“Shit,” I hissed.
I shoved him.
It wasn’t gentle.Pure, reactive instinct.I pushed him off my lap.He stumbled back, catching himself on the edge of his own bed.
“Shirt,” I whispered, frantic.“Shirt.”
Austen scrambled.He grabbed his T-shirt from the floor, yanking it over his head inside out.He dove for his desk chair, grabbing a pen, spinning around to face his laptop screen—currently black.
BOOM.BOOM.
“Carter!Don’t tell me you’re asleep, I can hear the radiator clanking!”
“Coming!”I yelled, my voice cracking.
I looked down.Shirtless.Jeans unbuttoned.
I scrambled off the bed, buttoning the fly with shaking fingers.I grabbed my hoodie from the floor—smelling of sex and sweat—and yanked it on.
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to tame the mess.
I looked at Austen.He was hunched over his desk, typing furiously on a computer that wasn’t on.
“Turn it on,” I hissed.
He hit the power button.The Apple logo glowed.
I took a breath.I forced my heart rate down—goalie mode.Calm.Square to the shooter.
I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door four inches.I planted my foot behind it as a stop.
Ryan was standing there, grinning, holding a greasy cardboard box.
“Pizza,” Ryan announced.“Meat lovers.And Morales is arguing thatDie Hardisn’t a Christmas movie.We need a tiebreaker.”
He tried to push the door open.“Let me in, it’s freezing out here.”
I braced my shoulder against the wood.“Can’t, man.”
Ryan stopped, blinking.“Why?You decent?”
“I’m… sick,” I lied.Weak save.“Stomach thing.Ate bad sushi.”
Ryan peered through the crack.He looked past my shoulder.
“Math?”he yelled.“You sick too?”
Austen turned in his chair.His face was pale, his glasses crooked.“I… am maintaining a safe distance.”He sounded like a robot from a bad 50’s show.
Ryan looked back at me.He sniffed the air.The room smelled like peppermint soap, stale heat, and… us.
“You look flushed, Monk,” Ryan said, his grin fading.“You got a fever?”
“Yeah,” I said.“Fever.Need to sleep it off.”
“Alright.”Ryan looked at the pizza, then back at me.“Well, if you hurl, aim for the trash can, not the floor.Devon gets pissy about the carpet.”
“Thanks.”
