Page 71 of Feral

“No. Stay with us.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods, smiling. “I’m sure.”

Once inside, we head to my apartment. The common area is silent, a departure from when I first arrived at the House of Orpheus. It was always full before, but now that they’re all mated off, they spend a lot of their time in their units. I felt their absence for so long, but no more.

“This place is nice as fuck,” Dimi says, glancing around my foyer.

“Under furnished,” I say. “But I’m inspired to work on it.”

Yannis smiles at me before turning to his brother. “Are you hungry or thirsty?”

He shakes his head. “Nah. I’m okay.”

“Let’s sit in the living room.”

Yannis and Dimi sit on my sofa while I take the armchair across from them.

“You can start by telling me why you’re in New Onyx in the middle of the night without telling me you were coming,” Yannis says, his voice taking on a surprisingly authoritarian tone.

Dimi scratches his head, dragging his fingers through dark, wavy hair. He’s the complete opposite of his brother—brown hair, dark brown eyes, olive skin. He has a similar build though, tall and muscular but a little leaner than Yannis. He’s got a baby face too, one of those people who will likely never look their age. He’s wearing a t-shirt, shorts that come to his knees, and white sneakers on his feet.

“I majorly fucked up, Yann.”

“What do you mean?”

“I dropped out.”

“Dude. Are you serious?”

He nods. “I called home and Dad lost his shit. He canceled my debit card and told me I couldn’t come home.”

Yannis’s cheeks turn bright red with anger. “What?”

“Cut me off completely. He told me he wasn’t wasting another dime on me.” Dimi’s eyes fill with tears, but he sets his jaw, angrily wiping them away. “He wouldn’t even let me explain what happened.”

“What did happen? You didn’t tell me you were struggling.”

Dimi looks down at his hands. “I tried really hard, but I don’t think I picked the right major. The math classes were way over my head. I even had a tutor, but I just didn’t get it.” He looks up at his brother. “I got my third semester grades and I was too far behind at that point. Changing majors put me behind too, so I just dropped it all before they could put me on academic suspension.”

“What was your plan?”

“I thought I could stay with Lawrence.” He looks at me. “The guy I was seeing.”

I nod.

“I’d been spending a lot of time with him and it seemed like things were getting serious, but when I told him what Dad did, he told me…” Dimi shakes his head, picking at a thread on his shorts. “I feel so stupid. I wasn’t his only guy. He admitted that he’s actually married and the condo we hung out at is a rental for his hookups.”

“Aw, Dimi.” Yannis rubs his shoulder.

“I know you warned me about these older guys, but he seemed so different. He never acted shady or hid his phone. I thought he was legit.”

“I’m sorry.”

Dimi shrugs. “I had twenty-four hours to get out of my room on campus and I didn’t know where to go. I went to the bus station and the next thing I knew I was buying a ticket to New Onyx. I knew you wouldn’t turn me away.”

“Of course not. I just wish I’d known. We could’ve picked you up.”

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