page2 (1/2)

I breathed out slowly “Our schedule” I didn’t say it, but the Acade odd hours, too And because I was here, the guys were constantly strea in and out of the house

“It will be different once we’re back on a school schedule full tied” Luke twisted his back as he sat up, stretching He scratched at his forehead “Are the cakes ready yet?”

“Cake?” I asked

“Pan in a cake,” Luke said He shook his head and blinked a few times “I mean cake in a pan Pancake Don’t talk to me I mean don’t listen to me, I haven’t had breakfast yet”

I laughed a little as I sat up and combed my hair away fromI could go back to Nathan’s”

“You’ve spent months at Nathan’s,” he said “Coot the room”

It sounded like fun, but there was a proble term “But what about Uncle?” My black hair clip was on the bedside table After coers, I pulled it all back, twisted and then attached the clip “Isn’t he going to think it’s weird if I’ht for a while? Won’t he have the same questions as Erica?”

Luke shrugged and moved to put his feet on the floor He absently scratched near his eyebrow “I don’t even know But he asks about you Like why I’hts It’s sort of hard to explain”

There were lots of things that were hard to explain to others The secrets we kept were so strange I wasn’t sure anyone would understand Even Academy members like Uncle found us odd

Ia cheek to his shoulder He stared off, either daydrea I listened passively to the voices downstairs and general noises in the house but enjoyed the si next to him

He still sh he had taken on a bit of Kota’s spice scent The ether His blond hair ild, sticking out in places, but frah cheekbones His lean muscles and tan skin had once er hair softened his angled jaw and chin, but in a notable way

Compared, I felt like a mess I wore my own pajama bottoms, but I was pretty sure the shirt was Nathan’s I touched the collar of the T-shirt absently, wondering where he was and if he’d slept at his house alone again He’d done so almost all week

Luke tilted his head and blinked rapidly, looking atme around the shoulders and kissed the top ofis you’re out, right? We will always have to juggle us anyway, given the Acade, but it could have beennot to worry about anyhed at his own joke “I’ to sound like Silas”

He was right about us and the continuous need to mind our schedules I could have been stuck at reat risk I wrappedhilum I’m just I mean there’s a lot to think about”

He chuckled and nuzzled h and he could kiss my cheek, closer to my mouth “I don’t have much to think about I’m all in Whatever happens Okay?”

I kneasn’t just talking about the living situation, but the relationship we had developed between the nine guys in our group and hed but smiled at him “I do worry about the others”

He kissed ers smoothed over the skin just above the elbow He slowly slid his fingers up ertips “I’ve known the while If any of them really felt they wanted to not do any of it, they would have been out the door by now” He lightly heldmore pressure into his kiss

I closed my eyes, a little passive at first as my mind was slow to readjust Eventually, I beca into him

Suddenly, the door to Kota’s bedroom down below opened Swift footsteps thundered up the stairs

Luke leaped away from me, turned, and rushed into the bathroom, but not before Erica popped her head up He closed the door just as she finished clearing the last step

My cheeks warh I suspected most of them didn’t ask to stay, so Erica usually wasn’t surprised to see them However, I had been up here alone with him, and he’d not had a shirt on We had been quiet

There was only one bed unmade

Erica slowed at the top of the stairs, her slanced at the bathroom door and then at the bed The rollaway bed had been put away

The rule was to stay overnight, Kota slept on the rollaway and I slept in his bed If the others stayed, they usually had sleeping bags on the floor Most of the time we followed this, but Luke had come in really late and just crawled into the bed with s

“I” Ito lie to her I also couldn’t stop the heat inI just didn’t kno to respond

Erica turned to me Her smile was still there but it flickered with confusion “Did he stay over?”

“Hewokein” I stuck with partial truths, like what Mr Blackbourne and the others often did when they needed to be careful hat they said “But he beat me to the bathroom”