Sorry, Chad
Cassian
Cass left his classroom building, buzzing with excitement.
His professor had tried to get them with a surprise test the day after returning from spring break, but Cass had been prepared.
No professor was going to catch him sleeping.
Mostly because he didn’t sleep.
Well, he slept some, but not nearly as much as before he’d been turned.
Which left so much time for studying. Even with him and Blake having been attached at the hip all break (and hadn’t that been a trip?
Waltzing into Blake’s family home and being welcomed with open arms?) and fucking like rabbits whenever they were alone.
Cass’s new inner friend perked up at that, as it always did with any thought of Blake, shifting and stretching inside him with interest.
Cass scoffed at it inside his head. Doesn’t take much to wake you, does it?
Who could blame it though? Sex with Blake was…
Cass blushed, tilting his head down toward his feet so no passing students would see the dopey look on his face.
Sex with Blake was amazing. It was exactly how Cass had always dreamed. No, even better. Because never in any of Cass’s dreams had Blake ever wanted him as badly as he seemed to in real life. Cass’s imagination hadn’t been capable of even picturing it.
And the way Blake was so eager to explore with Cass, to find all the different ways they could find pleasure together. With hands. With mouths. With…other appendages…
Cass felt a familiar tightening in his lower belly. Whoops. Time to find another train of thought before you get a boner in the quad.
What had Cass been thinking about? Right. His bio class.
Yes. School. Exactly. Good at school, that was Cass.
Because even attached at the hip, Blake had to sleep eventually.
And Cass only required a couple of hours.
(He could even go without that if he really had to, although Blake hadn’t liked it when Cass had pushed himself that hard.) Cass was going to breeze right through this semester.
Best student, best vampire, best boyfriend.
He’d been a bit worried about class itself—about being pressed in by so many human bodies in the lecture hall. He’d thought maybe his bloodlust would awaken, take over his Blake-lust for the first time.
But it had been fine. People smelled good, sure (and some definitely did not), but Cass wasn’t tempted to go on any sort of berserker vampire rampage. He was still himself. Still Cass.
And maybe, with all the extra study time, Cass could even branch out a bit.
Maybe take a class on…gothic literature?
That would cover vampire books, right? Or, like, monster myths?
Was there a Things That Go Bump in the Night 101?
Somewhere Cass could explore his vampire roots?
Would that be too obvious—exposing himself for what he was?
Cass glanced down at his button-down and pressed khakis. Maybe not. His presence didn’t exactly scream “undead creature of the night.”
His phone buzzed, and Cass fished it out of his pocket. It was a text from Blake.
Blake: How’d it go, baby?
Amazing! Cass tapped out quickly.
Blake: I knew it. Proud of you. See you soon xx
They’d see each other in less than a minute, in point of fact, because that had been Cass’s last class of the day, and the building was just around the corner from their dorms. And how much better was it now that Cass not only got to go home to Blake, but he got to go home to Blake and kiss him on his freaking mouth?
Kiss him on more than that, even.
Cass’s inner creature raised its head again as Cass took the elevator up to their floor, perking up at the thought of being reunited with their mate.
Cass was suddenly hungry in a way he hadn’t been all throughout class, even with the blood of a hundred other students pumping away inside a single lecture hall.
He was hungry for Blake. His voice, his smell, his touch. For the way he told Cass he was good and perfect and beautiful.
Beyond impatient now, Cass jogged down the hallway and keyed into the door quickly, bursting in. “Honey, I’m—”
He stopped short. There was Blake, lounging in their common space, video game controller in hand. But he wasn’t alone.
Chad was with him.
That was his real name—Chad. And he looked like one too. Bro’d out to the max in his tank top and basketball shorts, the scent of his body spray more than potent to Cass’s newly sensitive nose.
He was a friend of Blake’s, one Cass had gotten used to having in their dorm room every now and again. But not since he and Blake had gotten together.
Because you’ve only been dating for a week.
It kind of hit Cass then, how new this all was.
Things had gotten so hot and heavy over spring break—Blake meeting Cass’s grandpa, when Cass hadn’t been able to bear being away from Blake for long enough for them to avoid it; then meeting Blake’s family right after, when they’d realized it was inevitable they’d be together every day.
But Cass hadn’t met Blake’s friends as a boyfriend. And that was probably different, right? These were the popular jocks Blake hung out with. The ones who tolerated Cass but would never, ever seek him out if he wasn’t already Blake’s roommate.
Blake grinned at him from the couch, seemingly happy as ever to see Cass. “Hey, buddy! Congrats on the test.”
