At work, Wesley had a fight with the filter machine. The cold brew slipped off its pad, and in his effort to shove it back into place, the handle hooked his wrist. One ill-timed yank later, coffee splashed over his face and seeped through his white T-shirt.

This literally never happened to him.

He was supposed to be the coffee whisperer.

Maybe it was opposite day. Maybe after his shift, he’d rock up to his law tutorial and spout law stuff like a pro.

At least this mess happened after he’d taken Lloyd’s daily order.

“I gave your fiancé his tall black,” Suzy said, lifting a brow at the new look Wesley was sporting. “He’s sitting outside if you want to take five.”

With frustration and eagerness, Wesley moved through the bustling café crowd outside. At the far end of the courtyard, he glimpsed Lloyd’s teal shirt and the back of his shaved head.

Wesley threaded his way, wringing coffee out of his T-shirt.

He slowed down when he saw that Lloyd wasn’t sitting alone.

An attractive man sat opposite him, his pretty face lighting up in a laugh. Pretty leaned in flirtatiously.

Wesley risked a glance at his unsightly reflection in the café window. He turned away, shoulders dropping as—

Someone grabbed his wrist and he whirled around, donning his game face.

Lloyd. Who was sitting in the shadows of a potted tree. In the same teal shirt.

“Wesley?”

Lloyd looked at him, then across the courtyard at the table Wesley had been walking toward. When he refocused on Wesley, a secret smile quirked his lips.

Wesley blurted. “Hey, yeah, so I was . . .”

“Cursing the American Eagle problem?”

Wesley grinned sheepishly. “Having a weird day.”

Lloyd handed him a napkin. “You’ve got something on your chin.”

Of course. Wesley wiped it off with a self-deprecating laugh just as MacDonald walked past. “Wesley. Looking good.”

“Smelling better.”

She disappeared inside for her shift.

Wesley picked up Lloyd’s coffee and hid himself in a long sip.

“Don’t worry,” Lloyd said, gesturing him to take a seat. “You look good covered in Me Gusta Robusta.”

Wesley choked, spraying a mouthful of coffee all over Lloyd and his damn shirt. If only Lloyd meant that in the dirty way his mind wanted him to.

Lloyd blinked, then stood and unbuttoned his shirt. “I agree,” he said, shrugging it off. “Too many people with the same shirt.”

Wesley gave a strangled chuckle.

“Do you have time to talk?” Lloyd asked, gesturing him to take a seat.

“Depends,” Wesley blurted. “Is this about you and your boyfriend?” A laugh rumbled out of Lloyd, and Wesley bristled. “What’s so funny?”

“The fact you’re jealous. So tickling and sweet.”

Heat shot up his neck. His feelings were that obvious?

“Oh, Wesley. Sit down. Let’s talk about this. About us. About what’s going on here.”

Dammit, Lloyd knew he was jealous. Properly jealous.

He cursed his newly bare wrist.

His whole body burned with the sudden need to find a boulder and hide under it. “You know how much I love talking. But”—he started walking backward toward the café entrance—“I have to get back to the thing. That makes the coffee. Because I have to be a man. I mean, man it.”

“Wesley,” Lloyd said in amused exasperation. “I want you.”

“The coffee machine wants me more.”

“Wesley!”

Wesley ducked inside and threw himself into a dozen orders. Lloyd tried to catch him twice more, but both times Wesley weaseled away. He overheard Lloyd telling MacDonald that he had someone to meet and would Wesley be done with his shift by the time he returned?

The last two hours bussing coffees wrung the last bit of energy out of him. He lounged against the counter across from MacDonald wiping the counter. “Want to do something after we close up?”

“I thought you had plans to follow Lloyd around like a puppy?”

Wesley tossed out a melodramatic sigh. “Turns out all I have in life is coffee.”

“Is this because Lloyd is meeting up with someone as we speak?”

Why yes. Thank you for mentioning it. “How was I the last person to know he was dating?”

“Because you are clueless. And blind.”

“It’s not as though I’m surprised he has a life outside of me.” Wesley smashed his face into a dishtowel and groaned. “Why does he have a life outside of me?”

