Page 25 of Slow Heat

“No. I didn’t! I talked to him through the window.”

“Wolf-god. Talked to him through a window. The man must have been terrified.”

“He seemed okay, actually. Most of the time. I mean, he was scared at first, but then he realized I wasn’t going to force myself on him.” Jason felt a trickle of sweat on his forehead and rubbed it away. “He trusted me enough to talk to me for a while.”

But not enough to take hold of his proffered hand.

Jason could still feel the tingle of where Vale’s fingers had pushed against his knuckles, making him retreat so he could close the window.

“And what did you learn about him?” Father asked softly.

Jason hesitated. He wasn’t about to tell them what Vale had said about his poems—or about the heats he’d gone through with surrogate alphas. Though he supposed it was only a matter of time before the private investigator gave his parents that information anyway.

“He likes the color blue. This blue.” He pulled the ribbon from his pocket, smiling at the memory of Vale shifting through his messy desk drawer looking for it. “And he’s a terrible housekeeper. Which is fine. I’ll hire someone.”

“Oh, Jason,” Pater whispered.

“And he has moss-green eyes, and really beautiful lips. But when he laughs it’s like bells play up my spine, and—” he broke off, unwilling to say things that could be construed as romantic or sexual. His parents were all too ready to write his opinions off to the effects of imprinting anyway. “He’s angry that he’s been asked to leave the university.”

“He told you that?” Father asked.

“No, I overheard, and he knew I overheard.”

“It’s a shame, but—”

Jason interrupted Father. “I promised he wouldn’t have to pay that price. Can you get Chancellor Rory to let him be reinstated?”

“No.” Father rubbed his hands over his head, sending his blond hair askew. “Son, you can’t be on campus with him until you’re completely bonded. That goes beyond the consummation of an imprint, beyond a contract. You must be fullyÉrosgápe, bonded, you realize. It’d be too dangerous for you and your classmates otherwise.”

“I’m not going to go insane because a random alpha—”

“It’s nonnegotiable.

“And you’ll be living at home until…” Pater shook his head.

“Until this is all settled,” Father finished for him.

“I have to live here at home? Why?”

“Because obviously you can’t be trusted not to scamper off to your omega’s house. We can’t put that responsibility on the university. We’ll have to deal with you ourselves.”

“You can’t keep me here like a prisoner. I’m not a child.”

“No, but you’re not ready for this, Jason.” Pater darted a glance at Father, a request for backup, and Father squeezed Pater’s shoulders reassuringly but was flung off again.

Sighing, Father moved to sit down in the chair next to Jason instead. “Miner is right. Your body is going to crave him like a drug, and you’ll give in to that desire without close supervision.”

“Xan can watch out for me.”

“Xan is even more of a child than you are, and absolutely not,” Father snapped.

“But—”

“No,” Pater said quietly, blowing smoke in a long stream. “There’ll be no further discussion of it.”

Jason clenched his teeth. “Xan and I have plans. Back when we were fourteen years old, we swore we’d be roommates at university. He needs me.”

“Your attachment to Xan will lessen as things settle with your omega,” Pater said, a hint of knowing his voice that made Jason wonder if he guessed some of the things Xan and Jason did together.