At First Blush

Chapter 31

Julian hesitated outside of the History Department. He didn't know if he should do this. Was it too intrusive? Was it too forward? Would it just cause problems? He didn't know. Honestly, he was making this up as he went along.

Exhaling, he strode forward, looking more confident than he felt. It took him a few moments and few smiles and questions, but then he was standing outside Dr. Reginald Hewitt's office. The door was half open, and Julian knocked on it. A handsome man of an indeterminate age glanced up from his computer, and blinked at Julian. He was blond, with a scruffy, but still neat, beard and a sweater that looked much more homey than Julian was expecting. He stood, and Julian took that as a sign he could come in.

"Dr. Hewitt, I presume? Oliver talks about you a lot. He loves your classes." Julian said, putting his hand out to the other professor, cutting off whatever he'd been about to say.

Hewitt did a double take, then shook Julian's hand. "I'm glad to hear that. He's a wonderful addition to my classes. I must admit, I'm surprised to see you here." He gestured and they both sat.

"Me, personally, or..."

Hewitt steepled his fingers. "Well, a bit of both. And I must admit, I am hopeful now that I know exactly which professor Oliver was rumored to have been having relations with."

Julian raised a brow. "How so?"

Hewitt smiled a little. "I was afraid that it was Jefferson."

Julian winced. Stanley Jefferson did have the unfortunate perchance for sleeping with coworkers and several former students. Nothing was concrete, but he had definitely been eyeballed by the ethics board. "No, like Oliver probably told you, we did not meet through any academic sources."

"How did you meet?" Hewitt asked curiously.

Julian smiled a little. "I'd prefer that stay between me and Oliver. And I am here because I wanted to discuss with you if you will be willing to join my lawsuit against Haven University or if you are siding with them."

Hewitt's gaze widened in shock. "You're pursuing legal avenues?"

Julian smiled, a sharp little thing that spoke louder than words. He pulled out a file, his half of the McGee file, and placed it on the desk between them. "I know that you're a Beta, so let me be clear. According to Article 417-1G, no one can be refused funding, be that loan, scholarship, what have you, based on Rank. In the instance that Rank becomes known, and funding lost, that is punishable by a fine, up to three hundred thousand dollars, depending on severity. And under Title XIV, parental leave cannot be used against anyone of any Rank, especially at a university, whose funding is determined by the City and therefore have access to parental leave funding, should the need arise." Julian paused, tapping the manila folder, raising a brow. "Shall I go on, or do you get the picture?"

Hewitt stared at the folder thoughtfully. "I am so glad that at least one of us is educated enough to be able to stand up to it. I was worried that it would simply be a case where they toe the line on paper, and therefore cannot be held accountable."

Julian scoffed. "Ollie's grades are perfect, our relationship is serious and committed, and he has not provided any other reason to be denied funding."

Hewitt looked up at that. "Serious? How serious?"

Julian's heart fluttered in his chest. "I do believe that I will be asking him to marry me not too far in the future," he said softly, looking away, praying that he wasn't blushing.

Hewitt cleared his throat. "May I be the first to congratulate you both. I'm glad you stopped by today. Give Oliver my regards, please? I want him to know that I am on his side."

Julian nodded, and stood. He tapped the folder again. "Keep this. Don't do anything with it until I get more ducks in a row, but do familiarize yourself with it. I'll keep you updated."

Hewitt also stood, holding out his hand. "Thank you. I appreciate this, more than I can express."

Julian shook the older man's hand firmly, and exited the office. As he trotted down the stairs, he pulled out his phone, hesitating as his finger hovered over Ollie's number. Fuck it. He hit dial and held it up to his ear, listening to it ring. When it went to voice mail, something in him rankled. Ollie was with Ben. He'd kissed Ben.

Julian paused, hanging up, and rolled his eyes at himself. So what if Ollie kissed Ben? Julian had kissed at least nineteen Bens over the course of his slut era. Kissing Bens weren't an issue, and since Ollie admitted to it, there would be no issue. As he strolled to his car, because damn if he was staying on campus any longer when he had to bribe Adam to bring home tacos, he pondered the option that he and Ollie could kiss Bens together. He didn't see why not. He'd had plenty of threesomes before. Having an Alpha fuck him while he fucked Ollie...

Julian sighed wistfully. It wasn't that he hated topping. The opposite, now that he'd had sex with Ollie. But, there were times when he longed to have his hole stretched around a fat, thick Alpha cock.

As he got in his car, he mused whether Ollie might be up to topping. Julian had done a lot of leading, as the student-teacher aspect of their romance had been titillating. But now that he was contemplating keeping his baby Omega forever... well. It was worth thinking about.

His phone rang as he pulled out of the parking lot. He glanced, and saw that it was Les. He accepted it, and Les's voice rang out over the Bluetooth speaker. "Hi, lover. I need you to bully Adam into accepting my calls. It's urgent."

Julian snorted. "There is not a single thing I can do to make that mountain man do anything he doesn't want to do. What's so urgent?"

"Well, tell him I'm pregnant and see how fast he calls me," Les grumbled.

"Yeah, no I'll be left doing CPR, which means mouth to mouth and I don't know if I can control myself," Julian teased.

"Whore. Anyway, just, get him to call me. And Quinn is having a posh little house party, and invited me, and I wanted to know if you'll be my plus one."

Julian thought back to who Quinn was. Ah. Silvery blond haired Beta twink with a pet Alpha. "Should be fun. Can I plus one someone?"

Les made a rude noise that was part sex sound and part purr. "Only if this someone is that sexy little Omega of yours."

Julian laughed and just hung up, not even dignifying that with a response. He pulled into his parking space, grabbing his phone. Want to go to a house party with my friends? He texted Ollie. He waited as it sent, but it didn't show read. He frowned. Weird.

He shrugged and got out of the car, going through the security office. Some other guy was there, not Ben, which was fortunate given Julian had spent a solid ten minutes thinking about how much he and Ollie would enjoy playing with an Alpha together. He waved to the security guy, and went on his way to his apartment. It was empty, but then again, Ollie said he was stopping by Rebecca's. Oh well.

Dropping his stuff by the door, he loosened his tie, and went to the table where the mail was. Adam had likely stopped by, but where he'd gone off too, who knew. Flipping through the envelopes, Julians saw it was nothing but bills. Ugh. Adulting sucked.

He tossed it down for Adam to deal with, shedding his clothes on his way to the shower. Maybe, he'd float the idea of Ollie topping tonight. He smiled. He really was living the good life, wasn't he? Gorgeous boyfriend and imminent tacos. What more could he ask for?