“You and your brother. Both idiots.” She pinned Wesley with a dozen daggers flying out of her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something biting, then firmly sealed her lips. She grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him. “Stop damn well fooling yourself.”

Someone slow-clapped behind the counter and they both jerked to Caleb. “I couldn’t have said it better, MacD.”

Then it was two against one, and Wesley shifted uncomfortably under their cutting stares.

Wesley slumped against the coffee machine and sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I gotta grow a pair and tell him how I feel.”

* * *

“How do I grow a pair?”

Elvis was no help.

Wesley cleared his throat and addressed the stand-in Lloyd again. “You’re a Capricorn. You’re solid and mature, and you go for what you want. You like rules and structure. I like dancing. I like gossip. I like teasing and crunching ice to get a rise out of you. But I can’t flirt with you anymore.” Wesley notched his voice lower, acting as Lloyd. “Why?” He switched back to his voice. “Because I mean it.”

Wesley sighed, then changed into a shirt and the hottest jeans he owned.

He combed a hand through his hair and yanked open his door—

Lloyd stood on the other side, poised to knock. He wore a dashing button-down over a fitted T-shirt and dark jeans with a silver-buckled belt. He looked hot as hell and those hazel eyes sent a lethal voltage of electricity right to Wesley’s crotch.

“What are you doing here?” Wesley asked, startled.

Lloyd cast an eye down Wesley’s impressively tight outfit. “Where are you going?”

Wesley balled Lloyd’s shirt, dragged him inside his room, and shut the door. “I was coming for you.”

Lloyd looked down where Wesley still gripped him, then into his eyes. “I was coming for my boyfriend.”

Lloyd spun him around and shoved Wesley against the door. Their bodies collided, and Lloyd kissed his speechless lips. Their mouths slid together and locked, unlocked, and refitted. Lloyd was everywhere. A hand roaming from waist to hip, another cupping the back of his head, clenching Wesley’s hair.

A moan trembled out of Wesley, and Lloyd kissed him harder, deeper, with a fevered urgency Wesley had only ever dreamed of.

“You beautiful, crushingly clueless man.”

Lloyd’s mouth parted against Wesley’s lips, sending wild tremors down his arms and up his legs to pool in his crotch.

Relief and elation surged warmly through Wesley. He clutched Lloyd against him, demanding an explanation—and that he never stop kissing him.

Wesley canted his hips against Lloyd’s equally hard crotch. “Fuck. Fuck.” Wesley rested his head back and looked at Lloyd. “Me? You’ve been dating me?”

“I don’t think you can find a more classic date than dinner and a movie. I paid.”

“Because they could only take cash and my wallet was empty!”

“We bought the date menu.”

“I didn’t want you to spend too much. It was cheaper.”

“We’ve been holding hands and squeezing appendages!”

“You’re my best friend! And I’m an outrageous flirt.”

“Do you squeeze many men’s thighs?”

“Not recently.” Now that he thought about it, not at all. “Why’d you say no to us fucking then? You said you didn’t want that with me.”

Lloyd clasped his face. “I didn’t want it to be a fling. Didn’t want to be a fuck buddy. I wanted to date you. I want us to be boyfriends.”

Boyfriends. His stomach did acrobatics. “What were those meetings about then?”

Lloyd’s thumb stroked his cheek. “Studying.”

Wesley licked his lip. “So we were dating?”

Lloyd’s laugh made his wet lip tingle. “Yes.”

“And I missed it?”

“I’m saying yes again, because I have to state the obvious from now on.”

Wesley touched their lips together. “You should have kissed me sooner.” He abruptly pulled back. “Why didn’t you kiss me sooner?”

“The same reason I haven’t thrown you on the bed and fucked your brains out like I think about doing three times an hour.”

Wesley’s cock throbbed.

“Because it’s against Williamson RA policy,” Lloyd said. “Kissing you has already broken about a dozen rules.”

“Please tell me we can break a dozen more.”

“I’ve forced myself not to kiss you the last two weeks because once I taste you”—Lloyd sucked in Wesley’s lip with a deep breath—“God, the more I want. I won’t be able to stop myself.”

