Page 18 of Redeemed

Any remaining humor in his expression disappears. “Not us. Never us.”

“You don’t know tha—”

“Fuck no. I didn’t follow you all the way out here just for us to go separate ways. Don’t say shit like that.”

When I don’t say anything back, Xander straddles me and roughly grabs my face. The knot in my chest unravels at having him on top of me. Being like this with him is always when I’ve felt the safest.

“Look at me, Lucas.”

I do. His messy dark hair is just long enough to fall into his brown eyes, and I resist my need to run my fingers through it.

“You’re mine,” Xander says softly, right before he gives me a reassuring kiss. “And I’m yours. That’s how it’s always been. You and me.”

“But—”

“You and me, Luc.Fucking say it back.”

“You and me,” I whisper hoarsely.

Over the years, that phrase has come to mean a lot to us. It’s our way of reassurance, to remind each other that we’re not alone. There hasn’t been a time when Xander and I haven’t had each other’s backs, and there never will be—not in any lifetime.

Xander relaxes. “Now don’t pull that shit again. I get this is all new, but I fucking need you. Don’t push me away just because you’re scared.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumble.

With a heavy sigh, Xander places a kiss to the top of my head, his lips lingering there until he murmurs, “I’m not going anywhere.”

My hands move to his waist without me telling them to. I grip his shirt—one of the million band T-shirts he has—and let myself sink intohim.He smells like leather and smoke and everything that’s ever been safe and good in my life.

“And we’re gonna see each other every day,” Xander continues.

“I’m barely gonna have time. Actually, between classes and football, I think I havenegativefree time.”

He kisses me. “I’ll do my homework in the bleachers.”

“Xan—”

“No.I fucking mean it. Every day, Luc. Any time you’re studying, I’ll study with you. We can eat lunch together most days. We’ll make it work.”

“All right,” I mutter.

His hand finds mine again, and he laces our fingers together. “Wanna get out of here for a bit?”

I nod. Maybe expending some energy will help me feel like everything isn’t about to change for the worse.

Once we have our shoes on, we head out of his dorm hall. It’s dark outside but still plenty warm. There aren’t too many kids around. While we were moving Xander in, we heard about a couple parties, but neither of us are in the mood to attend one.

We meander down the main path. It leads to the main part of campus with all the academic buildings, but first, it passes by all the other dorm halls. I think Xander’s is the farthest away.

“You hungry?” he asks me.

“I could eat.”

It’s getting late enough that most restaurants are closing down, but there’s a diner close to campus that’s open 24/7. When we needed to escape my stepfather’s house, it was one of our go-to spots.

“Milkshakes and fries?” Xander suggests.

“Yeah.”

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