Jared Abitol is ugly, past his prime, and desperate for love.
Years of being hyper-aware of his own looks have made Jared develop social anxiety. When you look like Jared, love isn't easy to find. Jared might not have the looks or confidence, but h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The first thing Darnell noticed about Jared when he started helping him study was that he was a good teacher. He had to admit before this night he had always wondered how Jared handled his lectures; or even his students. After all, Jared was so shy that he could barely speak up most of the time. So, it was surprising to find out that when Jared was teaching, he was a whole different person. His mannerisms were more confident, and his quiet voice was replaced by a clear speaking voice. He also talked — a lot, and Darnell could barely keep up with taking notes.
When Darnell had thought this evening out in his head, he had imagined snacks, kissing breaks, and maybe some light flirting as they glossed through the question. Instead, Jared was tutoring him like he had the exam tomorrow. To be fair, he had the exam in two days so Jared pushing him to study made sense. Oh well, that's what Darnell got for reading all those professor romance novels Nathalie had laying around in their apartment.
"Darnell, are you listening? Did you understand what I just explained?" Jared asked, poking the young man's hand with a pencil when he lost his concentration. Darnell sat up, shaking his head and apologizing as he rubbed his eyes. He had asked Jared to help him out from six in the evening to maybe eight, but somehow, they'd sat at the dining table with math problems till eleven. Frankly speaking, Darnell was exhausted. He wasn't used to studying at a stretch and was the type to take breaks every thirty minutes or so.
"Are you tired?" Darnell heard Jared ask in a worried tone as the man's fingers ran through his hair. Darnell nodded, giving up on trying to keep his eyes open. He was exhausted beyond words.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we can do that today," Darnell mumbled, referring to having sex. Since they had been studying longer than Darnell expected, he felt like he needed to sleep. They both had to be up and running by eight in the morning.
"It's alright, I already assumed so," Jared said in a soft voice as Darnell let out a sigh of relief. There was the sound of a chair being drawn, and then footsteps leaving the room. Darnell wondered what Jared had gone to get. He opened his eyes, looking down at the dining table they had been working on before he started to pack up his books. Jared came back with two cups of beverages, putting one on the end of the table for himself, before handing the other cup to Darnell, who was done packing up his stuff. The two drank from their mugs in silence as the clock ticked in the background.
"So, how was your day today?" Darnell asked, bringing the mug up to his face. The steam coming from the beverage warmed up his face, making him stay awake. "You never talk about yourself," Darnell pointed out when Jared didn't say anything. Usually, Darnell would mind his business and not ask Jared about his personal life. He wasn't sure what came over him. Darnell thought it might be because the room was too quiet, or maybe it was because he had his guard down because he was sleepy. His head was in a weird place where he was thinking too much about Jared, about their arrangement, and about the feelings that were starting to creep into his subconscious.