Wesley chased his retreating lips and parted them with a swipe of his tongue. “Mmm, don’t stop yourself.”

“Gavin’s already on my balls about you. He can’t wait to get me fired.”

“I’ll keep it a secret.”

“When have you ever kept a secret?”

True. “How much do you like this job, anyway?”

Lloyd groaned and dragged an open-mouthed kiss over his jaw. “Turns out I love this job. I love the challenges and resolving problems.”

“Resolve our rather hard problem then,” Wesley said, rocking their cocks together.

Lloyd growled and pinned Wesley’s hips with his. “I already have a solution.” He took a slow breath. “We wait until we wrap up the school year—”

“Wait?”

“I know it’s frustrating but it’s possible. I’ve managed the last couple of years, and we only have a few months to go.”

“You’ve wanted to get into my pants for years?”

“Since the first time you crunched ice with a smirk. I hated that you were out-of-bounds. I tried so hard to get over you but it’s impossible.”

Wesley hauled Lloyd in and attacked his lips, shoving his tongue down his throat and hitching a leg to his hip. “I’ve been fascinated with you too. You call me a flirtster, but the truth is I only flirt with you.” His hands paused against Lloyd’s ass. “Wow, I am so fucking oblivious.” He ground against Lloyd again. “Let’s do some stating of the obvious. On my bed. The floor if your back can handle it.”

Lloyd laughed into a kiss and reluctantly pulled back. “My aunt would humiliate my mom if I got fired too. I won’t do that to her.”

“How about we fuck but you don’t get fired? You can gag me. I’ll be quiet.”

Lloyd palmed his crotch with a grunt. “This is why I haven’t kissed you a thousand times already.”

“You can’t hold out to the end of the year now.” Surely?

“I’m Capricorn, remember? Try me.”

“I’m Gemini. I’ll break you.”

* * *

“And the award for most romantic admission goes to: I’ll break you, by Wesley Hidaka,” Caleb said from his spot at the counter, munching his usual avocado toast.

Suzy snorted from the archway leading to the café kitchen.

“Lloyd has a point,” MacDonald said, picking crumbs off the counter and flicking them into the trashcan. “You told us about you and him the moment you walked into work. I think he’s right to make you wait.”

Wesley poured milk into a cappuccino, making a perfect heart. “I can’t stand you right now.”

“Because I have a point.”

“Oh my God,” Suzy shrieked, waving her phone around. “Last night was when you and Lloyd made it official, right?”

Wesley raised a curious brow.

“MacDonald won the bet. She guessed freakishly close to the date.”

“I thought it would be tomorrow,” she said, glancing at Wesley.

Tomorrow. The eighth of January.

She’d known Lloyd’s birthdate all along.

“As treasurer of the monies,” Suzy said. “I can say the grand is rightfully yours. We’ll keep it quiet so Lloyd doesn’t get in trouble.”

Wesley ground more coffee. “If it had been your hearts on the line . . .” He paused. “Actually, I would have done the same.”

“What will you do with all that cash?” Suzy asked MacDonald. “Spend it? Donate it to a good cause?”

“Yes,” MacDonald said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’ll donate it to the cause that makes my heart melt the most.”

Wesley made and delivered two more cappuccinos. Was Lloyd right about making them wait? Sure he’d told Suzy, MacDonald, and Caleb but . . .

“But you guys are like extra limbs,” Wesley said pulling paper cups off the top of the coffee machine. “I should be able to share things with you.”

“As long as I’m not your right arm or your third leg,” Caleb said. “I’m cool with this analogy.”

MacDonald shrugged. “I still think Lloyd’s right to wait.”

Wesley eyed his brother. “What do you think, Hazelnut?”

“The opposite of whatever MacD says.”

MacDonald rolled her eyes. “You sure know how to woo a woman.”

Caleb leaned over the counter and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “I sure know how to make sparks fly.”

Suzy sighed. “I don’t think Gavin would get him fired.”

“Thank you!” Wesley said. “He’s not gonna rat on him. Deep down Gavin thinks Lloyd is pretty okay.”

