CHAPTER SEVEN

TONY’S POV

I knock at the dull off white colored door of Luke’s dorm room. There’s no answer. I shift the paper bag in my hand and knock again. Harder. The half-peeled university decal shamelessly clinging to the door, vibrates from the force of my knock.

The dorm hallway is quiet except for the low hum of a distant TV—and the sound of my heartbeat, racing faster than the seconds ticking by. What if he’s not happy to see me. He’s never invited me over before.

I pound my fist harder on the door. Still nothing. Pressing my ear against the cold door, I listen for any movement on the other side of it. But all I hear is silence. Then a groan and then slow dragging of feet.

When the door finally cracks open, I see him—Butt naked, his usually perfect hair is a mess, he’s honey brown eyes dulled from exhaustion. He squints as if the golden rays of the setting sun are too bright for his eyes.

“Hi baby.” I say with a smile.

“Tony?” He blinks sluggishly, voice rough from exhaustion.

“It’s me, I brought food” I raise the paper bag slightly. A sandwich from Brew HaHa!, a bottle of water, and a pastry.

For a second, he just stares, with brows furrowed in confusion “What’re you doing here?”

I take a step closer. “Lukas, baby I got you some food. Can I come in?”

He steps aside with a tired exhale, rubbing his eyes as I walk in. He drags himself back to bed face-down, groaning into his pillow. The room is small, two beds, two desks and a mini fridge humming quietly in the corner. Probably shared. I kneel at the head of the bed and place the paper bag on the nightstand beside it. Leaning in just enough to see his face better, unable to resist, I rub our noses together.

“How do you feel?” I ask softly

“Not so good.” He responds, his voice muffled with half his face still pressed into the pillow.

“You’ll feel better after a shower.” I say rubbing slow , steady circles into his back. “I wish we could take a shower together.”

He scrunches up his face. “Me too.”

Unfortunately this is a traditional style dorm—-communal bathrooms, shared with other students on this floor..

“We could go back to my place?” I suggest.

“We’re not doing that.” He replies with a dismissive tone like he didn’t come over to my place everyday—and like he wouldn’t still end up there by morning anyway. He flips onto his back, His blond hair tumbles across the pillowcase—dirty-pink and sage-green, beautifully patterned with polka dots and abstract shapes.

“Why not?”

“It’s not safe.”

I can’t hold back the scoff that escapes my lips.“It’s not safe. What do you mean it’s not safe? Are we gonna get kidnapped?” I tease. I know that he means someone might see us together. But don’t friends go over to the houses of other friends? I hate how paranoid he gets sometimes. It’s like it blocks out the light of reasoning. It’s not as if I have ‘I’m Lukas’ boyfriend’ tattooed on my forehead.

“Don’t start Tony. You know what I mean.”

I shake my head, pushing down the urge to roll my eyes at him. I don’t argue. What’s the point? At the end of every one of our conversations that starts like this, I’m always frustrated by his unwillingness.

I move closer, shifting so I can straddle his naked body, warm and solid and familiar underneath me.

He doesn’t react outright, just stares at me with hooded eyes, heavy with fatigue. I lower myself against him, nuzzling my nose into the crook of his neck. His body quakes, taking notice of mine, pressed against his.

“Of course I know what you mean.” I whisper, with my lips moving against the skin on his neck. “But it’s not like people will be able to tell we’re fucking just by seeing us together.”

He sighs heavily.

“Someone might just see the heart eyes I give you all the time and figure it out.” He says softly “It’s just my heart, I can’t help it. Whenever you’re close to me, it goes crazy and gooey and mushy.”

And there goes my own heart, sprouting fluttering wings and soaring away with my frustration.

When his fingers tangle briefly in my hair, I lift my head just enough to press a lazy kiss to his jaw and he hums, like he’s enjoying this as much as I am.

“You barely looked at me last night though. It was killing me to sit there while you ignored me.”

“We were with everyone, Tony,” he replies. “ I wanted to kiss you, but I couldn’t. I was suffering. And you—you were oblivious to my suffering.”

“Not true. I was suffering too.” I breathe in his scent, inhaling deep from his neck to behind his ear. He shivers.

“I was thinking about yesterday morning.” About how he sucked me off and fucked me so good in the shower before going for his morning run. I shiver, both in remembrance and need. “

His hand moves in slow steady strokes from my back to my hair then back down, I fucking love back rubs. I lap up his attention, blooming under it. His warmth, the quiet hum of the fridge lulls me, making my eyelids feel heavier, before I know it I'm drifting.

I feel Lukas shift beneath me,”Tony?” he murmurs

“Mmm?” I groan, with my face still pressed against the crook of his neck.

“You fell asleep” he says stroking my head

“I did?” I blink groggily. “How long was I out?”

“Close to forty minutes. You were drooling badly”

“Shut up.”

He chuckles. “Come on, get up. It’s time to go.”

“Why?” I bury my face deeper into his shoulder “five more minutes”

“You can’t stay here. Caleb’s gonna be here soon.” he says, both his hands still roaming over my body, and I’m supposed to leave? But his roommate will be here soon. So I should leave.

“Walk me to the door?”

“The door is right there.” Lukas gestures , but stands up anyway. At the door, he presses me against it and kisses me hard—his tongue moving against mine, robbing me of common sense making me shudder with want. Holy shit.

“I’m going to come to you tomorrow morning okay?” he says in response to my arousal as his gaze flickers all over my face. Like he’s trying to commit me to memory.

“Okay. I love you”

“I love you more. Tomorrow.” he repeats like a promise, then shoves me gently out the door. But not before fondling my ass.