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“They’re probably tracking Reid because they saw me trailing him.

Maybe they think he’s… worth something to us.

Not in the way they think,” I say when Reid’s eyebrows rise.

“He probably needs twenty-four-seven protection until we can figure this shit out. We’ve righted a lot of wrongs, these people could be anyone. ”

“Move him in here, then, because I’m not having us all switch on and off to keep him safe outside the house,” Hayden orders without taking his gaze off of the television.

“I’m in some of his classes, so he’s safe there.

He’ll just need to be watched when he’s going to and from campus. One of us should probably drive him.”

Reid groans. “Drive to campus? It’ll take longer than walking.”

Hayden shrugs, totally uncaring. “Die, then.”

Parker sighs loudly and Jacob angrily pinches his nose. That’s so very Hayden. Point-blank and take it or leave it. The method seems to work on Reid because his jaw tightens, but he doesn’t argue.

“I’ll take you to your house so you can get a few things, okay?” I tell him.

Reid nods once, then looks down at his bitten-down nails.

“Has anyone informed Robin yet?” Parker asks, because he’s always the one thinking ahead.

When all he receives is silence, Parker sighs again and pulls out his phone.

He types a quick message, then waves his hand at the three of us.

Our phones all vibrate at the same time to alert us of an incoming message with us attached.

I’ve got to assume they’ll help handle this situation for a while so I can focus on Reid.

This is exactly why I don’t date, because while what we do isn’t bad, it’s inherently dangerous since we’re fucking with people that don’t typically get fucked with.

“We’ll be right back.” I hurriedly drag Reid out of the chair and out the front door.

Slinging my arm around his shoulder, I keep a careful eye out for the man I noticed earlier.

He’s there, a hundred or so feet back, but he’s easy to spot when I’ve spent the last few years keeping an eye out for people exactly like him.

“Is he there?” Reid whispers.

“Yeah, but I’ve got you.”

Reid lifts his hand to twine his fingers with mine at his shoulder.

At any other time I’d find the move adorably cute, but I recognize it for what it is now.

Reid’s anxious as hell, his eyes crinkled at the corners in concentration.

I follow Reid into his house, carefully toeing my shoes off like last time.

“Reid?” Mason calls out from the kitchen.

Mason wears a soft smile when he spots his brother, but his eyes turn curious when he sees me trailing slowly behind. I lift my hand in a shy wave.

“What’s going on?” Mason asks, clearly worried.

Reid awkwardly clears his throat. “I’m going to stay with Dante for a few days. Nothing big. Will you be in town? Or do you have a business trip?”

“I… No, I'm staying here. What’s going on?” Mason repeats, an edge of hysteria creeping into his voice.

Reid steps forward and goes to touch Mason, but hurriedly retracts his hands as if burned. I watch as Reid stuffs his hands into his pockets, eyebrows furrowed as he stares Mason down.

“I just need to get away for a few days. We might take a trip to the mountains, get away. Okay?”

“Alright,” Mason says softly. “You’re okay?”

Reid smiles, but it’s clearly fake. At least to me. “I’m fine. The best I’ve been in months. I’ll text you.”

I follow behind Reid up the stairs. He immediately shoves a bag into my arms with a strongly muttered curse.

Reid packs in a flurry of movement, seemingly grabbing things at random, but I’m sure there’s a method to his madness.

It’s disconcerting how little he packs before telling me he’s ready to go.

“That’s it?”I ask in disbelief.

Reid holds up his hand and ticks one finger down.

“I sleep naked.” He ticks another finger down.

“My backpack is already at your house.” He ticks another down.

“There’s food for me there.” And he puts his thumb down so that only his middle finger is left up.

“I’m not staying there forever, I’m coming back home. ”

“Maybe I’ll keep you forever,” I say before crashing our mouths together.

“Hey!” Reid squawks against my mouth, but that just makes it easier for me to kiss him. Once he’s still in my arms, I pull away to stare down at him in awe. A perfect creature.

“This means you have to do what I say because I’m ordering you around to keep you alive.”

Reid snorts. He punches me in the stomach hard. “Get bent.”

The grin on my face burns as I stare after him.

When I finally descend the stairs with his bag in hand, I find Reid standing close enough to Mason to almost touch.

Now that they’re so close, I can see the similarities.

If Reid had his natural hair color, they could almost be twins.

