Only then did I realize Noah was the only other person there.

He sat quietly at his laptop. I couldn't see what he was looking at.

After last night, I found his whole innocent act a little difficult to process.

I decided not to say hello. Food first.

But when I opened my phone to order delivery, I found links from a friend.

Apparently, I'd made the campus gossip page twice more.

COLLEGE GUY SPOTTED WITH OLDER SUGAR DADDY.

And:

STUDENT FORCES KISS ON ANOTHER STUDENT.

Both posts came with pictures.

People really needed hobbies.

I felt as if I were being passed around a celebrity gossip show.

Before I could close the page, Noah took my phone.

His eyes were red.

"Owen. How could you?"

Huh?

What had I done now?

Had I developed amnesia? Had Noah and I secretly exchanged vows sometime between brushing our teeth and my morning class?

My head hurt.

"Noah, why do you sound like you're catching me cheating?"

He tipped my chin up.

"I thought you liked me. You were so good for me last night. Now you're pretending nothing happened?"

Okay. He needed to explain that choice of words immediately.

I opened my mouth to argue.

He kissed me before I could.

I reached for him, but he didn't move away. His hand slipped beneath the edge of my shirt, finding one of the bandages and peeling it loose.

The look in his eyes had changed completely. I couldn't escape his attention even when I turned my face.

Then the door swung open.

Chase's voice cracked.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

I was tired.

So very tired.

At that point, someone could've told me the sun rose in the west, and I'd have nodded.

All I wanted was for Chase to lower his voice.

Otherwise, tomorrow's campus gossip was practically writing itself.

Chapter 13

Noah finally let me go.

"Exactly what it looks like," he told Chase.

I drew a deep breath.

"He's jealous. He only kissed me to find out what you tasted like."

Yes. We gay men were very innovative.

Then I felt a pinch and realized Noah still hadn't taken his hand out of my shirt.

Chase went pale. His gaze caught on my rumpled collar.

Noah obligingly straightened it for me, although his other hand remained thoroughly unhelpful.

Chase left looking as if someone had unplugged him.

I figured he'd had a rough day. First a kiss he hadn't asked for, then walking in on his crush kissing the guy who'd kissed him.

I pulled Noah's hand away.

"Satisfied? You can stop now."

He looked at me with those impossibly innocent eyes.

"I'm not using you. I really like you."

I retrieved my phone.

"What do you like about me?"

"Your body."

No hesitation whatsoever.

"Very subtle."

Apparently worried I didn't believe him, he began listing details.

"Your mouth's soft. Your face gets pink sometimes, and so does—"

I covered his mouth.

Enough. We'd reached the legal limit for embarrassing information.

I looked him over.

"You're not exactly unfortunate yourself."

He brightened.

"You can touch me too."

How generous.

Entirely unnecessary.

Chapter 14

Life in our room finally calmed down.

By which I mean Chase stopped following Noah everywhere and stopped picking fights with me.

He left early and came back late, as if he was terrified of catching us together again.

He probably regretted moving in.

Noah, meanwhile, had developed a habit of climbing into my bed in the middle of the night.

I was beginning to suspect a split personality.

During the day, he was perfectly normal.

Put him on a mattress, and every filthy thought he'd ever had apparently rushed straight to his mouth.

A few times, even Chase lost patience.

He shoved our curtain aside and snapped, "There are other people in this room. Have some fucking shame."

Excellent. A more inclusive approach to insulting people. We loved personal growth.

Noah held on to me as though separation would violate a medical recommendation.

How was I supposed to sleep?

Tyler was the only person sleeping soundly. His snores rose and fell like power tools.

Noah lifted his head and smiled at Chase.

"What? Want to join us?"

Chase's face went red.

"You—don't be ridiculous. Of course not."

Noah's arm tightened around my waist.

"Good. Because you're not invited."

Chase let the curtain fall.

Noah tucked his face against my neck.

"Owen. Go out with me."

