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“Make sure you don’t get that wrap wet when you take a bath,” I instruct him, shifting back into my professional tone. “Keep it dry for at least three days. After that, you can remove the bandages and clean it again.”

I look up to meet his gaze. Mesmerizing brown eyes stare right back at me, tracking the movement of my lips.

My breath hitches in my throat. Why am I even attracted to his eyes? He is a guy. Why should I be attracted to a guy? We stare at each other for a long, loaded second. The air in the room turns hot. I force myself to blink, snapping out of the dangerous thought. I grab my empty delivery bag from the chair.

“I should get going,” I tell him, my voice coming out a little too tight. “Please follow all the instructions I gave you. Take some pain meds and antibiotics, and make sure you avoid getting into any more fights.”

He stands up with me, towering over my frame again. “My name is Yakov.”

“My name is Elias, and I’m the delivery boy on campus.” I force a polite smile, needing to keep things professional to mask the panic lingering in my chest. “You can tell your friends to patronize my service. Maybe you can patronize me more often too.”

“Of course, Elias.” A small smile touches Yakov’s lips, softening the hard lines of his face. “Thank you for the bandages. You’re very nice.”

“No problem.”

“Do you need me to walk you outside to your dorm?” Yakov asks, stepping closer to the front door.

I shake my head, stepping out into the hallway. “That would be a little too generous. I’m pretty tough.”

“At least let me walk you to the gate,” Yakov insists, following me to the elevator.

“Alright.”

We take the elevator back to the ground floor in silence. Stepping out into the massive foyer, the atmosphere shifts instantly. The guys look up from the pool table, their eyes zeroing in on us.

“Look who decided to come out of their shell,” the guy holding the pool cue mocks, grinning at Yakov. “Got your candy?”

The mean blond guy sitting on the sofa glares at me, his lip curling in disgust. “Please just get him out of here, Yakov, before I lose my temper and do something about it.”

I shrink back, my heart hammering against my ribs.

Yakov steps forward, using his broad shoulders to shield me from the blond guy’s line of sight. The air around Yakov turns instantly violent.

“Shut your mouth, Lev,” Yakov orders, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy octave. “Or I will break your jaw.”

Lev scowls, throwing his drink back, but he keeps his mouth shut.

Yakov doesn’t touch me, but he motions me forward, guiding me safely through the tense room and out the front doors.

We walk down the long driveway, the cool night air finally clearing the tension from my lungs. The silence stretches between us, filled only by the crunch of gravel beneath our shoes.

“I’m sorry about them,” Yakov says, breaking the quiet. He slides his good hand into his pocket. “They normally aren’t that mean. Everyone is just tense right now.”

“It’s no problem,” I assure him, adjusting the strap of my canvas bag. “I deal with worse on my regular routes.”

Yakov frowns at that, his brow pinching. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that at all. Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around campus.”

“I’m a second-year student,” I explain. “I just don’t have much free time to hang out. I spend most of my time either in class or running deliveries.”

“That sounds exhausting,” Yakov notes, looking down at me as we near the iron gates. “What are you studying?”

“Medicine. Hence the bandage skills.”

“That’s really cool. You must be pretty smart to survive the pre-med track here.”

“I like to think so,” I say, offering a real smile. “What about you? What are you studying?”

“Law,” Yakov replies, groaning slightly. “A lot of reading. A lot of headaches.”