Page 137 of Bitter When He Begs

I narrow my eyes, taking a slow sip of coffee. “Careful, Bishop.”

He flashes me a shit-eating grin before he fucking pulls Sage into his lap and I nearly choke. Sage doesn’t even flinch. He justleans back, completely comfortable, letting Roman rest his chin on his shoulder.

And fuck, if that doesn’t do something to my fucking soul.

“You trying to die today?” I mutter, my voice dangerously even. I trust Roman. I know he’s just being a little shit. But I also know I’m never going to be the type of person who’s chill about someone else putting their hands on my boy.

Roman snickers, giving Sage a squeeze before letting him go and settle back onto his own seat. “Relax, QB,” he says, flashing me a shit-eating grin. “He’s all yours.”

I shake my head, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I hate this house.”

Damon grins, sipping his coffee. “No, you don’t.”

I glare. “Yes, I do.”

Sage is still laughing next to me, his eyes bright, his shoulders relaxed, and even though I’m annoyed, I love seeing him like this. Because a few weeks ago, I would’ve snapped at Roman, and pulled Sage into my lap just to prove a point.

But now I don’t need to.

On the way out, I grab my keys, tossing them up in the air before catching them as Sage shrugs into his own hoodie, not mine, which is fucking unacceptable.

“Where’s my shirt?” I ask, frowning.

He blinks up at me. “I’m wearing your shirt, Luca.”

I cross my arms. “Yeah, under that.”

Sage stares at me for a second, then lets out the biggest sigh before dramatically unzipping the hoodie, revealing my shirt underneath. “Better?”

“Much.”

Ryan snickers from the hallway. “Whipped.”

“Fuck off, Torres,” I mutter, shoving Sage toward the front door.

The drive to campus is easy, Sage’s feet propped up on the dashboard, my playlist filling the space between us. Every once in a while, he hums along, his fingers drumming against his thigh, and I just watch him out of the corner of my eye, wondering how the fuck I ever thought this would be casual.

He catches me looking and smirks. “You’re staring again.”

I shrug. “Can you blame me?”

He rolls his eyes but doesn’t deny that he likes it. When we finally pull into the parking lot, I throw the truck into park and glance over. “You got time to hang later?”

Sage shakes his head. “I have to finish my film project.”

I try not to look as disappointed as I feel but he notices anyway. “I promise I’ll make it up to you,” he murmurs, leaning in, and pressing a quick kiss to my jaw. “Tomorrow?”

I sigh, shaking my head. “Fine. But only because I like you.”

Sage grins, unbuckling his seatbelt and climbing out. “Lucky me.”

I watch him for a second as he tugs his backpack over one shoulder, then I step out too, walking up beside him as we head toward the main building.

He’s comfortable.

Not just with me, but with everything.

With walking into campus wearing my clothes, with the way I steer him slightly away from a group of people so he doesn’t get bumped, with the way I reach out and grab his wrist.