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  “Picture of Love”

  M/M Gay Romance

  David Horne

  © 2020

  David Horne

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/ (courtesy of Jerry Cole).

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images and are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2020.03.23)

  http://www.DavidHorneauthor.com

  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: Bob, RB, JayBee, Dave, Naomi W., and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Free Book “Princes of Westlake”

  Chapter One

  The rhythmic rap tap of a pencil meeting the ground from where it had fallen from a slack hand could be heard. Anthony Grayson, first-year art major, was the one to drop the pencil, his mouth slack as his hand.

  "What?" The whisper sounded so defeated to the professor sitting in front of him. Professor Julian Hunter was the professor of arts at the college and had a soft spot for Anthony but knew she couldn't do much.

  Anthony Grayson was nicknamed a ray of sunshine, his golden blonde hair and honey-toned skin made him look warm, his dark eyes were large and soulful and his facial features were angelic with a slightly upturned nose, big eyes, and a full mouth. He loved to wear large billowing clothing but always paired with either skinny jeans or cargo pants and usually with a rainbow of different high tops.

  He was liked by everyone for his kind and bubbly disposition and his perpetual habit for seeing the good in anyone. It was why Professor Hunter went a bit above and beyond to try and help her student.

  "You won't have enough credits to finish your year." The professor sighed and shuffled around the papers on her desk, her mind already made up. She picked up two pieces of paper and handed them to Anthony.

  "There’s still enough time for you to get those credits, all you need to do is join either one of these classes. You don't need that many credits, so look at these, they are the only two accepting new students." What Professor Hunter didn't tell Anthony was that Professor Hunter had to ask for a favor from the other two professors to accept Anthony no matter which one he chose.

  Anthony took the pieces of paper and looked at them both. "Spanish and English Literature." He read out loud and pondered which to choose. He had no idea how to speak Spanish but it was an introduction to the language but he had missed two semesters. While English was his mother tongue, literature was still a more advanced form of it, but it was still a language he knew.

  He handed the Spanish application sheet back to Professor Hunter and started to fill in the English Literature application sheet. Professor Hunter smiled when he handed the filled-in sheet back.

  "You only missed one class this semester and I am positive you can catch up." The sheer positivity in Professor Hunter's voice made it hard not to be a little positive himself.

  Anthony left the office of his Professor and walked back to his apartment block. His head was filled with how he was now going to have to give up some time for his new class and that meant losing time for working on his artwork. It sucked but Anthony guessed he could simplify his artworks now to make up for the time he would now need.

  With his head down and hands clutching his backpack straps to his chest, Anthony didn't see that he was heading straight for someone. It happened too late as both men were not focusing on what was going on around them. One, however, was bigger and stationary, it caused Anthony to practically bounce off of the wall of a human he walked into. His books spilled out of his ill closed bag and Anthony was sitting on his ass, his ass that stung a bit now.

  There was a moment of silence before Anthony could open his eyes. When he looked up, he gulped when he saw that he had walked into Sebastian Wright. The campus outcast.

  The man was tall, lanky in build. That lanky build was covered in all black clothing, a black t-shirt with some sort of scary-looking band on it, black skinny jeans and chunky black combat boots, his belt had studs on it as did his leather bracelets. Sebastian had black dyed hair.

  Anthony was mentally preparing himself from either a punch to the face or a tongue lashing. Having heard all the talk of his fellow first years, barely a month into their school year and there were already rumors floating about him, that he was a drug dealer, a sex fiend and there were even some ridiculous rumors about Sebastian being a murderer, that was the only rumor no one believed in. It was hard to believe someone was murdered when they walked into class the next day.

  Still what Anthony wondered as he looked up at Sebastian was that why no one ever said anything about the gorgeous face the man had. He had high cheekbones, a strong jaw, chin, a pair of deep-set indigo eyes, a stern mouth with a fuller under lip, his face was so symmetrical except for what looked like a once broken nose.

  Suddenly a hand was slowly coming his way and he couldn't quite help the flinch he gave. The hand paused and an unreadable look flashed over Sebastian's face before he opened his mouth and a deep tenor of a voice spilled out of the mouth he was just staring at.

  "Are you okay?" It was an honest to God surprise for Anthony that he was asked that by the guy who everyone thought was a punch first ask questions later type of guy. His mind couldn't comprehend what was going on around him.

  He scrambled to put his books and other items back into his bag and scampered up to his feet and squeaked out a quick yet honest "Sorry!" and bolted. Had he looked around he would have seen Sebastian looking at his hand dejectedly.

