“Oh my God,” Cade groused, and he grabbed Aiden’s arm and dragged him toward the apartment door. “Stop fighting with my neighbor.” Cade pulled him inside and then lurched behind him to shut the door. There wasn’t a lot of room for maneuvering and Cade ended up closer to Aiden than he’d probably ever been, leaning over his shoulder so their ears were right next to each other. If they both turned their heads at the right time….
But Cade didn’t turn his head. Instead, he pushed away and glared at Aiden. “Don’t come over here uninvited and get in fights with my neighbors,” he ordered.
“It wasn’t really a fight. And if I don’t come over uninvited, I’ll never come over at all.” Aiden took a moment to look around. The apartment was small, all one room, no bigger than his room at the frat, but it was clean and bright and tidy, and there was a bar fridge in the kitchen area. “Can I put this in your fridge?” he asked, holding up the bag.
Cade still looked grumpy, but he finally nodded. And as Aiden was unloading Tupperware, Cade said, “Tell your mom thanks.”
“You can tell her yourself. They’re coming down next weekend and they want to meet you. They hoped you could have dinner with us Saturday night.”
Cade stared at him, then said, “No! Okay, take the food back! I don’t make the deal! I’m not having dinner with them! No food! No deal!”
He seemed genuinely alarmed, and Aiden reached out and grabbed his shoulders. “Slow down. Holy shit, Cade, you don’thaveto have dinner with them. It’s not a big deal. I told you, the food is leftovers, not a bribe.” He shook his head. “But my parents aren’t death camp guards, you know. They’re nice people. You should ask Ian—he wants them to adopt him.”
“Ian,” Cade sneered. “I’m surprised thereareany leftovers, withIanthere to eat everything.”
Aiden stared at Cade. “Is this a bad time? I mean, I know I wasn’t invited. But seriously, are you always this crabby when you’re at home, or is this something special?”
Cade stared back defiantly, and for a moment, Aiden thought they were going to have a real fight. But then Cade shook his head grumpily and turned away. He stalked over to the flattened futon at the far end of the room and sat on it in a dejected hump. “I have a cold,” he grumbled, and for the first time Aiden noticed the stuffiness in his voice. “And they cancelled my shift today because I was going to hack up phlegm all over the food. So now I won’t get any more work there, and I really needed the money from today and I needed the hours in the future and on top of it allI have a cold.”
“And I was supposed to be here for that,” Aiden said. He actually felt guilty about it. “I was supposed to go to the store and buy you medicine so you could stay in bed and get better.”
“I don’tgetcolds,” Cade bitched. “I think it’s a new strain from Australia. I shook Ian’s hand one time at the library and I’m infected. That guy’s a biohazard.”
“Ian?” Why were they talking about Ian again? Unless…. Aiden grinned as the answer occurred to him. “You’re jealous,” he said softly. “You couldn’t work and you won’t get more hours and you have a coldandyou’re jealous.” Cade didn’t respond, which meant he was either stunned by Aiden’s insanity or by his perceptiveness. Aiden chose to believe the latter. “You’re jealous because I spent the weekend with a charming Australian hunk. Who, now that I think about it, has very nice hands. Not quite as nice as yours, maybe, but they’re a good size. They look strong. I bet he could—”
“Stop it,” Cade said, and something in his voice made Aiden comply.
“You’re an idiot,” Aiden said affectionately, and he took the two steps to get to the futon and sank down next to Cade’s dejected body.
“Why?” Cade asked. He didn’t seem to be arguing, just asking for clarification.
“For being jealous of nothing.”
“I haven’t said I was jealous. And even if I did, I have a cold. Nothing I say when I have a cold counts.”
“That sounds like a pretty sweet opportunity, then. Anything you want to get off your chest? Anything you want to say to me while your words don’t count?” Aiden wasn’t quite sure what he was pushing for.
But Cade seemed to have some idea. He closed his eyes and sat silently for a moment, then said, “I like having you here. But I know it’s not what you’re used to, and I don’t want you to… to not want to be here.”
That was unexpected. Aiden nudged Cade’s shoulder gently with his own. “I like being here. It’s not fancy, but I like it. And I like you.”
Cade nodded, his eyes still shut. “I like you too.” He sneezed into his elbow once, then again, then blew his nose and tucked the used tissue into an almost full bag by the side of the futon. “But I’m gross.”
“Yeah. You’re pretty nasty. You want some juice or something? Some soup? I can go get you cold medicine if you want—you should tell me your symptoms so I can get the right stuff.”
“My symptoms? Being gross.” Cade fell over sideways on the bed and curled his knees up next to his chest.
“Wow. You are a complete baby when you have a cold.”
“I don’tgetcolds!” Cade protested. He sounded like he needed to blow his nose again.
“Okay,” Aiden said soothingly. He laid his hand comfortingly on Cade’s foot. It was the only part of him that seemed safe to touchwithout being inappropriately handsy. Aiden was fighting a strong temptation to spoon in behind Cade and snuggle him to sleep. He wasn’t discouraged by the risk of contagion, just by the fear of pushing too far and being rebuffed. “So, soup? Juice? Medicine?”
“I’m okay. I think I need to sleep.”
“It’s five o’clock. If you sleep now, you’ll wake up before morning. Which is okay, I guess, but when you wake up, are you going to want soup, juice, or medicine?”
“I’ll be all better when I wake up.” Cade snuffled. “I can’t be this much of a loser for long.”