“Deep, deep down,” MacDonald said.

“See, this means it’s okay to break Lloyd’s resolve not to have sex!”

Someone cleared their throat, and the hairs on Wesley’s nape prickled. He gulped, and turned a winning smile on his boyfriend, who stood, arms crossed, on the other side of the counter.

“Your usual, coming up!” Wesley made Lloyd an extra-large dark roast.

Wesley slid it over the wooden countertop and Lloyd took the paper cup, covering Wesley’s hand with a firm press. “You honestly think Gemini can break Capricorn?”

Wesley started at Lloyd’s lips and blatantly took in the rest of him. The shirt fit like a glove, his dark chinos, that come-get-me belt seated low on his hips. “I am highly motivated.”

Lloyd slid his fingers up and down Wesley’s.

“We’re boyfriends. We’re supposed to be at it like bunnies,” Wesley said with a delighted thrill.

“Says who?”

“Says three of the four of us staring at you right now.”

Someone waved their hand between them. “Excuse me. Is anyone going to serve me?”

“Want do you want?” Wesley snapped his attention to his regular. “Oh, Latte.”

“Skinny Latte.”

Wesley took Lloyd’s drink and handed it to Skinny Latte. “You’ll love this. Extra lite.”

Lloyd scowled as Skinny Latte walked away with his coffee. “One of the perks of dating you is now walking out the door with that insolent jerk.”

Wesley bit his bottom lip suggestively. “Dating me involves more perks than coffee. Give me your room key and I’ll surprise you.”

Lloyd reached into his pocket. Instead of drawing out his key, he drew out his phone.

“Who are you calling?” Wesley asked.

“Someone to put bars on my door.”

“Bars open the possibilities . . .”

Caleb made a yakking sound. “That’s my cue to wash my ears out. See you after rehearsals.”

Lloyd leaned in and lowered his voice just for Wesley to hear. “How about you and I go out for dinner tonight?”

“Dinner?”

“Seven-thirty.”

Butterflies washed through him.

MacDonald planted a fresh coffee in front of Lloyd. He picked it up, acknowledging thanks. Keeping his eyes on Wesley, he backed toward the entrance. “Oh, and Wesley. It’s a date.”

* * *

At seven-thirty, Wesley shoved on his coat and left his room. He banged into Lloyd in the hallway, who was wearing his gray coat. A green scarf hung over his shoulder. He looked devastatingly handsome, and the leather gloves were a delightful touch.

Wesley fumbled with the last button on his short trench coat. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Lloyd said, running his eye appreciatively over Wesley and his soft but clingy jeans. “I was going to do the whole picking-you-up thing.”

Wesley gave up on the button. “I was headed to your room, but if you want to get me . . .” He stepped back toward his room.

Lloyd snagged his sleeve with a nervous chuckle. “We don’t need a reenactment. This is good, too.”

“Wow,” Caleb said with Suzy and MacDonald behind their opened door. “They are adorkable.”

Wesley and Lloyd glared at them, then refocused on each other. Wesley grinned. He did feel kind of dorkable.

Because he knew it was a date this time.

His hands were sweating.

They moved to the stairwell and grabbed the door handle at the same time, knocking their heads together.

Wesley laughed uncontrollably.

Once they spilled outside, Lloyd stopped them. He took his scarf and looped it around Wesley’s neck. “I like that you’re nervous.”

“Nervous? That’s a joke.” He choked on his breath and gave up. “Okay. Maybe a little. Why do you like it?”

Lloyd tapped Wesley’s nose, “For one, it’s adorable.”

“For two?”

“I won’t have to worry about you breaking me.”

* * *

“I love the level of detail that went into planning this date,” Wesley said as they stopped outside the hotdog stand in the park of lights.

“It gets better.” Lloyd caught the vendor’s attention—a different guy than the one who’d drooled over Lloyd the last time. Thank God.

The vendor smiled. “Your seitan dogs are steamed and ready.”

Wesley blinked at Lloyd. Lloyd had come here and organized this? Wesley gulped.

The vendor caught Wesley’s attention. “Are you eating a regular one?”

