Maybe it was insane, Micah getting involved with his students. But Spike’s affection was like an oasis in a desert, and Micah had spent too long being parched and alone.
Spike’s smile lit his entire face. “I’d do anything to keep you,” he murmured. “And I think Kai will come around, sooner or later.”
Kai scowled. “No, I won’t.”
Spike grinned. “You say that now, Kai, but I know you need an omega to protect. I can’t be around for Micah all the time. He needs you, too.”
Kai turned away, saying nothing. His red ears betrayed him, though.
“I can’t always read him,” Spike whispered to Micah. “But when I can, it’s with a hundred percent accuracy. He’s gonna fall for you, and he’s gonna fall hard.”
Then Spike’s smile turned wistful, but Micah wasn’t sure what that was about. Kai wouldn’t fall in love with Micah, though. Someone like Kai? Omegas through the campus were falling over themselves trying to snag his attention.
“Anyway,” Spike said, his gaze locking onto Micah. “Are you sleeping over tonight? Please say yes.”
Micah wet his lips. “I shouldn’t,” he said, looking around them. “The bed’s too small for three.”
“We’ll make it fit.” Spike grinned lecherously; Micah chuckled.
“No,” Micah said. “Besides, I promised York I’d be home tonight. I need to—gods, I need to erase your scent.”
That didn’t sit right with Micah. He wanted Spike’s scent on him, all earthy and protective. He wanted to feel like he belonged.
Spike took Micah’s hand, kissing his wrist. “You don’t have to erase all of it. I marked you here.”
Then he cupped Micah’s cock, where his juniper scent was strongest. Micah flushed.
“And inside, too.” Spike grinned. “I don’t think York will sniff at your feet.”
“I guess.” When Spike’s knot eventually receded, Micah clambered off him, every cell of his body longing to return to Spike.
For glorious moments tonight, Spike had been Micah’s alpha, and it had felt like bliss. Micah wanted more of it.
It seemed as though he kept making the wrong decisions, over and over.
Spike dressed along with Micah, before carrying him all the way downstairs, back to his car. At the driver’s side door, Spike leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to Micah’s lips.
“Thank you for tonight,” Spike whispered, his cheeks darkening. “You’re so much better than I expected.”
That made Micah blush, too.
“One of these days, you’re going to see who I really am,” Micah said, his heart aching. “And then you’ll move on.”
Spike laughed. “Me? Never.”
Then he swatted Micah’s ass, and tucked Micah into the car. Spike pulled off the baseball cap and kissed Micah’s forehead.
“Drive safe,” he whispered. “See you tomorrow.”
Micah started the car, his skin tingling all over. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he realized that Spike was still standing in the parking lot, watching until Micah drove out of sight.
Micah sniffed at his wrist, where Spike had left his juniper scent. It smelled like affection, and laughter.
For the first time since the fire, he felt alive again.
11
Kai
Last night had been... awkward.
Kai shouldn’t have blushed, watching Spike kiss their professor. He’d kissed a few omegas, himself. He’d kissed Spike, countless times. They’d been each other’s firsts.
He’d known that Spike wanted him—but not the marriage part. That had been a shock.
Not knowing what to do, Kai had turned Spike down. And Spike had hurt. Kai had felt like a total bastard.
Then Davis had stepped in and soothed Spike’s hurts. He’d stroked Spike’s hair, holding him like the omega Spike had always needed.
The omega that Kai couldn’t be, because Kai was alpha, all hard edges and roughness and violence.
Watching them... Kai had felt as though Spike was stepping away from what he shared with Kai. It had felt as though he was losing Spike, and that had hurt.
Kai should have expected this, shouldn’t he?
All his life, Kai had always trusted Spike to stay with him. Maybe he’d been taking Spike for granted, because now that Spike had the professor... he didn’t need Kai anymore. And that made Kai’s insides feel untethered, like he was losing a cornerstone of his soul.
I don’t need him. I have my own life to lead.
Kai sighed, doing five reps of tossing the basketball into the hoop. The ball went through the ring each time, and he repeated the same from a step further away. Another five makes, then he took another step back.
That kiss had been intimate. Something Kai shouldn’t have witnessed. It had been Spike’s first date with an omega, and Kai had felt like an outsider. Then he’d imagined himself and Spike kissing like that, or just holding hands, or even married, and that had made his face hot.
The box labeled ‘Spike’ was becoming a jumbled mess in Kai’s heart. Normal people didn’t get horny for their stepbrothers. Normal people didn’t sleep in the same bed as their stepbrothers, reaching into their shorts, squeezing tight when their brothers woke with a grin.
It had all been clear-cut before, except Spike had looked at Micah Davis with those soft eyes, and Kai had... felt a twinge of envy.
What did he feel toward Spike? Who knew?
Then Kai had imagined Spike looking at him the way he looked at Davis, and something in his heart had tugged.
I’m going to play for the big leagues. Before this, he’d always assumed that Spike’s crush would fade, that he’d never get it on with his professor.
Except it had happened, and Kai had never seen Spike this happy in his life.
Don’t I make you happy? Why don’t you smile like that when you’re around me?
And now, anger burned low in Kai’s gut. I shouldn’t even be thinking about that. I should be happy for him.
He flung the basketball harder than he should, watching as it bounced off the rim, hitting the polished floor.
This morning, Spike had woken in Kai’s arms smelling like gardenia. Kai had felt as though he was losing Spike. But short of dropping his dreams and staying in Meadowfall, there was no way Kai could return anything Spike felt toward him.
Was this what
