Page 133 of Arctic Titans of Northwood U: Volume 3

“On a Wednesday night? You’re confusing me with the reflection in the mirror, Pierce,” he said. “Do better. Let’s eat something and catch up.”

We stuck to the shadows until we reached the student center, where I told Seth to wait for me. “Still a vegetarian?” I asked.

He nodded in all his moral superiority, and we shared a laugh. I admired it, really, but I’d never tell him that.

Seth waited for me in an alley between two fast-food joints while I hopped in to get some food to go. They prepared it quickly and wrapped it well, then tossed it into a bag with two cans of Coke and a portion of fries to share.

I walked out and had a moment of fright when I couldn’t see him. Abandonment issues much? Seth moved in the shadows, and relief flooded me. “Where to?” he asked.

“Science building roof, via the fire escape stairs,” I said. “They never lock them.”

“Close to home,” Seth said with appreciation.

We went to the science building, where Seth’s super-awesome lab was, and climbed the three flights of metal stairs in the back of it, reaching the flat roof with ease.

Old exhaust vents weren’t in use anymore, replaced by a newer ventilation system years ago, so they made for a great set of chairs on the roof. The sky above us lacked the stars you could see on any night back in our little town.

We sat down shoulder to shoulder, and I handed Seth his falafel. I balanced the fries on my knee and unwrapped my kebab. “If you kiss me later, you’ll break the vegetarian streak,” I said.

“Too bad for you, then,” Seth said and bit off a chunk of the wrap. The satisfied little moan coming from his nose turned me on harder than it ever should have. No one had the right to be that hot eating a falafel, dammit.

He glanced at me. I didn’t know what he saw on my face, but the funny way he ogled me said I was making an expression, alright.

“What?” he asked.

I shook my head. “You’re just sexy when you eat.”

He snort-chuckled.

“Ah, it’s gone now,” I said.

He laughed harder. “Trust me to shatter the illusion.”

“Never doubted you for a second.” I took a bite of my kebab and barely contained a hypersexual moan. Fuck, but it was tasty.

We ate quietly, commenting on the quality of the food, and occasionally brushing our hands against each other when reaching for the fries.

“Next time, we’re getting meatball pasta and doing the Lady and the Tramp thing,” I said.

“Plant-based meatballs,” Seth reminded me, being an annoying little shit, but good-naturedly. I loved it. There weren’t any words to describe what it did to me.

“You just have to ruin all my ideas, don’t you?” My shoulder bumped into his, and I almost tipped the fries off-balance.

When we finished our food and wiped our lips with napkins, I produced the two cans of Coke and handed Seth his.

“So,” I said, cracking mine open. “What have you been up to for the last year?”

“This and that,” Seth said. “I mostly studied so I could get the scholarship here.”

“The things people do to be near me,” I mused, looking at the sky. We were quiet for a time, and I pointed to the faint dot of Venus on the northern side. “I miss the stars.”

“Remember how starry the sky used to get in July?” he asked.

“I remember you half-naked in the grass watching them,” I said. “That was incredibly distracting. Rude.”

“Sorry.” A small smile touched his eyes. “Did you go home this summer?”

“Briefly,” I said. “Spent a week there and went to Florida with the family. You?”