Buddy.
Cass forced a smile. “Thanks. It was—you know. Good. All good.”
“Mad brainiac skills, bro.”
That gem of wisdom was from Chad. Cass was mostly sure it was a compliment.
“Thanks, Chad.”
He felt awkward and unsure, which he hadn’t been for, like, a week at least. Blake seemed happy to see him, sure. But Blake had always seemed happy to see him, even before they’d gotten together. That didn’t mean Cass was allowed to kiss him in front of the Chads of the world.
It was all too much. Cass was too hungry for it, his creature too alert to Blake’s presence. He couldn’t be in the same room with Blake and not be touching him. It wasn’t natural anymore.
Oh God. He was the clingiest boyfriend in the whole wide world.
“I’m just gonna—you know. Bedroom?” Cass said, walking quickly across the common space and into their shared room, shutting the door.
There. That had at least come off as seminormal, right? Maybe a bit incoherent, but not a complete disaster. He’d never been the most social guy when Blake’s fiends were around.
Cass had played it fine. Totally cool.
He could freak out in peace, and Blake would have no idea.
Blake
Something was up with Cass.
Blake frowned down at his controller, ignoring Chad’s jeers about falling behind in the game.
Cass had seemed fine over text. He’d said his test had gone well and everything. But when Blake had greeted him, making room on the couch for a welcome home snuggle, he’d gotten…nothing.
He’d expected Cass to pounce on him, as usual. To celebrate his test victory with an eager make-out sesh, or at the very least a prolonged hug.
Now Blake was sitting here without a lapful of Cass at all, and it just felt…wrong, after the last week.
They’d been in each other’s pockets, to say the least, for all of spring break.
Blake’s parents had been flummoxed. Not by the bisexual thing, so much—they’d taken that in stride.
(Although, Toby had taunted Blake for stealing his thunder by coming out and presenting a new boyfriend at the same time.) They’d been flummoxed by the PDA, which was so unlike Blake.
Or at least so unlike Blake before Cass.
But maybe for Cass all that had just been the first flush of vampiredom. Maybe he wanted to set boundaries now that they were back in school.
But Blake didn’t want boundaries.
He liked how they were. He liked getting to hold and touch and sniff at Cass whenever he wanted. (Maybe the sniffing part was weird, but Cass smelled super good, okay?)
Was Chad the issue?
Blake paused their game, turning to his friend. “Get the fuck out.”
Chad grimaced at the TV screen, unpausing the game and shooting at more zombies. “What? What’d I do?”
“Ugh. Never mind.”
Blake threw his controller down and strode to the bedroom door. He knocked once before entering.
Cass was face down on the bed, his head pillowed on his arms.
Blake’s dick twitched. He couldn’t help it—it was Pavlovian at this point. Normally that specific position meant good things were coming Blake’s way.
Cass raised his head at Blake’s cleared throat. It didn’t look like he’d been crying or anything—his eyes weren’t red or puffy—but he didn’t look stoked at life by any means.
“Hey,” Blake said softly.
“Hey.”
Things hadn’t been awkward like this since…well, since Blake had freaked out about the whole fated mates thing. But Blake hadn’t freaked out about anything this time, so what the hell was up? “Um…were you lying about the test? Did you fail or something?”
“What?” Cass sat upright, indignation taking over his look of misery. “Of course I didn’t fail. I did amazing.”
“Then why are you in here?”
“Just…” Cass fidgeted, plucking at the comforter. “Taking a breath?”
“Okay, but…” Blake tried to think of a way to phrase things that didn’t sound completely pathetic. “Couldn’t I get a little sugar first?”
Mission failed.
Cass stared at him blankly. “Sugar?”
“Like a kiss hello?” God, was this how Blake’s ex-girlfriend had felt when trying to get affection from him? All clingy and…vulnerable? Maybe he should send her apology flowers. This fucking sucked.
Cass’s eyes widened. “Are you pouting right now?” He pressed a hand to his forehead, muttering, “That shouldn’t be hot. Why is that hot?”
Blake frowned at him. Frowned, not pouted. “I’m always hot.” He couldn’t help adding, “Right?”
Cass squirmed in place on the bed. “I just thought, maybe…you know. Chad.”
Blake took a minute to translate that. He’d been right, hadn’t he? Cass hadn’t given him a kiss because of Chad.
“You think I give a fuck what Chad thinks?”
“Hey!” Chad’s indignant cry came from the living room.
Blake ignored it, beckoning to Cass. “C’mere, baby.”