  Anthony ran all the way back to his apartment, up the stairs and into his room. He made a beeline for his room and closed the door. He dropped his bag to the floor and leaned against the door before lightly whacking himself against the head.

  "Why did you do that? He was just trying to help…" Anthony blinked at his room and sighed out. "He did… didn't he…" Feeling slightly guilty, Anthony stumbled to his bed and landed face-first into the bed with a groan. He remained that way, only turning his head to the side so he could breathe. He thought back to Sebastian and the face he saw, a face that made his fingers twitch with the urge to paint, sketch and just study what was the most handsome face he has seen since he started his c
ollege life.

  His thinking time was interrupted by a bang on his door. He groaned out for whoever was at the door to come in.

  The door opened and in came his five friends, all chatting loudly and arguing about something silly like they always did. They had clearly brought dinner if the tell-tale smell of Chinese take-out was anything to go by. The arguing and loud noises stopped when they all noticed their friend's slumped form on the bed.

  They place the take-out on the desk and they all form a semi-circle around him, his dark brown eyes flickering to all their faces.

  Amanda Russel was sitting closest to him, her chin resting on her arm where it was placed on the bed, her face a few inches away from Anthony's. Her green eyes looking into his when he looked her way, concern written all over her face. Her long wavy blond hair was slightly on the bed as well where it had rolled over her tanned shoulder. Amanda was what a lot of guys would call their wet dream, long legs, curvaceous body, she was also on the tall side and had a strong personality but what guys quickly learned was that they had the wrong equipment for Amanda.

  Next to her sat Lucy Yeoman, she had her knees tucked to her chest, arms wrapped around them. It made her even more petite than she was, she was petite in all sense of the word, short, slim and delicately built. Her dark red hair was thick and long, she tended to have some part of it braided, she had big grey doe eyes they were mostly hidden behind thick black-framed glasses. She had a bashful attitude at first but when warmed up she was warm and rather motherly. She was also extremely smart as was one of their other friends, they had a tendency to help their friends when they were struggling in subjects they shared.

  Next to her and had an arm wrapped around her was her boyfriend and twin brother of Amanda, Jason Russel. They were fraternal twins. They both shared the blond hair and green eyes as well as the tanned skin and being tall as well as having the same nose but that was where the resemblance ended, Jason had kinder eyes and a broader mouth.

  Brandon Wilson was of average height and was on the paler side and was the only one of the group that had a tattoo, a portrait of his mother who had passed a few years back. He had near-black hair and brown eyes a shade or two lighter than Anthony's, he was also a fellow art student but he had taken an extra class to ensure that he would have enough credits.

  "Are you all right Tony?" Daiki Nakamura asked from where he sat on the chair. Nakamura was an American born Japanese male, his dad was being a first-generation immigrant and his mother an American woman. He didn't have much of his American side except for his height but his father was already tall for a Japanese, his other trait he shared with his mother was their blonde hair color. It was something Daiki took advantage of it as he dyed it all different shades from electric blue to psychedelic orange. Daiki and his family were not very traditional in the sense of using the honorifics such as chan and san unless they spoke to other Japanese people.

  Anthony sighed and shrugged.

  "I won't have enough credits to finish this year." Anthony groaned and shifted to sit up-right. "Luckily Professor H gave me an option for one of two classes to make up the credits I need."

  Daiki frowned at Anthony in confusion. "How do you not have enough credits?" Tony blushed and looked at his hands.

  "I missed a few classes in the last two terms." The sheepish look on Tony's face told them all it was when he had his 'I am in my painting mode and forget that the world around me actually exists' and no doubt that was why Tony had missed the classes he needed to attend to gain his credits. They all just laughed and Lucy handed out the take-outs.

  It was only when most of the take-outs were finished when Brendon suddenly asked.

  "What classes did you have to choose from?" It was asked around a mouthful of noodles.

  Tony played with his own noodles and sighed again.

  "I had to choose from either Spanish or English literature, I chose English literature." Everyone made a humming noise as they thought it over. "It is a smart choice," Amanda said after swallowing her last bite. "you don't have time to learn Spanish."

  After swallowing his own bite, Tony decided to tell his friends what happened afterward.

  "When I was walking home, I literally walked into Sebastian Wright." Tony expected some looks of surprise or an 'oh' or 'an' ah but the shouts that caused an explosion of sound that Tony had a hard time figuring out what was said.

  "Did he hurt you?" Amanda's voice won out in the end. They all looked at him expectantly.

  Not liking the vibe he was getting from his friends, he frowned at them. "He didn't hurt me, I walked into him remember?" He was a bit taken aback when they all looked at him expectantly as if Sebastian should have hurt him in some way.

