5. ROOMMATE ROULETTE

SKYLAR POV 

I stepped out and rushed down the hallway, my heart still hammering from everything that had just happened in that office. I made it out only to be met with Emma and Kyle, both of them waiting right outside like they'd somehow sensed exactly where I'd been.

They scanned my face the second they saw me, eyes narrowing, taking in every detail I was desperately trying to hide. I knew I was getting too close for my liking. I just couldn't help but be tempted.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Kyle asked, arms crossed, though there wasn't any real judgment in his voice, just concern.

I sighed and looked away, unable to meet either of their eyes.

"Do you like him?" he asked, quieter this time.

I nodded, finally looking back up. "I... he makes me feel good. I've never felt like this before. You guys know that," I said, running my fingers through my hair, trying to find some composure I clearly didn't have anymore.

Emma reached out and squeezed my arm gently. "We know. We're not judging you. We're just scared for you."

"I'm scared for me too," I admitted.

"Then why do you keep going back?" Kyle asked, not unkindly, just honest in that blunt way only he could pull off without it hurting.

I didn't have an answer for that. Not one that made any sense outside of the way my whole body lit up every time Lucian looked at me like I was the only person in the room.

THIRD PERSON'S POV 

Kyle had no idea his life was about to get complicated the second he heard the knock on his dorm door.

He'd just gotten out of the shower, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, water still dripping down his back as he crossed the spacious room to grab his phone off the desk. The suite was easily twice the size of most college dorms, floor to ceiling windows, two separate sleeping areas on either side of a shared living space, the kind of luxury that came standard when your tuition rivaled a small mortgage. The knock came again, louder this time, followed by the sound of a key turning in the lock before he could even answer.

"Finally," a voice said as the door swung open. "I thought nobody was home."

Kyle froze, towel clutched tight at his hip, staring at the stranger now standing in his doorway dragging two massive designer suitcases behind him like he owned the place.

"Who the hell are you?" Kyle managed, backing up slightly, suddenly very aware of exactly how little he was wearing.

Silas looked up, and whatever he'd been expecting to find on the other side of that door, it clearly wasn't a half naked stranger standing in the middle of the room. His eyes swept over Kyle slowly, deliberately, a slow smirk curling at the corner of his mouth that made something twist low in Kyle's stomach.

"Silas," he said, setting his bags down without taking his eyes off Kyle. "Guess we're roommates."

"Nobody told me I was getting a roommate," Kyle said, pulling his towel tighter, though it did absolutely nothing to steady the sudden racing of his pulse.

"Housing office probably sent the email this morning." Silas shrugged, stepping further into the room like he'd already decided this was going to be easy. "Finally convinced my dad to let me move out of the house. You mind?"

Kyle definitely minded, mostly because he couldn't stop staring at him, tall, broad shouldered, dark hair falling messily across his forehead like he hadn't bothered combing it in days. There was something dangerous about the way he carried himself, reckless and unbothered, like rules were more of a suggestion than anything he actually followed.

"I guess not," Kyle said, clearing his throat, trying to sound far more casual than he felt.

Silas crossed the room, hand extended like this was a completely normal introduction and not one happening while Kyle stood there in nothing but a towel. "Silas Cross."

Kyle hesitated for half a second before taking his hand, and the second their palms touched, something electric shot straight up his arm, catching him completely off guard. Silas's grip lingered a beat too long, his thumb brushing lightly against the back of Kyle's hand before he finally let go, that same smirk still playing at his lips like he'd felt it too and found it entertaining.

"Kyle," he managed, voice rougher than he intended.

"Kyle," Silas repeated, testing the name like he was deciding whether he liked the sound of it. "Nice to meet you, roommate."

Kyle bit his lip and looked away, pulling his hand back quickly, suddenly needing something, anything, to do with his hands besides stand there feeling completely exposed under Silas's gaze. He cleared his throat again, adjusting the towel around his waist for the hundredth time.

"Make yourself at home, I guess," Kyle said, stepping back toward his side of the room. "I was just about to get dressed."

"Don't let me stop you," Silas said, dropping onto the empty bed like he'd already claimed it, stretching out with his hands behind his head, watching Kyle with an expression that was far too amused for someone who'd just met him thirty seconds ago.

"Do you mind?" Kyle asked, gesturing toward the ensuite bathroom door.

"Not even a little," Silas said, grinning.

Kyle grabbed his clothes off the desk chair and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door firmly behind him, heart still pounding in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with being caught off guard. He pressed his back against the door, staring at himself in the mirror, trying to figure out why one stranger with a stupid smirk had managed to rattle him more than anyone had in years.

Cross. The name settled strangely in his memory, familiar somehow, though he couldn't quite place why. He filed it away for later, more concerned at the moment with the fact that Silas was somehow already making even a room this big feel smaller than it had five minutes ago.

SKYLAR POV 

I met up with Kyle later that evening, expecting the same tired lecture about staying away from Lucian, but instead found him sitting on his bed looking completely distracted, staring at his phone like it held the answers to questions he hadn't even figured out how to ask yet.

"You good?" I asked, dropping onto the edge of his bed.

"I got a roommate today," he said, not looking up.

"Okay? Why do you look like that's a bad thing?"

"It's not bad," he said quickly, a little too quickly, and I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting. "He's just... a lot."

"A lot how?"

Kyle finally looked up, and something in his expression made me pause, a kind of flustered confusion I'd honestly never seen on him before. Kyle wasn't the type to get rattled by anyone.

"His name is Silas," he said slowly. "Silas Cross."

My stomach dropped so fast I nearly forgot to breathe. "Cross?"

"Yeah. Why?" Kyle's eyes narrowed, clearly picking up on my reaction immediately.

"That's Lucian's last name."

Kyle sat up straight, phone forgotten completely. "Wait. As in, our professor? The one you keep sneaking off to make out with?"

"I don't sneak off," I said defensively, though we both knew that wasn't entirely true. "But yes. Cross. As in the family that practically owns this entire university."

"Oh my god." Kyle dragged a hand down his face, clearly putting pieces together in real time. "So my new roommate is his brother. The same guy whose class we sit in twice a week."

"Apparently." I couldn't help the small, disbelieving laugh that escaped me. "This campus is way too small."

"This is insane," Kyle muttered, flopping back onto his pillow. "What are the actual odds. I have to sit three seats away from him on Tuesdays and Thursdays and pretend I don't know what you two have been doing."

"Pretty terrible, considering how hard I'm trying to keep this whole thing quiet," I said. "If his brother figures out what's going on between me and Lucian, and then it gets back to him in class—"

"He's not going to figure it out," Kyle said, though he didn't sound entirely convinced himself. "Unless you're planning on inviting your secret professor boyfriend to come pick me up from my own dorm room."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Sure," Kyle said, smirking despite the stress clearly still written across his face. "Just like Silas isn't going to be a problem."

"Why would he be a problem?"

Kyle hesitated, something flickering across his face that he quickly tried to smooth over. "No reason. He's just... intense. That's all."

I studied him for a moment longer, filing away the way his ears had gone slightly red at the mention of his new roommate, but decided not to push it. We both clearly had enough complications piling up without adding more questions to the mix tonight, especially with the three of us walking into that same lecture hall together every week now, trying to act normal in front of the one man who already knew exactly how reckless I could be.

"Well," I said, standing up and grabbing my bag, "welcome to the family, I guess. Try not to let him drive you crazy."

"No promises," Kyle muttered, and something about the way he said it made me think this was going to be far more complicated than either of us were ready to admit.