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His words prompted a chuckle from Alex as he nudged her towards the door.

“Now get out of here before Kaid offers you more ‘first aid’,” Declan said, using air quotes for the last two words. “CPR’s probably next on his list, and I doubt you’d want an audience for that.”

Feeling her cheeks flush, Alex’s mind blanked enough that she couldn’t form a response, so she forced out another huff of laughter and stepped outside with a shamelessly grinning Kaiden in tow.

It was too cold for them to dally, so they set a brisk pace across the campus, frozen puffs of vapour leaving their mouths with every breath.

“Did what Bear say really happen?” Kaiden asked as they hurried towards the dorm building. “The ‘angry little people’ in the trees—did you visit the Jarnocks?”

Seeing no point in lying, Alex nodded.

“And was the part about the underwater monster dragging you down true as well? Was he talking about Kaku?”

Alex shuddered and, more hesitantly this time, nodded again.

Kaiden released a loud sigh and said, “I’ve never encountered anyone more prone to finding trouble than you.”

“I don’tfindtrouble,” Alex said, indignant. “It just… finds me.”

“With everything that you’ve been through, I’m amazed you’ve managed to survive this long.”

“You’re not the only one,” Alex murmured her agreement.

Silence. And then—

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

Kaiden’s question surprised her. Not the words themselves, but the wonder in them. The admiration. The… affection.

Feeling the need to lighten the suddenly heavy mood, Alex flippantly replied, “I’m afraid I’m not very good at baking.”

Kaiden laughed, just as she’d hoped he would. “How scandalous.”

“You can’t tell a soul,” Alex told him. “If my secret gets out, it’ll be the end of me.”

“Your secrets are safe with me,” Kaiden promised as they reached the dorm building and stepped through its entrance. Halting just inside the doors, his face was serious as he finished meaningfully, “All of them, Alex.”

She couldn’t hold his gaze and instead focused on unbuttoning Declan’s coat. But Kaiden’s hands reached out for hers, halting her fingers to pull her closer.

As in,waycloser.

With one hand curling around her waist and the other moving up to her cheek, Kaiden looked deep into her eyes and whispered, “What’s it going to take for you to finally trust me?”

Mouth dry at both his words and his proximity, Alex couldn’t respond. All she could do was feel the warm touch of his fingers on her skin and the comforting strength of his arms holding her tight.

“Kaiden,” she whispered as he moved impossibly closer.

“What’s it going to take?” he repeated, his breath fanning over her lips, causing her to shiver.

Slowly, carefully, he tilted her face upwards, watching her intently to gauge her reaction. Her eyes began to flutter closed of their own accord. But then—

“… so ofcourseI said ‘no’. I mean, as if I would ever agree to that!”

Jumping back about three feet and dislodging Kaiden’s arms in the process, Alex spun around, heart pounding, face burning, and found two fifth-year girls descending the stairs, presumably heading to the Rec Room.

“And then—oh, hey, Kaiden!” one of them called. “Did you finish Luranda’s flesh-eating algae assignment? It took meforever!”

Kaiden called out a token response and the girls took that as an invitation to approach. Her heartbeat still erratic, Alex decided to be relieved rather than disappointed by the interruption, and she used the girls’ presence as an excuse to strip out of Declan’s coat and shakily hand it over to Kaiden.