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I shrugged. “It is what it is. I’d rather have it this way and know that my family isn’t struggling. Especially my brother. He’s got this happy-go-lucky, cocky facade, but he gets so serious. I know he worries about money, and I just want to do what I can to make things easier for him.”

“They’re lucky to have you.” Elliot smiled at me.

“I’m lucky to have them.” Speaking of, I should reply to the messages they’d sent me earlier. I busied myself with my phone as Elliot’s attention returned to the pitch, or more accurately, to his boyfriend. I didn’t dare to look in Nate’s direction.

Scrolling to the group chat, I replied to Gem’s message asking how yesterday evening’s shift had gone and then sent a few middle finger emojis in response to Rocky’s comment stating that I resembled a bush baby in my most recent social media image. Even though neither of them was online right now, messaging them lifted my mood. It was exactly what I needed.

That done, I spent a bit of time going through my work schedules and assignments due, marking everything in my calendar so I wouldn’t forget anything, and by the time I was finished, football practice was over, and the team had disappeared into the changing rooms to shower. I spotted Finn’s maybe-boyfriend, Leo, lurking by the doors, and I waved to him. He returned my wave with a shy one of his own, and I grinned at him.

“I’m gonna go and say hi to Leo,” I told Elliot, hooking the strap of my gym bag over my shoulder as I rose to my feet.

“I’ll come with you. Ander should be out soon.” Elliot stood, swiping his bag from the ground with a pained groan. “Bloody hell, I forgot how heavy this was. I’m sure Killian—I mean, Dr. Wilder—loves to torture us. Making us carry the heaviest possible textbooks around.”

“Killian.” We smirked at each other, both of us remembering the events of a few weeks ago when we’d gone out for drinks for what Ander termed a “housemates bonding session.” JJ hadn’t been able to come because he’d had a late dance practice…or so he said. Long story short, we ended up coming back to the house earlier than we’d planned to find JJ and Dr. Wilder in a very compromising position over the kitchen table. The business school’s principal lecturer had a reputation for a reason, but I’dnever be able to look at him the same way again after seeing way more of him than I’d ever wanted to.

“JJ’s softened him a bit, though, hasn’t he?” I mused as we drew closer to the doors. “You and Ander don’t seem to complain about him anymore, and he was all I heard about last semester.”

We stopped outside the changing rooms, leaning against the wall. Leo was already leaving, Finn having showered at lightning speed, his hair still wet and dripping down his back as they walked away. I noticed that Finn’s arm was around Leo’s waist, and they were leaning into each other. They could say they were friends all they wanted, but it was blatantly obvious that they were together.

Elliot nodded. “Yeah. He’s better now, and I think for me and Ander, it’s a bit like the Wizard of Oz. He used to be this larger-than-life, all-powerful asshole, and now he’s JJ’s boyfriend.”

“And you’ve seen his actual asshole.”

Both Elliot and I swung around to see Ander standing just outside the changing room doors, trying and failing to suppress his laughter. Elliot rolled his eyes.

“I did not. I saw the side of him for about two seconds before I ran away. You were the one who stayed there until JJ shouted at you to get out.”

“That’s right.” Ander gave him a bright grin. “I wanted to see if I could get a glimpse of his dick, to see if it really was as big as JJ says.”

“There’s something seriously wrong with you,” Elliot muttered, but he was fighting a smile.

“How did you ever think you were straight?” I wondered aloud, and Ander’s grin was instantly wiped away.

“That’s fucking gross! I don’t want to see his dick. I mean, not for anything other than science. Dr. Wilder isnotmy type. JJ must be a masochist.” He huffed. “Okay, that’s not fair. I can kind of see what JJ sees in him, and maybe I might like andrespect him a bit now he’s stopped acting like an asshole, but that’s it. He’s no Elliot.”

They stared at each other for a second before Elliot launched himself at Ander, and I got out of there as quickly as I could, slipping inside the building while they were occupied. While we’d been talking, the changing rooms had emptied out, but I hadn’t seen Nate anywhere.

Steeling myself, I pushed the door to the changing room open, dropping my gym bag to the floor. The first thing I noticed was that Nate had showered and changed, his damp hair curling slightly at the ends. I swallowed, a lump forming in my throat. We weren’t even going to train? It was obvious that he wanted to get this awkward conversation over with as quickly as possible.

“Nate?”

His back stiffened, and he planted his hands on the lockers on either side of himself, exhaling harshly as his head bowed. Although he had his back to me, everything about his posture screamed “leave me alone,” but I took a step closer, anyway.

“Nate?” I repeated.

He clenched his fists against the metal doors, and then he straightened up and turned around to face me.

17

I’d done my best to prepare for this moment, telling myself to stay strong and focus on getting out the words I needed to say. But the second I turned around and my gaze connected with Charlie’s wary green eyes, my planned words flew out of my mind, and I was left with one thing only.

Want.

My body was moving before my brain had time to process what was happening. I stepped forwards, striding across the space between us, and then grabbed him around the back of the neck, yanking him into me and slanting my mouth across his. It was as if that one kiss in the student union had unlocked something deep within me, something I couldn’t even hope to shut away again, and all I could do was succumb.

Charlie made a tiny noise in the back of his throat, almost a whimper, and his arms came around my waist as he kissedme back with as much hunger as I had for him. He pressed up against me, moving us both across the floor until my back hit the lockers. I spun us around so I could push him up against the lockers, moaning into his mouth as we fucking devoured each other.

“Off,” he panted, tugging at the back of my T-shirt. I had a split second of being frozen with shock at the thought of us getting naked together before my brain caught up and then— fuck,yes. I disconnected our mouths for the few seconds it took for us to rid ourselves of our T-shirts, my cock throbbing at the sight of a dishevelled Charlie, mouth swollen and pupils blown wide, and then we were kissing again. How the fuck had I denied this for so long? All I wanted was to touch, and touch, and touch, to map out his body with my hands and my mouth?—

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