Page 59 of Operation: Ogre

“Still think we should do homework?”

Jaxon smiled. “Yes.” I groaned, but he pushed me off his lap. He ordered, “Go shower.”

“Fine,” I complained, but I stepped into the bathroom with a huge smile and heat filling my cheeks.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jaxon

The instant we stepped out of the dorms, I took a huge breath. I’d just about tackled Chris back in our room. His sweet vanilla scent had almost overpowered me. I’d missed him a lot, but it was more than that. Instincts were riding me hard. I needed to claim him, make him mine. He’d basically offered himself to me, but I was afraid of hurting him. I was so much larger and stronger than him.

Chris snagged my hand, interlacing our fingers. Something inside of me warmed at the motion. He’d said he wasn’t ready to commit to us actually dating, and yet… He acted as if we were already together. I was hopeful that, in time, Chris would see that our relationship would remain intact. Yes, dating would change the label, but at this point, that was about all that it would change. No matter what happened, Chris and I would remain side by side.

We belonged together.

As we moved across the campus to the library, Chris greeted people and waved at almost everyone. I couldn’t help but smile softly at him. He knew everyone. I had no idea how he was able to make friends with everyone, let alone keep them all straight in his mind, but he somehow did. It was far out of my skill set. Being painfully shy as well as introverted limited my social circle, not that I minded. I didn’t need many people to be content in life, and I saw no reason to change it.

When we stepped into the gothic library, we of course had to go to Mummy Mocha first. Monster god forbid, Chris studied without a sugary coffee in hand. Once again, Chris greeted people, and I simply nodded while continuing to clutch his hand.

“Hey, Tanner,” Chris said to the human standing behind the counter.

Tanner’s red hair always made him stand out to the extent that I actually knew who he was. He’d transferred in last year, I believed. I didn’t know much about him, except that he was dating the dryad Kovi, whom I knew slightly better because we’d taken a couple of classes together.

“Hey,” Tanner replied with a smile. He looked at me and said, “Jaxon, nice to see you. I’ve been hearing good things about your Bro-tein. I guess the water polo team has been using it. Also, someone mentioned it to Seth, and he’s been hooked since.”

I nodded. The water polo team had placed a huge order, which was really helping my sales. Apparently, a lot of people really liked the coined “Bro-tein” name. I didn’t really get it or like the actual name, but that was fine. Besides, I did like that Chris had come up with it. I was probably going to have to rebrand everything to Bro-tein. It worked.

“Seth commented about getting some. I think he wants to add protein-blended coffee to the menu or something.” Tanner shrugged. “Doesn’t sound good to me, but we do have a lot of athletes."

“Oh my god, yes,” Chris gushed as he bounced on his toes. “We need Bro-tein coffee. I would so drink that.”

I flushed, and Tanner laughed.

After Chris placed both of our orders, we moved to sit at one of the free tables. He once again snagged my hand and began playing with my fingers as he rambled about the different people he recognized. I was only half paying attention as Chris relayed some drama happening at the Alpha Claw Omega frat. It was hard to pay attention when I was distracted by his warm touch and the way his slimmer fingers looked next to my thicker digits.

All I wanted to do was pull Chris onto my lap and hold him close, never letting him go.

Part of me, a huge part, regretted stopping Chris’s earlier amorous intentions back in our room. I needed him. Badly. But if we’d had sex, we would have never gotten any homework done. Grades were important to Chris, especially since he wanted to be a starter, and we also had a rough draft due for the Hamlet paper. We had to finish that or we might actually fail our English class. So while I really wanted Chris to be fucking me right now, I was glad I’d done the responsible thing and put a stop to it.

Also, we should wait until after the blood moon was over, although I truly didn’t think I would ever hurt him. He was my mate, even if I hadn’t bitten him yet. Some things were instinctual. This was one of those things. Chris was so important to me. I could never injure him physically, mentally, or emotionally, at least not on purpose.

“It’s all so dramatic. I’m glad I didn’t join the frat,” Chris said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I blinked. I honestly had no idea what he’d been saying. Instead of admitting that, I commented, “I never thought about joining Alpha Claw Omega.”

Chris laughed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“Because you know exactly how good I am at talking to new people?”

He chuckled, pulling our joined hands closer. His dark brown eyes warmed and his eyes became hooded as he said, “You’re a lot better with people than you think, but I’m glad you’re my roommate and not in the frat.”

“Just your roommate?” I asked, shamelessly fishing. I shouldn’t pressure him. I really shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help but wonder if his feelings had changed enough for him to want me as his boyfriend in truth. None of this fake dating lie. Just him and me together. Label and everything.

Lifting our hands, he pressed a tonguing kiss to the back of my hand that had my heart accelerating to the point I feared it would burst free from my chest. He whispered in a husky voice, “You are so much more than just my roommate, Jaxon.”

I swallowed.

“You’re—”