But I can’t get him out of my damn head.

The water pressure in this place is feeble and the shower does little to warm me up. My teeth chatter as I pull my thermals back on. My feet carry me into the corridor. Sensing I’m about to make a terrible mistake, I lift my hand.

But there’s an added complication, isn’t there? His sister is my greatest rival. Curtis is the last person I can get involved with.

I walk two paces down the corridor.

And knock on Brent’s door.

CHAPTER 13

PRESENT DAY

Memories flood back as I stand in the corridor outside Brent’s dorm. The door opens and there he is in his Burton thermal underwear, hair damp from the shower, just like last time, only more unsure of himself.

I feel another wave of affection for him. “Can I come in?”

He steps back, dark eyes wary. “Course.”

I want to hug him, but I don’t want to give him the wrong impression. I want to know how life’s been treating him, but it seems too personal to ask.

Brent and I stand there looking at each other. My stomach is still squirming from what Curtis said in the corridor. We smelled Saskia’s perfume.

In this very building.

Were we imagining it? God, I hope so.

The floorboards are icy beneath my bare toes. I should have put my socks on.

“It’s just as cold in your room as it is in mine,” I say. “Look. I can see my breath.”

Brent strips the duvet off the lower bunk. “Sit.”

I perch on the thin mattress. He sinks down beside me, careful not to touch me, and throws the duvet around our shoulders. We shuffle backward until we’re leaning against the wall.

I came here to get Brent’s take on what’s going on, but now that I’m here, I’m not sure how to start. I hate this distance between us. I don’t know how to be with him anymore.

It used to be so easy. I still remember the slow smile that spread across his face ten years ago when he opened the door to me. The way I didn’t have to say anything. He simply led me by the hand to his narrow bunk, climbed in after me, and made good on his promise of warming me up.

His tattoo is just visible below the hem of his sleeve, a little faded now. My finger moves to touch it but I catch myself just in time. I notice his watch—a neon-green G-Shock. “Did your Omega break?”

“I sold it on eBay for a fortnight in Breckenridge.”