I squeezed his cheek, shut my eyes, and said, "I'll think about it."

The embarrassing part was that I meant it.

Maybe I was just starved for affection.

Maybe all it took was someone choosing to stay beside me, and I'd start falling.

Chapter 15

Ryan texted.

He said he'd send a driver to collect me on Sunday.

At the engagement party, I forced a smile and handed him a gift bag.

"Congratulations. I bought this with my money from work."

He accepted it and patted my shoulder.

"Well. At least you made an effort."

I turned to the woman beside him.

"Congratulations, Claire."

She smiled warmly.

"It's been ages, Owen. Having fun at school?"

I nodded vaguely.

Then I caught sight of someone familiar.

Noah wore a white suit, which made him look even paler and prettier than usual.

He came straight over and draped an arm around my shoulders.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere."

My body went stiff.

I didn't dare look at Ryan.

Noah chatted easily with Claire for a moment, then took my hand and led me away beneath my brother's murderous stare.

We ended up in the little garden behind the house.

Red roses covered the fence.

I let go of his hand.

"Sorry about that."

He squeezed my cheek.

"Anything for my almost-boyfriend. You can thank me with a few extra kisses tonight."

I turned away, smiling despite myself.

"You're impossible."

We sat on a garden swing. Noah told me about the time he'd tried to recreate a flower shower he'd seen on TV, stripped his mother's rosebushes bare, and spent the next three days wearing shorts that did nothing to conceal the evidence of her displeasure.

Maybe it was the soft sunlight.

Everything he said sounded a little like flirting.

There were plenty of people at the party. Before long, his father sent someone to fetch him.

I stayed in a quiet corner and had a few more drinks than I should have.

My head grew pleasantly heavy.

When nobody was looking, I slipped away to find an empty room and lie down.

But whenever I closed my eyes, I saw Ryan standing beside Claire.

The two of them belonged together in the light.

And there I was, hiding in the dark, ashamed of how badly I still wanted my brother to look at me with anything other than disappointment.

Chapter 16

Half-asleep, I felt someone watching me.

I forced my eyes open, but all I could make out was a dark figure.

When he turned to leave, I caught his hand.

"Ryan," I whispered.

He stopped.

I tightened my grip around his arm.

I wanted him to stay. I wanted things to stop changing. No engagement. No wedding. No new life in which I would become an obligation he occasionally remembered.

But I was afraid of the look he'd give me.

So I slid my hand into his and murmured, "Congratulations."

Be a good little brother.

Then maybe we'd always be a family.

The man's breathing caught. He took my face in his hand.

"What are you and Noah?"

"Roommates," I said honestly. "Maybe boyfriends soon."

A cold laugh.

"Is this how you got him interested?"

His grip tightened until it hurt. I pushed at his arm.

"Ryan. Let go."

He didn't.

So I kept saying it.

"Ryan."

"Ryan."

"Ryan..."

He swore under his breath.

His hand finally loosened.

Warm breath brushed my face. Then a mouth caught mine.

I opened my eyes properly.

Dark eyes stared back at me, fierce and unsettled.

Chase.

He was a terrible kisser. All clumsy pressure and the occasional scrape of teeth.

Honestly, it was like being attacked by an extremely inexperienced dog.

Nothing like Noah.

I touched my tongue to the seam of his lips.

Chase jerked back and sat bolt upright.

He stared at me.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

I started laughing. I couldn't help it.

"Chase. You're kind of adorable."

His expression threatened to crack.

He glared at me once, then fled.

Cinderella had apparently lost both her shoe and her nerve.

Chapter 17

I took a cab back to campus.

On my way out, I saw the gift I'd bought Ryan shoved into a corner.

He hadn't even opened it.

Fine. Ryan was awful.

I was done chasing his approval.

When I reached our room, everyone else was gone. Probably in class.

I sniffed the alcohol clinging to my clothes, pulled a clean outfit from my closet, and went to shower.

The warm water hit my head, and I let out a long breath.