He crawled out of bed still in his work clothes from yesterday, feeling rumpled and glad that no one had seen him like this.
He shuffled out of his bedroom.
And jumped when he found an alpha in his dining room, tapping away on a laptop. “You!”
The alpha looked up—same blue eyes, same dark hair. “Just thought I’d check on you. Feeling any better?”
“How did you get in here?” Linus blurted.
Storm avoided his gaze. “The door wasn’t locked properly.”
Linus scrunched up his face, trying to remember if he had messed up locking the door, but his memories were fuzzy.
Storm got to his feet and eased past Linus into the kitchen. “Need more water?”
He opened the mug cabinet, grabbed two, and filled them with water. Storm handed Linus the first mug. The second, he popped into the microwave.
“There’s more stew, too,” Storm said quietly. “And bread if you want some for dipping.”
He pulled out a pot from the fridge. Stew, Linus realized, watching as the alpha ladled a generous portion into a bowl. When the microwave beeped, Storm swapped out the mug for the stew. He put away the pot, grabbed a bread roll from the fridge, and reheated that when the stew was piping hot.
“Why are you doing this for me?” Linus blurted.
“Because you need someone to care for you.” Storm smiled and placed the steaming bowl on the table, diagonally across from his laptop. “Sit down. Eat.”
Linus sat slowly in his chair. A tea bag was now steeping in the mug; Storm placed that in front of Linus too.
“Honey?” Storm asked.
Linus nodded. “My throat is still scratchy. But at least it doesn’t feel like I’m swallowing golf balls anymore.”
“Good. Well, not good that you were so sick, but I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Storm flipped open the cap on the honey bottle, holding it over Linus’ mug. “Tell me how much you want.”
“All of it.”
Storm laughed and gave the bottle a long squeeze. Then he put it away and packed up his laptop. “Looks like you don’t need me around anymore. I’ll get going.”
Linus sipped his tea, carefully watching the alpha. Storm’s movements were relaxed, silvery scars gleaming on the backs of his hands. Other small scars dotted his skin, as though he got into fights a lot.
The thing was, after Dert, Linus no longer felt safe around alphas. Not with them this close.
Definitely not with them in his apartment.
But Storm didn’t seem to present a threat at all. He towered over Linus as he gathered his notebooks and travel mouse. He prowled over to his backpack like a predator.
Maybe it was the way he didn’t look at Linus. It felt as though Linus was on the edge of his attention, someone easily forgotten. Not a target.
And that made Linus relax into his seat, dipping chunks of bread into his stew.
The stew tasted like one of his recipes, the one his grandma had passed down to him.
“Did you make the stew?” Linus blurted.
Storm froze. “There were ingredients in the fridge. I saw the recipe and thought I could try my hand at it.”
“In my home?”
Storm turned around then, all bright smiles. He hefted his backpack onto his shoulder and waved. “I should get going. Feel better soon, Professor.”
