Page 5 of Brighter Shades of Light

“About to get some food and a coffee from Starbucks,” I answered, turning into the café drive-thru. “Want anything?”

“A blueberry muffin and a mocha Frappuccino?” he asked, yawning.

“You fucking stalker. That’s what I was going to order.”

“Well…great minds and all that.” He yawned again. “Damn, I partied too hard last night. I can’t get out of bed.”

“If you’re not out of bed by the time I get back to the dorm, I’m throwing your cold-ass frap all over you and eating your muffin.”

“Eating my muffin? Wow, Cody, that sounds like my kind of morning.”

“Shut the hell up,” I said with a snort.

I hung up on him and ordered two mocha Frappuccinos, two blueberry muffins, and a bacon and egg croissant. With my strict physical regimen, I rarely ate junk food, but there were days when I saidfuck it.

As I waited for them to make my order, I scrolled through my phone.

Joe had put his number into my contacts, and I chuckled when I realized his name was actually Jim. Oops. I promptly deleted his contact information. Nothing against the guy, but he was obviously either closeted or in a relationship, and I didn’t have time for shit like that. The whole ‘call, don’t text’ thing set off major red flags.

He was a lousy lay, too.

The sex had been out of rhythm and we’d bumped heads a lot, when he wasn’t just lying there and making me do all the work. He could give one hell of a blowjob, though. That was for damn sure. It was almost tempting enough to keep his info, but no amount of good head was worth that kind of drama.

When I got back to the dorm, carrying our coffees with both hands and the bag of food tucked between my arm and chest, Tristen opened the door for me.

“Thanks, man.” He dug in the bag for his muffin and then plopped down on the couch. His eyes still had a sleepy look to them as he jabbed a straw into the middle of the cup. It would take until probably half of his Frappuccino was gone for him to be a functional adult.

I sat beside him, both of us drinking our coffees and eating. Eventually, I turned on the TV and channel surfed, but nothing was on, so I went to Netflix and clicked on the anime we’d started watching a few days ago calledSirius the Jaeger. We weren’t allowed to watch it without each other, but I suspected he had broken that rule.

“I thought we were only on episode six,” I said, narrowing my eyes at the screen.

“Nope.” He kept a straight face. “We were on episode nine.”

I clicked it and then shook my head when the recap showed things I hadn’t seen yet. “You bastard.”

Tristen laughed. “You love me.”

His short blond hair was buzzed on the sides and a bit longer on top, giving him a military look, but nothing could hide his baby face. Maybe it was the expression in his blue eyes—a little innocent and packed full of compassion. I’d never met someone who had a bigger heart than him.

“Yeah, that’s what you think.”

“Hey.” Tristen leaned closer and peered into the bag. “Can I have some of your croissant?”

Before waiting for my answer, he grabbed it and took a bite. I shoved him aside, and he snorted a laugh, nearly choking on egg and bacon.

“How did your date go last night?” he asked after the laughs subsided. He had commandeered my damn croissant by that point, and I hadn’t drunk enough coffee to have the energy to fight him on it.

“Eh.” I shrugged and took a drink. “It was okay, but I doubt I’ll see him again. And it wasn’t a date. Just a hookup.”

“Whatever it’s called, I’m glad you had fun.”

“Did you meet anyone at the bar?” I asked. “Before I left, I saw a bunch of guys hanging all over you.”

“Eh.” He mirrored my earlier action and tone. “Nothing worth mentioning.”

Code forI don’t wanna talk about it.

I wasn’t going to push him on it, either. He respected my boundaries when I didn’t feel like talking, and I respected his. A mutual understanding to shut the fuck up when necessary.