The same gentle slope to their nose, heart-shaped face, and cheekbones that could cut glass.

Reid reaches up to tap his nose three times, making me tilt my head.

Mason smiles softly and lifts his hand up to repeat the tapping on his own nose.

They both smile at each other, before Reid stomps out of the kitchen and toward the front door.

I wave at Mason again before fleeing after Reid so he doesn’t get himself stolen in broad daylight.

“What was with the tapping thing?” I ask.

Reid stomps faster so that I have to jog slightly to keep up. He might be shorter than me but damn he can walk fast. What the hell.

“It’s how we say goodbye,” Reid says with a little too much forced cheer. He’s lying.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Reid repeats.

“Does he need someone to watch him? Do you want that?”

Reid’s eyes twitch again. “If it’s possible, I’d like someone to watch over him. If something happens to him because of me or you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Done.”

Reid pauses on the sidewalk, making me have to slide to a stop to turn back. “It’s that easy?”

“Yeah, whatever you want,” I quickly agree.

Tilting his head, he gives me that predator look again, the one that always unsettles me just a little.

Reid sniffs, lifts his chin in the air, then continues on back toward my house.

We walk the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

The guys aren’t in the living room and the house is quiet, but I don’t have the patience to worry about them right now.

Reid heads up toward my room like he lives there.

Now he does.The caveman inside me practically preens at this turn of events.

I set his bag down on the desk in the corner of my room.

When I turn around, Reid is toeing off his boots again.

Without a care in the world, he tosses himself on the bed to stare up at the ceiling.

I lie down beside him, cheek against the pillow, hand on the comforter between us.

My breath catches in my chest as I wait for him to turn on the bed, and when he does I have to bite back a smile.

Reid narrows his eyes at me and tangles our fingers together. “Why do you do that? Why do you bite back your smile?”

“My smile is creepy.”

Reid tuts. “Not your genuine smile. Your fake one yeah, it’s a little… serial killer. But the real smile when something makes you happy? That’s golden. Do it more, please.”

“Okay, but… don’t tell anyone.”

Reid rolls his eyes. “I’ll send it out in my next mass email.”

“No, you won’t.”

He sighs and rolls over to cuddle against my chest. “No, I won’t.”

Reid falls asleep for a little nap, but I’m wide awake.

I listen to him breathe for a while, run my fingers through his hair, play with his fingers that are curled softly against the comforter.

Watching Reid has quickly become my only obsession.

Since that first time I laid eyes on him in the club, it’s felt like he’s mine.

Insanity, sure, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

I’ll do anything to keep him safe. Anything.

The door opens slowly, only for Hayden to peek his head through.

“Jacob said dinner is ready,” Hayden says with a teasing smirk.

“Could text me that.”

“I’m nosy.”

Hayden closes the door with a little slam, startling Reid awake. He rolls onto his back with a groan and blinks wide eyes up at me. I smile down at him and he tentatively smiles back.

“See, pretty,” Reid says softly.

I kiss him until his stomach is grumbling.

Downstairs smells like stew and bread, Jacob’s favorite comfort meal to cook for us.

Reid keeps his fingers knotted with mine even as we take our respective seats.

Parker and Hayden join us just as Jacob is setting a pot of steaming stew in the middle of the table.

Jacob smacks the back of Parker’s head in some sort of twin signal.

The next minute Parker is scrambling out of his seat to help set the table while Jacob brings freshly baked bread over to the table.

“Is this what it’s like every night?” Reid asks around a mouthful of biscuit.

I give him a hesitant smile. “Most nights.”

Reid hums thoughtfully, then gently bumps his shoulder into mine. “It’s nice.”

Yeah, yeah it is. Nicer now that he’s here.

But I’ll bite my tongue on that one for a bit.

We eat dinner quietly, which is par for the course for us.

If we aren’t sniping at one another, usually we’re silent, either in our own heads, working on something for Robin, or doing homework.

Once we’re done with dinner, I leave Reid at the table while I help Parker do the dishes.

I rinse them, then Parker loads them into the dishwasher.

“You really trust him to tell him all that,” Parker murmurs just after sneaking a look over his shoulder to confirm Reid is occupied.

“We’ve imprinted on one another.”

Parker grunts so loudly that Hayden turns a suspicious eye on us. I make a face and Hayden turns away, so I go back to washing dishes.