but didn’t look away. The tension mounted until Dr. Ackles broke it by pressing a soft, chaste kiss to Jared’s lips. “I’ll be waiting,” he murmured in a husky voice.
“I’ll do my best,” promised Jared in a similarly quiet voice. “Thank you, Dr. Ackles.”
“Please,” said Dr. Ackles, grinning softly, “call me Jensen.”