Wilkie laughed. “You know, people usually say that about bondmates, not best friends.”
Gage was damn glad that Ulric couldn’t hear him. “Yeah, well. He’s special.”
“Stop that.” Ulric scowled.
Gage only smiled.
“So when can I move in?” Wilkie asked again.
“Next week? Give me some time to make space. We’ll have to fit two beds in here.” Gage watched Ulric for a reaction. But Ulric didn’t seem to mind the short notice, either. That was really generous of him. With a smile, Gage tugged up a corner of Ulric’s shirt, kissing his abdomen.
Ulric froze, sucking in his belly.
“Don’t do that.” Gage kissed him again, more firmly this time.
“Ew, Gage. What’re you doing?” Wilkie sounded horrified. “Are those—sex sounds?”
Gage snorted. “No. It’s kiss sounds.”
“Ew.” Wilkie gagged. “Not in my ear.”
Ulric turned red. “I’m leaving.”
“Is he... an alpha?” Wilkie asked. “You’re kissing him?”
Gage wrapped his arm around Ulric, shuffling further onto his lap to weigh him down. “No, you aren’t leaving.” To Wilkie, he said, “Yeah, Ulric’s an alpha.”
“And you’re... kissing him?” Wilkie sounded confused. Hell, Gage would’ve been, too.
“It’s complicated,” Gage said. “You’ll understand when you meet him.”
“Huh,” Wilkie said.
“Anyway, I have to go.” Gage nuzzled Ulric’s belly. “Quit looking for a job for now, all right? I’d rather you focus on your studies. Get that done, and then you can help again when you’ve gotten back on your feet.”
Were it anyone else, Gage would’ve told them to get another job. But because Wilkie had been worrying about Debbie and the family’s finances, he was having trouble with his grades. The added burden of a job would sink him into a deeper mess.
Wilkie sighed grudgingly. “Fine.”
They ended the call, Gage dropping his phone onto the bed. Then he tackled Ulric in a bear hug, pinning him down against the mattress. Ulric yelped. “Hey!”
Gage leaned over him, grinning. “Thanks for helping. I wasn’t expecting you to.”
Ulric shrugged self-consciously. “Is your brother in trouble?”
“He needs a place to stay for a while.”
“Kind of like you?” Ulric studied Gage; Gage’s cheeks prickled with embarrassment.
He wasn’t rich like Ulric was. Come to think of it, Gage still had to negotiate a new rental agreement, now that Wilkie was coming to live with them. “I’ll pay the full sixteen hundred for rent,” he said. And after this conversation, he was going to look for a second job. “For me and Wilkes.”
Ulric frowned. “No, you won’t.”
Gage scowled. “My responsibility, Muffin. I’ll handle it.”
Ulric flushed. “I told you, you can live here for free.”
“My brother, too?”
That, Ulric didn’t answer.
“Either way, it’s wrong,” Gage said. “I’ll pay you back.”
“But you need the money.”
Gage tried to ignore the burn of his humiliation. He was an alpha. He wanted to provide for everyone he cared about, but he wasn’t earning as much as he needed. And Debbie’s bills never seemed to end.
“You can pay with other things.” Ulric’s ears turned pink. “Like—Like the hugs. Twenty minutes a day, instead of five.”
Gage considered it. He’d been hugging Ulric way past the five-minute mark lately. It didn’t even feel like a payment. “You don’t have to, you know. I’ll look for another job.”
Ulric flushed. “The hugs are worth more to me.”
“They’re just hugs.” Then another idea struck him. “Say we extend the hugs to twenty minutes. How about I throw in a blowjob every day? More on my days off.”
Ulric grew so red, he looked like he might burst. “N-no.”
But he’d loved that one time in the living room. Gage had sucked on him, and Ulric had come so hard, he’d made Gage throb. Hell, the thought of having sex with Ulric every day—that was sending blood between Gage’s legs.
“Why wouldn’t you want that?” Gage kissed his jaw. “You can ask for anything. You can fuck me, you can knot me, you can tie me up. I’d do it.”
Ulric bit his lip, looking so tempted that Gage knew it wouldn’t take much more to convince him. “But it’ll change things, won’t it?” Ulric asked. “We wouldn’t be friends anymore.”
“We will.” Gage linked their fingers, kissing Ulric’s knuckles. “I promise.”
It was a long moment before Ulric finally said, “Twenty minutes of daily hugs. And—And sex. Once a month.”
“Just once?” That was disappointing.
Ulric twitched his shirt down over his belly, unable to meet Gage’s eyes. Gage’s chest burned with anger at the people from Ulric’s past, the kids who’d bullied him, the parents who had never shown him any love.
It took a lot to break an alpha. And somehow, they’d done it.
Gage cupped Ulric’s face, turning Ulric to face him. Then he kissed Ulric on the lips, a slow, sweet touch.
Ulric’s breath hitched; his eyes grew wide. Gage slid his fingers down to Ulric’s throat, and Ulric’s pulse thudded against his fingertips.
“You’re beautiful,” Gage whispered. He almost felt embarrassed for saying it—he’d been thinking it to himself, keeping it a secret.
Ulric looked disbelieving. Then, hurt. “I’m not paying you to say shit like that,” he growled.
“Yeah, precisely.” Gage shoved him against the bed, pinning him down. Then he kissed Ulric again, harder. “I’m doing this because I like you. I’m touching you because I want it. Not because I owe you.”
Ulric stared, his disbelief growing. “What the hell do you see in me?”
“I told you. You’re kind. You’re generous. You’re amazing.” And so much more. Gage slid his fingers into Ulric’s hair, pressing their bodies flush together. “You’re fucking sexy.”
Ulric punched him lightly in the jaw. Pain burst through Gage’s bones, but it didn’t last so long. “You need to get your head checked,” Ulric muttered. “Get off me.”
“No.” Gage leaned in, trailing kisses down Ulric’s throat. “I jerked off to you last night, you know,” he murmured. “And the night before. The entire week, I’ve been thinking about you. On top of me, under me. You’ve been making me come so hard, babe.”
That admission made Gage’s ears burn. They were housemates. He’d promised not to push Ulric into a relationship. But he needed Ulric to understand that he was desirable.
Ulric froze. He
