Sean shifted slightly and refilled his lungs.
Mr. Instructor had a great head of auburn hair as well. Dark brown intermingled with the coolest hues of red, layered into shortish, shaggy locks. Sean’s mind replayed more details, things that he’d noticed when they’d first started talking. Chiseled jaw sporting a five-o’clock shadow. A strong nose and full, stubborn lips. Stubborn, because Max definitely had an attitude about him. One that said, “engage me at your own risk.” Which Sean had to admit, he really liked. Gave the guy sex appeal by disposition alone. Those tiny black gauges in his earlobes didn’t hurt either. Just added to his overall air of more. More than the average. In every sense of the word. Sean recalled the small scar on Max’s eyebrow. Not his pierced one. The other. His left. Sean bet that baby had something to do with Max’s distinctive, albeit edgy vibe, as well. No doubt from a fight. Sean wondered who won.
His mind moved on to replay Max’s eyes. Impossibly green with golden brown starbursts radiating out from their pupils. Like freshly cut emeralds just pulled from the earth. Framed by lashes so thick and black, they’d put a mascara model to shame. Max’s eyes were intense. Sean remembered that well. So much so that they’d snared Sean unwittingly. The way he’d caught himself staring at the guy? Jesus. He’d have felt like a fucking idiot if Max hadn’t been staring at him, too.
As if drawn by Sean’s thoughts, said eyes re-descended. Sean could feel them roaming slowly over his body. Was Max’s scrutiny a heated one? Did he like Sean’s body? Or was that just the artist meticulously inspecting? Sure felt like the former, which Sean wished he could witness. Watch as the guy drank him in. Was Max lingering on certain body parts? Was he staring at Sean’s crotch? Sean’s dick stirred. Shit, if he wasn’t careful, he was going to give himself a fucking boner.
His heart skipped a beat. Oh, God. This could be a problem. Maybe not now, but what about next session? When Sean had those same eyes perusing his body without a stitch of clothing on to cover him? What if he got hard? In front of Max’s class? Sean swallowed, breath coming a little bit faster. Surely that shit happened all the time. No way that it couldn’t. No way. And fuck it. His cock was fucking stellar. Guys told him as much all the time, right before he shoved it down their throats. Yeah… Oh, yeah…
Wait. No. Nope. No. Sean squeezed his eyes tighter. Time to redirect his brain.
“You need a break?” Max’s velvety-smooth voice, just a few feet to his right.
Sean stilled, then dropped his arms. “Um. Yeah, maybe.”
“No problem. Take all the time you need.”
Sean nodded and stood up, stretching his legs as he glanced around the room. He was curious to see just how far everyone had gotten. To see how he looked through their eyes. By the look of it, their sculptures would be a decent size, maybe one and a half feet tall. Most had his legs in place, as well as his feet. Or at least the beginning stages of them, anyway. The majority had the general shape of his torso, too, and were working on getting things proportionate. That was pretty much it, though, in the way of progress. This was definitely going to take a while.
Sean’s gaze slid back to settle on Max, watching as he explained something to one of his students. He was pointing to her project, touching parts of it as he spoke, his eyes glinting in what looked like satisfaction. Like he truly loved sharing his passion with others. Truly loved teaching his craft.
Sean smiled and looked away, rolling his head to a fro, getting out the kinks in his neck. He pulled his shoulders forward, working his spine out next. Then he got down and wandered around. Just for a few minutes, though, then back to his post, ready to resume position.
Max approached before he could sit down. “You doing okay? You hung for a long time. I’m impressed.”
Sean smiled. Couldn’t help it. “Yeah. I’m good. Back was just getting a little stiff.”
Max crossed his arms. Nodded. “Not the easiest pose.”
“No. Not the easiest. But a really frickin’ cool one.”
Max held Sean’s eyes, his gaze briefly lingering. “Yeah. I like it, too.”
Sean stared at him. Because, again, he couldn’t help it. Those green eyes were just so damn captivating. And, hey, was Max’s stubborn mouth kind of sort of smiling?
Abruptly, said mouth pressed into a line. “Alright then. Back to business. Think you can handle another thirty?”
“Of course.” Sean grinned. “I’m a practiced professional.”
Okay, Max’s lips had most definitely twitched that time. Could he tell Sean was low-key flirting? He could if he was gay. But was he? Sean was definitely picking up something. Although, sometimes wishful thinking did trick his gaydar’s frequencies.