Chapter 3
Three
Three weeks passed. Caleb failed an accounting exam, got into it with his uncle about how he wasn’t applying himself, and had uncomfortable conversations with just about every Student Council executive member that left him feeling guilty about repeatedly saying no.
Only Levi didn’t pressure him about the kid’s fashion show, and that, in its own way, was a pressure on his soul he didn’t want to think about.
The thought that his lover wanted him to have nothing to do with strutting the fashionable but feminine men’s wear down the catwalk burned around the edges of his heart.
He didn’t want to get too near that flame.
Instead, he finished the song tumbling around in the back of his head and hoped when he played it, Levi would hear what Caleb felt in the music.
“You’re awfully quiet.” Levi smoothed a bit of hair off his forehead and Caleb shifted, rolling to rest his head on Levi’s shoulder.
“Mm.” Caleb had to scrunch his knees up and press his feet against the footboard to be able to lie like that, but it made it easier for Levi’s arm to fit around his shoulders.
Once again, his lover was mostly naked and flushed and playing with the buckle of Caleb’s belt lying across Levi’s thigh.
Caleb hadn’t had the presence of mind to get rid of his jeans when Levi had dragged him into his dorm room and pushed him down on the bed.
It was a ploy to get his mind of his failing grades and he knew it.
He wasn’t about to argue with the tactic.
“Just thinking,” Caleb told him.
“Obviously I’m not trying hard enough.” Levi shifted until he was scrunched down closer and could capture Caleb’s lips under his.
There was strength in the kiss that threatened to overwhelm Caleb, and he pushed back.
It didn’t take long to end back on top of Levi, pinning him and listening to the moans sneaking from between their lips as his grip on Caleb’s shirt eased and his eyelids fluttered.
“You’re supposed be the one reduced to a panting mess,” Levi said, breathing hard and tracing his fingers over Caleb’s cheekbones. “How do you always end up on top and me wibbling like a fool?”
Caleb grinned. “It’s my superpower.”
“One of these days, I’m going to find your kryptonite, Cally, I swear.”
“Does it matter who’s on top?” Caleb asked.
Levi smiled softly. “You tell me.”
Caleb couldn’t tear his gaze away from Levi’s long enough to find an answer before his lover was pulling him down again and talking seemed irrelevant.
Spending the afternoon in bed spreading Levi’s legs when he should have been in class didn’t help his marks any, though, and eventually, Caleb forced himself back on point and got up.
Levi watched him straighten his clothes from where he lay, only getting up once Caleb had his boots on and was ready to leave. Then, Levi leaned against hi, still fully naked, and kissed along his jaw.
“I really, really have to go, babe.” Caleb pushed Levi’s hands out from under his T-shirt. His belly immediately felt cold behind the stretch of lace Levi had been fondling under there, and he regretted having hauled himself out of bed.
“One class?”
“I’m already failing.”
Levi grimaced. “Sorry.”
“Why?” Caleb slung his bag over his shoulder. “Because I’m a dunce?”
“You aren’t. You’re just not a bookkeeper.” He dragged a sheet off the bed and wrapped it around his shoulders. “Switch majors.”
“Tell my uncle that. It’s a BA in business or pay rent, and I wouldn’t be able to afford school and rent.” It wasn’t a new conversation, and thankfully, Levi didn’t press. “It sucks, but it is what it is,” Caleb reminded him. “I gotta go.”
“I know.” Levi pulled him into a tight embrace. “I know. But tonight, you’re coming back here. I’m going to take you out, wherever you want. We’ll get dressed up?—”
“Yeah?”
Levi’s smile lit up the room, easing Caleb’s mind away from the unease over the lack of funds or his miserable grades.
“Yeah. To the nines.”
Caleb laughed. “No one says that anymore, Lev.”
“I think I just did.” Levi took Caleb’s face in both hands again and kissed him.
For just a minute, he didn’t fight the power behind the touch, or the comfort it gave him.
He didn’t let himself think it might disappear the minute Levi knew how a little bit of lace under his regular clothes was just not enough for Caleb.