Gravity (Greenford #2) - Romeo Alexander Page 0,2

carefully. “There was a very good reason for your missing the test without giving advance warning. I’m sure you remember my class rules.”

Tyler winced, running a hand through his unruly hair. “Not really. I just...didn’t sleep last night, not until late.”

“So you overslept.”

“Yeah.”

“Studying?”

“Just...couldn’t sleep.”

It seemed like sleep problems were going around. Normally, Samuel would simply shrug the student off and tell them they’d have to take the hit to their grade. The thing was, Tyler had stuck out not only for his career aspirations but his work ethic as a student.

“I’ll admit, this is the first time I’ve ever had anything like this from you this semester,” Samuel told him. “Is something going on?”

“Nothing to worry about, sir,” Tyler muttered.

“Girlfriend or boyfriend troubles?” Samuel guessed, considering it made the top of the list of many students in their early twenties.

Another grimace. “Something like that.”

Which meant it was exactly like that.

At thirty-two, Samuel had known his fair share of romantic turbulence. There were enough relationships between his first boyfriend at sixteen until he decided he wanted to take a break from dating a couple of years before. Most of them were short-lived or just simply...were. His relationships didn’t make much of an impression on him or bring any real change to his life, even if they might have felt like it at the time. He barely paid his previous relationships very much attention.

Save for one.

Samuel sighed, motioning to one of the empty seats across from him. Unlike the standard chairs in the building, he had forked over money from his own funds to bring in a couple of comfortable, plush chairs to replace the hard plastic ones.

“It just so happens that class isn’t technically over,” Samuel told him. “I hope you have your laptop with you.”

Tyler’s eyes brightened suddenly, which only served to highlight the dark circles under them. “I do.”

“Well, I suppose that means you can log in before class has ended, and I’ll have no choice but to wait until every last student has finished before I can call the class to a close,” Samuel said, barely containing the smile that threatened to quirk his lips.

Which proved nearly impossible when Tyler all but leaped toward one of the chairs and hurriedly dug in his shoulder bag to yank out his computer. In that one moment, the forlorn and dragged-down demeanor about the young man was gone, replaced with the sort of eagerness and happiness Samuel had seen from him before.

“I’ll just close this so we have a little peace and quiet,” Samuel told him, getting up to close the door.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Tyler said, typing hurriedly. “But it’s only technically that class isn’t over yet. Why are you doing this?”

Samuel snorted, closing the door softly. “Technically correct is the only kind of correct when it comes to the legal system. It’s best you learn that if you hope to start enforcing the law.”

That seemed to be a good enough answer for Tyler, who was focused on his computer. Samuel shook his head, smiling quietly as he watched the young man studiously begin the test, looking a little better now that everything hadn’t fallen apart on him. Samuel remembered those turbulent days when hormones still had their way with a person, and the slightest problem could feel like the end of the world, particularly where romance was concerned.

Unable to help himself, he felt his eyes drawn to the bookcase in the corner of his office. He had been working at Greenford as a professor for a few years, and having the same office the whole time meant he’d had time to slowly but surely decorate to his preference.

There were pictures on the back wall. Most were of the traveling he’d done since he was eighteen. Him in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, a shot from atop the Empire State Building, looking down on the street. There were others, a picture looking out on the ocean as he stood at the southernmost point of Florida, atop a mountain out in Denver and the city of Toronto laid out before him.

And, of course, there were the knick-knacks and mementos he’d gathered. Small bottles of sand, one from the east coast and another from the west. There was a small chunk of geode he’d found while traveling through South Dakota, a container containing the shed skin of some reptile from New Mexico. A whole assortment of different items lay on the shelves and a few on his desk as well, all