The Lifecycle of the North American Love Virus (Love is Always Write)

Dr. Oswald Culpepper is an island unto himself. A respected infectious disease researcher, he is used to doing things his way and everyone else going along with it. When the new dean demands Oswald take on an apprentice like all the other researchers, Oswald is forced to agree. And when he sees Aiden Pearse walk into his lab, Oswald knows he’s in trouble.

Aiden is everything Oswald isn’t. Entertaining, gregarious, tall, dark, and gorgeous. Oswald should hate him on general principle. So why does he watch his new assistant when he thinks the young man isn’t looking? And how is he going to make it to the end of Aiden’s apprenticeship with his dignity intact?

Original Prompt

I’m set in my ways, self-centered, perverse and often disagreeable…prone to fits of self-isolation and moodiness. I live a solitary life and I like it that way. However, as the staff meeting ends, The Dean informs us that each professor was to open their home and become Mentor to an aspiring apprentice. The Dean had given us all little choice. If you wanted improved lab facilities, take on an apprentice…or don’t and do without. The instant I laid eyes on him I knew I’d made a terrible mistake.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's 'Love is Always Write' event.