Gage pressed him against the counter and kissed him, and Ulric’s world spun, leaving him and Gage in the middle of it all, Gage holding him, never once blaming him for the cake. Gage had bought the cake for Ulric, and...
“You shouldn’t,” Ulric whispered.
Gage kissed him harder, insistently. Something in Ulric’s chest just... broke.
It felt like he’d lost something to Gage, but he didn’t know what it was. All he knew was that it was dangerous, letting Gage have so much of him.
Gage could leave him, Gage could break him, and he could shatter Ulric so badly, Ulric wouldn’t know how to put himself back together again.
And yet Ulric held on to him, reluctant to let go.
22
Ulric Has A New Secret
“So... you and Gage,” Wilkie said that Saturday, while they were driving to Highton. “Are you and him... serious?”
Ulric hesitated, unsure if he wanted this conversation. “Does it matter?”
Wilkie seemed curious. “He’s never had a steady boyfriend or girlfriend. You knew that, right?”
Ulric’s heart sank. “No. I didn’t.”
“Oh.” Wilkie cringed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be a downer.”
It shouldn’t matter. Gage and Ulric were just friends. With... an intimate side to their friendship. Where Gage touched Ulric between the legs, where Gage gave him things and kissed him, and none of this was supposed to matter in the long run.
“We’re just friends,” Ulric said.
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. That’s not a look he gives his friends. Hell, it’s not even a look he gives his boyfriends.”
Ulric’s heart stuttered. “You mean, it’s a look he gives fat people?”
Wilkie stared incredulously at him. “No. I’m saying that Gage might be in love. With you.”
Ulric almost swerved into another car. “You can’t be serious.”
“Hell yes, I am.” Wilkie puffed out his chest. “And I don’t even know what love looks like. Well, technically, I do. I’ve seen it with my mom and dad. They’re your textbook definition of a couple in love. Like, sometimes it rots my teeth. I’m surprised I have any left.” Wilkie looked at his teeth in the side view mirror.
Ulric’s heart yearned, at the same time his mind said it wasn’t possible. “I’m an alpha. And so’s Gage.”
Wilkie shrugged. “Our cousin married an alpha. You saw Jesse with Dom, right? I guess they love each other so much, they want even more babies.”
Ulric remembered the kisses between those two alphas, he remembered feeling so damn envious that they’d found each other. Ulric wanted his own alpha to spend his life with, he wanted... well, he wanted to do that with Gage. “Jesse and Dom are an anomaly. And people break up all the time.”
“What’s to say that you and Gage aren’t an anomaly, too?”
Ulric sighed. He didn’t want to explain this. “Because Gage is—I don’t know if you’re aware. But your brother is the perfect alpha specimen. He has gorgeous muscles and teeth and that face—”
Wilkie gave him a mischievous look. “So are you in love with him?”
Ulric spluttered. He wasn’t. “I’m just saying that he probably has a line of people waiting to be his.”
“And you’re first in line?” Wilkie winked. “Like, you’d be there camping a week before the queue starts.”
Well, Ulric would be there a whole year early if it meant he could have Gage. He scrubbed his face, embarrassed. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Yup.” Wilkie nodded sagely. “Because you and Gage are just friends.”
“Exactly.” Besides, there was something else he’d wanted to talk to Wilkie about. Without Gage listening in. “So... you mentioned bills the other day.”
Wilkie froze, suddenly wary. “What about them?”
“What kind of bills do you have?” Ulric tried to sound innocent. “It must be pretty bad if it made both of you homeless.”
Wilkie pursed his lips, looking uneasy. “It’s just bills.”
From that argument the other night, those weren’t ordinary bills. “I want to help with them,” Ulric said.
Wilkie squirmed. Then he fiddled with his phone, unlocking it, locking it back up. “It’ll... It’ll pass. I’ve been looking for work on the side. Don’t tell Gage.”
Aha. “Nope. I’m going to tell him. He might make you move back in with your parents.”
Wilkie groaned. “That’s not fair!”
“Or you could tell me.” Ulric gave him an inviting look. “And I could take some of the pressure off Gage.”
Wilkie bit his lip, torn. “He doesn’t want me to tell you,” he finally admitted.
“Why not?”
Wilkie shrugged; his face said he knew, though.
“Tell me about your family, then,” Ulric said to get an idea much help Gage needed. “What do your mom and dad work as?”
“Mom’s a seamstress. Dad works at the car repair place. Debbie—” Wilkie clammed up.
“Debbie?” Ulric frowned. “Who is she?”
“Our sister.” Wilkie fidgeted.
“You have a sister?” Gage hadn’t mentioned her.
“That’s because no one wants to talk about it outside of family.” And then Wilkie looked angry with himself. But it only made Ulric’s curiosity grow.
“Is there something wrong with her?” At Wilkie’s expression, Ulric’s heart sank. “Is she sick?”
Wilkie deflated, closing his eyes. “Yeah.”
Crap. No wonder Gage had been struggling with money. Ulric’s chest squeezed. “Is she... going to get better?”
Wilkie nodded. “We just have to get through this treatment. The doctors are pretty optimistic.”
That was good. So Ulric could chip in, maybe, and then everything would be okay. “Gage never told me.”
“He doesn’t want you to know.” Wilkie sighed. “He said it might fuck with your rela—your friendship.”
Ulric’s thoughts raced. If he could help Gage in secret... would that make things better? If Gage didn’t know, then he wouldn’t feel as though he owed Ulric.
His heart thumped as he kept his breathing even, trying not to give away his plans. “I hope things will get better for you guys.”
Wilkie sagged despondently. “Same here.”
They didn’t speak again until they arrived in Highton. Ulric made sure Wilkie had some lunch and dinner money before dropping him off at a fabric store. Wilkie would have to entertain himself for the next several hours—Ulric was due
