“You’d be happier with Davis,” Kai eventually said.
Spike glowered. “No. I’m not leaving you behind.”
Something flickered in Kai’s gaze, and the ghost of a smile curved his lips. “Yeah?”
“I’m never leaving you behind, Kai,” Spike growled. “Ever.”
Kai smiled a little wider. His gaze dropped to Spike’s mouth, then flickered back to his eyes. And Spike had the crazy thought that Kai... might have wanted to kiss him. Again.
That’s not possible. Kai never kisses me for no reason.
His heart thumped, though. He wanted random kisses from Kai. He wanted Kai to love him like... like a bondmate. That was too much to hope for, so Spike swallowed that thought.
“When are we being kicked out?” he asked instead. At least he could talk about that now, without shaking all over.
“Couple weeks from now.” Kai winced, his smile fading. “Coach said he has no choice—he has to report injuries to his higher-ups. I’ll get the official word about the scholarship tomorrow.”
Spike sighed. “At least we don’t have much to move, I guess.”
“We have the bed,” Kai said dryly. “I can’t help much with that. Sprained ankle.”
“Oh, gods.”
That bed smelled like both of them. They’d splurged on just that one thing, moving into the dorm. Back then, they’d been young and stupid, thinking they’d be living in their room the full four years.
“I don’t want to ask anyone from the dorm to help move that,” Spike said, imagining the sideways glances and the whispers. That made his heart sore.
“Guess there’s always York.” Kai grimaced. “But he’ll smell us on the bed.”
Spike groaned. “It has his dad’s scent, too. There’s no way I’m asking York to help move it.”
“We can nuke it with suppressants,” Kai said.
“No!” Spike gaped at him, horrified. “We’ll wrap it up with plastic first. And then we’ll spray it down. And... And I guess I could move it myself, if we really needed.”
Kai snorted. “I’m glad to see you’re freaking out about the bed instead of the room.”
Well, Spike couldn’t do anything about the room right now. “The bed has your scent all over it. It’s my favorite thing out of everything we have.”
He glanced at the pouring rain, his face heating up. He shouldn’t have mentioned his feelings. Bad enough that Kai knew Spike wanted to marry him. Kai probably thought Spike was an idiot.
“I can leave my scent on it again. It’s not the end of the world.”
“It won’t be the same.” Spike leaned against the window, watching the lamplight glimmering off the puddles. That bed was important. It was his and Kai’s. It was the one possession that made Spike think Home. And with Micah’s scent on it... it was even better.
When he looked back, Kai was watching him with an inscrutable expression.
“You never told me why you blushed,” Spike blurted. “Yesterday. At the restaurant when I kissed Micah. Were you turned on?”
Kai scowled, looking away. “No.”
That was puzzling. “Were you jealous?”
“Doubtful.” Kai clicked his tongue, fidgeting. He was getting flustered, and he was adorable. “Are we heading upstairs?” Kai muttered.
“Did you want to kiss Micah, too?”
“No.”
One of these possibilities was getting to Kai, but Spike didn’t know which. “Did you—” his breath hitched “—want to kiss me?”
“No!” Kai opened the door then, fumbling with his foot. Outside, rain pattered. “I’m going upstairs.”
Spike grabbed Kai’s arm and yanked him back. “Hang on, lemme get you an umbrella. I don’t want your foot getting wet.”
Kai grumbled, pausing.
“You kissed me twice just now,” Spike said.
Kai narrowed his eyes. “You were sad.”
“But you never kiss me all the other times I’m sad.”
Kai’s lips thinned; he wasn’t explaining himself. His face darkened, though. Was he... blushing?
Spike’s phone began to ring then, a piercing melody that had him wincing. “Ugh, damn it, York. Why do you have to call now?”
Kai glanced at Spike, then shut the door, silencing the patter of rain.
Spike answered the call. “York?”
“Hey,” York said. “What’s up?”
Spike looked at Kai’s bandaged ankle. Did Kai kiss me because he wanted me? “Nothing much. Why?”
“My dad said Kai missed his consultation slot this afternoon. He waited for a whole half-hour, but Kai was a no-show. It isn’t like Kai to miss anything.”
“Oh.” Spike winced. “He was at the hospital. I just picked him up.”
“Hospital?” York sounded concerned.
In the background, something clattered. Then came Micah’s voice, faintly. “What?” Micah asked. “Who’s in the hospital?”
Gods, Micah was adorable. Spike bit down a smile.
“Kai,” York told his dad. “Spike had to go pick him up.”
Across the center console, Kai raised his eyebrows. Spike covered the mic on his phone and said, “You missed your consultation this afternoon. With Micah. York’s asking about it.”
Kai grimaced. “Guess I use this time to fix my grades, huh?”
Across the line, York asked, “Is Kai okay?”
Spike hesitated. How much to tell him? “Depends on who you ask.”
“Spill,” York said.
“Kai sprained his ankle,” Spike answered. “He’s losing half his scholarship. Looks like we’re being kicked out of the dorm in a couple weeks. But aside from that... I guess we’re okay.”
“Shit,” York said. Then he told his dad, and Spike held his breath, meeting Kai’s gaze.
“Do they need a place to stay?” Micah’s voice floated through the line, closer this time. He sounded concerned, too. Spike’s heart skipped.
“Mic—The professor’s asking if we need a place to stay,” Spike said, wriggling his eyebrows. If Micah was offering them his own home...
Kai rolled his eyes. “I’m leaving this one to you.”
Spike grinned. Their tight-knit relationship had its perks. “We kinda need a room for Kai and me,” he told York. “But we’re looking at rental listings, too, so it’s really no big...”
“Spike says they’re looking for a room,” York told his dad.
“They, um, I guess they could have the study...” Micah’s voice trailed off, like he was turning around to look at their apartment.
“That’s a bunch of stuff we have to move out,” York grumbled.
Spike’s heart leaped. “Is it really okay if we move in?” he asked. “I mean, your dad doesn’t mind? We’ll pay rent and everything. Plus we can provide
