Page 43 of Toxic

I raised my eyebrows. "Who’s Liam?"

"My best friend since middle school. He goes to Vertmont College, two hours from here. We’re going to work together at DevApp after graduation."

Rubbing my chin, I asked in a cautious tone, "Is he a beta?"

"Yes."

A wave of relief ran through me, but Soren’s lips twisted into a sarcastic grimace.

"You look relieved, like that means he doesn’t want me to fuck him."

I almost choked on a piece of chicken. After a violent series of coughs, I straightened up and plastered a smile on my face, "Yyy, well. Does he?"

"Sure, he does. But I’m a fucking bottom. And I’m only attracted to alphas."

Feeling a swirl of hot and cold emotions running through my body, I cleared my throat and muttered, "What does he look like?"

Without a word, Soren pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of a short, kind of nerdy-looking guy with glasses. My deep sigh of relief almost made Soren laugh. I saw a twitch at the corner of his lips, but he shook it off.

"So. What about you?"

"About me? I’m a top. And I’m attracted to betas. Just one, to be honest."

He made a face. "Duh, that’s not what I’m asking. Your plans."

Letting out a huff, I said, "I have a coding job lined up at my cousin Nathaniel’s company, MonsterApp. I already work there part-time. I can work remotely, so I’m not tied to any one place."

Soren didn't say anything, he just continued eating, staring somewhere far away, over the heads of the other students.

SOREN

That day, Skye showed up at my door with a laptop in hand. I let him in, biting my lip. Whatever was going on between us was so weird, so undefined, and honestly kinda dangerous, that I’d stopped even thinking about the consequences of what we were doing.

I could tell that since he wasn’t here for sex, he was acting differently—more nervous, clenching his fists, rubbing his cheek, and shifting from foot to foot. Before, he moved differently, almost predatory, like a wildcat about to jump on prey, with this crazy intense gaze, but… not today.

Frowning, I waved toward the chair I’d dragged out from the furniture storage down the hall earlier. I didn’t want us sitting on the bed while we studied, ‘cause, well, we both knew where that would lead.

Skye dropped into the chair with a bit of relief, like he’d come to the same conclusion.

"There’s one thing that’s non-negotiable," Skye suddenly announced, like he’d just remembered something important.

"Oh yeah? And what’s that?" I raised an eyebrow, instantly ready to push back.

"I checked out what tutoring for programming goes for around campus, averaged out the price, and I’m gonna pay you for these lessons." His tone was firm, like he wasn’t taking no for an answer. But I had to try.

"I already told you, I don’t want your money."

"Everyone on campus does it this way. It’s your time, and I’m gonna pay for it."

He pulled out some cash and laid it on the table.

I grimaced a bit, but from the look on his face, it was clear he wasn’t backing down. And honestly, I didn’t feel like arguing. Maybe this was better? It made things more straightforward and official, I guess. So I just shrugged and pocketed the money.

"Whatever."

We both opened our laptops, and he showed me his last Python exam, which he’d barely passed.

I glanced over his answers—honestly, they weren’t as bad as I expected. He made a few mistakes here and there, but I felt like the professor was a bit harsh. With some guidance, I knew Skye could catch up quickly.

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