Wesley darted a look at Lloyd. “How many of yours did you bring?”

“A couple.”

Wesley turned back to the vendor. “I’ll have one of his.”

Once they had their vegetarian hotdogs, Wesley and Lloyd walked through the park. Lights glittered around them, bright in the frosty air, wonderfully romantic.

“So. About us,” Wesley said once he’d licked his fingers clean of ketchup. “When did you know I liked you?”

Lloyd stopped under the arch of tea-lights and took Wesley’s hands, tugging him close. “I found a few clues. The moment we danced in Party Palace. Our kiss at auditions. You following me home at Thanksgiving. But the best clue?” Lloyd bumped their noses together. “When you realized I was your best friend.”

“The day of your first smile.”

Lloyd pulled back a fraction, gaze sinking into his. “First? I’ve been smiling in your general vicinity since day one.”

Wesley’s breath caught. “Yeah, you looking at me like that is going to be a problem.”

Lloyd’s brow pinched, and Wesley snuggled against him. “It makes me want to do things with you. To you.”

Lloyd reached between them, digging in his coat pocket, which was jammed close to Wesley’s hardening cock. “Let’s not beat around the bush.” Wesley grinned wickedly. “Let’s go behind it and beat each other off.”

Lloyd produced a flask. “How about a nightcap instead?”

“You brought a flask!” He grabbed it off Lloyd. “You own a flask?”

“The night wouldn’t be complete without this.”

Wesley uncapped and took a gulp. He spluttered and glowered at Lloyd. “That’s not Jack.”

“Of course not. I’m your RA.” He smirked, the codger. “I funneled my favorite roast into the flask. Prepared by my favorite barista.”

“Me?”

“No. MacDonald.” Lloyd grinned. “Yes, you. Idiot.”

Light and tingly, Wesley walked with Lloyd around the park and then through town back to the dorms. They entered Williamson at midnight.

Wesley followed Lloyd into his bedroom. While Lloyd slipped off his gloves and coat, Wesley pulled two condoms out of the basket. Prelubricated. Studded. “Yes and yes, but—ah, that’s better,” he said, pulling out a third option. “Start with the basics.”

Lloyd was a wall of warmth behind him, and Wesley folded against his chest. Large hands slid over the curve of Wesley’s shoulders and turned him around, then Lloyd walked him out of the room.

“I’ll make you breakfast in the morning,” Lloyd said and shut the door in Wesley’s smirking face.

“Fine,” Wesley said through the door. “But three guesses what I’m doing next.”

Lloyd’s laugh filtered through the door, and Wesley grinned as he sent Lloyd a message on his way back to his Caleb-annexed room.

* * *

Lloyd made breakfast in the dorm kitchen. By the looks of it, Wesley would be lucky to get a second scrumptiously sweet pancake.

Half the floor had sniffed their way into the room, and Lloyd kept doling out pancakes as if to prove he wasn’t having a breakfast date with his resident.

Wesley sat on the counter, heels tapping the cupboards. The students eyed him like they knew something was brewing between them.

Caleb trundled in as Lloyd poured the last of the batter into a pan. “Oh, yes please.”

Lloyd rolled his eyes. “So much for romance.”

Caleb yawned. “I’ll give half of it to Wes.” He turned to Wesley. “Did you ask him yet?”

Lloyd flipped the pancake. “Ask me what?”

Wesley checked no one was peeking into the kitchen and ran his socked foot up Lloyd’s thigh. “Can I borrow your car?”

“Three guesses what my answer is.”

Wesley pouted. “Can you drive Caleb and me to his rehearsal and then drop him at Sandalwood?”

Lloyd slid the pancake onto a plate Caleb grabbed. “Another three guesses.”

Lloyd’s cheek dimpled and Wesley knew it was a yes. This boyfriend gig had some advantages. Wesley tossed him a big, sparkly smile. “Say the word and I’ll properly thank you for it.”

“Say the word,” Caleb grumbled and tore the pancake in half for Wesley, “and I’ll vacate the kitchen.”

“Leave!” Wesley said at the precise moment Lloyd said, “Stay!”