  "Because he's Sebastian Wright; it's what he does." Amanda said with a look of confusion now on her face and coloring her voice. Tony looked at all of his friends. Even the demure Lucy looked at him with worry in her eyes. Huffing he folded his arms and glared at his friends.

  "Really… you all believe in those rumors?" He asked, utterly shocked that his usually so understanding and easy-going friends were suddenly believing in rumors of all things.

  Lucy looked a bit guilty, her shoulders slumping as she knew she shouldn't have fallen into the gossip black hole of their campus but she had, it didn't help that she had a few classes with Sebastian and she always found the man so intimidating.

  " There’s a saying Tony, ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’ We're just being cautious." Jason said soothingly, patting Tony's knee.

  Tony scoffed. "Yeah well, the only rude one in our encounter was me after I bounced off of Sebastian, my books fell out of my bag. He asked if I was okay and even offered a hand to help me up, and what does my awkward ass do? Scramble like a frightened kitten and hastily stuff my books back into my bag, practically squeak out a sorry and run like he just threatened me." Tony shook his head.

  "Maybe there were people around and he didn't want to get into trouble?" Amanda asked she didn't sound like she was just going to let go of her views on Sebastian.

  "We were alone." Tony bit out. His friends looked at one another then back at Tony. They looked like they were about to argue but Tony wasn't in the mood. A raised hand had them all stopping.

  "I don't feel like arguing so let's just drop it and hang out for a bit more before I kick you all out so I can continue with my painting.

  They all snorted and laughed at the high and mighty pose Tony pulled when he talked. They wisely dropped the subject and they hung out for an hour more before they left, Brandon just going to the other room in the apartment.

  While he was painting, Tony thought about the rumors surrounding Sebastian. It was true that there were some nasty rumors about the man but from what Tony could tell, rumors were usually either over-exaggerated truths or lies told in malice.

  After finishing a specific part of the painting, Tony sighed, took a quick shower and turned in for the night.

  ***

  Two days later, Tony was walking to his English literature class with a hot cup of coffee he got at the coffee house on his way. It was mostly finished and he took his last mouthful as he entered the classroom. He turned left and right in hopes of a wastebasket. In luck, there was one at the corner of the room.

  Turning to face the room, Tony was surprised to see that he was the second student to show up, the Professor was sitting at his desk, reading something over while there was someone already at a desk but he was leaned to the side, rummaging through his bag, placing a notebook next to a laptop.

  "Ah, you must be my new student." Came a friendly voice behind him. Tony turned to face his Professor. The man was in his late thirties or early forties, his beard only starting to get gray hairs, his hair was dark and thick but styled back, he wore glasses that were very similar to Lucy's. He was wearing a pair of grey slacks and a pale blue button-up.

  "Yes, my name is Anthony Grayson," Tony winced internally. Of course, the Professor would know who his new student wo
uld be.

  The Professor just smiled at him, probably seeing how nervous he was.

  "My name is Professor Kilian and you can relax. I want you to enjoy learning more about literature." The man's smooth voice made Tony relax slightly. At least he would have a nice-sounding Professor.

  Professor Kilian smiled and then handed him two handbooks, he had ordered the books before he went to bed the day he signed up for the classes and was happy to see the books as he knew he had a bit of catching up to do.

  "I know quite a bit about you, thanks to Professor Hunter. You’ll be sitting next to Mr. Wright over there." After having to take his books, Tony slowly turned to see the other student who he now knew as Sebastian sitting in the second row, second from the end. Sebastian was leaning his chin on his palm, eyes watching everything with a bored look in his eyes.

  Tony walked slowly to the seat at the end of the row. Sebastian wasn't looking at him which helped Tony sit down and try to calm his erratically beating heart.

  He turned to face Sebastian after he took out his laptop and notebook plus a pen.

  "Hi, I'm Tony, I'm sorry about last time." Tony didn't know what to expect for Sebastian, he either thought the man would snap at him or just ignore him. What he got was Sebastian turning those deep indigo eyes onto him.

  "Forget about it."

  Tony didn't have time to think about it more as the rest of the class came in and the class began.

  In a matter of minutes of the class in session, Tony knew he was in deep trouble. He remembers a little bit from what he learned in high school but this was on a new level, he had a book to read in a matter of a few days with no real notes from in class. His panic must have shown on his face as Sebastian stealthily pushed a filled to the brim notebook into his space.

  Looking down, Tony saw it was Sebastian's notes on the book and a small sticky note stuck to the front reading. "Make photocopies and give it back the next lesson." Tony was hard-pressed to not squeal in delight and hug Sebastian.