The air in his house was sticky and warm, barely pushed around by his sluggish ceiling fan-and a glance outside his big bay window told him it might rain soon, which always made his commute to campus a pain in the ass. No time for nightmares so realistic he felt like he’d lived them. He had to get up and be Professor Cook soon. Still, Avery lay there for a long time and let his pulse calm down.

Like he knew there was something out there that he just had to find.

Whatever it was left him jerking out of an uneasy sleep at the sound of his alarm, heart pounding and out of breath. But there was something else in his dreams, something he wanted, yearned for, something he felt like he always reached for and never found. Ghouls and spirits and things that went bump in the night, always at the edge of his vision even though Avery knew they were there just on the other side of the darkness. Tyson leaned closer and closer, their breath mingled, Avery reached up to cup Tyson’s cheek, and…. The music in the background faded to a distant thump, and… fuck. His pulse raced, and he felt Tyson’s warm breath against his cheek. Avery was going to be kissed, and he knew already that it was going to be incredible. The best way to keep Avery safe is to push him away…. But his past is a long one, and it’s full of enemies and danger. Tyson’s been lonely for a long time, and he’s falling in love with Avery. But there’s a darkness in Tyson too, and Avery discovers Tyson is part of a world he thought existed only in books and stories-the paranormal tales he studies at the university. In a sea of impossibly beautiful people, Tyson stands out, and he sweeps Avery off his feet with his old-world charm and romanticism. Until one night when he walks into a bar and his life changes. Superstitions, legends, and lore-Avery has an academic explanation for all of them… Professor Avery Cook has spent his career researching the mysterious side of New Orleans.

Stuff My Stocking by M.J. O'Shea