Page 27 of The Amazing Alpha Tau Fratmas Experience

His silent laughter shook the mattress, and whoa—that could be dangerous! I reached for the bucket just in case.

“I meant what you did for Scout,” Dalton said, which yeah, that made more sense.

“Scout’s a bro,” I said, “and he’s a teddy bear once you get past the… everything about him.” I yawned and didn’t throw up. Winning! “Takes some people a while.”

“Not you, huh?” Dalton asked and I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Nah, I figured it out the first second I met him in pledge week.”

“The first second?”

“Okay, the first half hour at the mixer. Knox’s tie was all fucked up, so Scout took him aside and gave him this whole-ass lecture about dress standards and about showing respect for Alpha Tau, and tradition, and history, and all that stuff. And he showed him like eight different times how to tie it properly. And everyone else who saw it was like, ‘Who is this uptight asshole?’”

“Not you, though?”

“Eighttimes, Dalton. He wanted to make sure Knox got it right. If he was really an asshole, he would have ignored him and let him look messed up in front of the committee.”

Dalton kissed my shoulder again. “You figured him out.”

I shrugged and regretted it when my stomach rolled. “Scout cares about people. Just not out loud.”

“You’re very different from him,” Dalton said. “I love that you care very loudly.”

“Aw, boo.” I loved that Dalton cared about people too, in general, in his quiet way, and that he cared about me specifically. He’d put a dressing on my knuckles earlier today and a bucket beside the bed. See? Like I said before. True love, right there. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said.

It was the easiest thing in the world to say, and to hear, and it made me smile even though my stomach really didn’t feel so great right now.

He curled his fingers through mine and whispered, “Merry Christmas, Marty.”

My smile grew. “Merry Fratmas, Dalton.”

And then I let sleep take me, because tomorrow was going to be another epic day. And so was every day with Dalton, for the whole rest of our lives.