He clutched his carry-on and took a step away. “Yeah, do you not like it?”
“No, I mean, yes. I like it.” I reached forward and ran my hand over the top of his head. Though I quickly pulled away, not sure if that was appropriate. “I didn’t expect you to be blond. You didn’t tell me.”
He shrugged and rocked forward on his feet. “I thought I’d try something different.”
Different, but why? He looked fine with dark hair. And he looked good as a blond. Probably still would without any hair, but I didn’t know if that was the right thing to say at that moment. I didn’t want to offend him. Didn’t want to screw this up. “Do you have any other bags?”
He glanced behind him to the baggage claim. “One case. It’s supposed to be there, but I panicked when you started to walk away. I didn’t get a chance to look for it.”
I took his hand in mine, hoping that was okay, and escorted him over to claim his case. “Let’s get it, and then I’ll take you to your hotel to check in.”
“Okay.” His voice seemed strained as he squeezed my hand.
“How was the trip here?” I hoped small talk would help ease some of the awkwardness. I didn’t want the entire weekend to be like this.
“It was good.” He shrugged. “Pretty boring, really. The Olarian beside me slept the whole time, but I couldn’t. I was too anxious, I guess.”
“Were you afraid something would happen on the flight?” Because why else would he be anxious? He’d flown on the spacecraft many times before.
Utahn nudged his shoulder against mine. “No, I was anxious to see you. I like you, and I really want this weekend to go well.”
“I want it to go well, too.” My cheeks warmed, along with my groin. He’d finally admitted something my younger brother had told me a while ago. The guy I’d been crushing on for most of my life liked me, too. But did he mean as more than a friend? Or was I getting too far ahead of myself?
After finding Utahn’s case, we caught a hovercab to the hotel where I’d made reservations for him. It wasn’t too far from my dorm and had many amenities for when he needed time away from me.
I carried his case inside and stayed in the lobby to make sure he checked in okay. The concern etched in the wrinkles around the nose of the Eureblian front desk clerk, and the way their spines rose on the top of their head had me worried. I leaned on the desk. “Is there a problem?”
“Um…” They chewed on their top lip as they tapped several buttons on the screen in front of them. “It seems your room was double-booked, and there are no more vacancies left this weekend.” They wiped their forehead with one of their tentacles. “I can call around and see if there are rooms available at other hotels.”
My stomach sank. “I don’t get how this could happen.” How could they double-book a room and not notice until now? And why did it have to happen to us? “Yes, please find another room.”
“No.” Utahn pulled me away from the desk. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll simply—”
“I don’t want you to return to Orez already. You just got here.”
“No.” Utahn chuckled as he cupped my elbow in his palm. “I thought maybe I could stay at your dorm. You can find room for me, right?”
My tongue felt heavy in my mouth. I couldn’t talk, couldn’t respond, and couldn’t understand why Utahn would want to spend his weekend in a smelly dorm. I’m sure Vawn had warned him about the place.
Utahn took a step forward, reducing the space between us, along with the air in my lungs. “I’m sure you have a couch I can sleep on.”
“No. No couch.” Wait, what was I saying? “I mean, I’ll sleep on the couch. You can sleep in my room.” It was cleaner than the common area. I took pride in keeping my room tidy. And that way he’d have some privacy. I never knew what state of dress my teammates would be in when leaving their quarters. Especially Ret. Our omega teammate, Ilam, didn’t seem bothered by my older brother, but I couldn’t do that to Utahn.
“Whatever.” He winked then stepped away from me. “Let’s go to your dorm.”
Pulling his case along again, I followed him out the door and down the street. He didn’t stop to let me catch up but kept marching with determination. I didn’t understand why he wasn’t upset by the situation.
At the main door to my dorm, I waved my wrist in front of the scanner lock. Once inside, we took the lift to the third floor. The whole time, I tried not to think about what it would be like to have Utahn in my bed. Even if I wasn’t in it. Did he sleep naked? Oh stars, I didn’t know how I was going to sleep with that image in my head.
As I turned down the hall, Utahn’s case caught on the corner. I yanked the handle, but when it came loose, it smacked me in the back of the knees, taking me down.
“Genj, what happened? Are you okay?”
Coddleswap!I wanted the floor to swallow me up. It was one thing to fall off the bed while talking to Utahn on a comm unit but another to fall on my face in front of him.
“I’m good.” Pushing up onto my knees, I tried to catch my breath before I had to face him.
But he was right in front of me, kneeling as he reached out to cup my cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He brushed his fingers across my forehead and moved his other hand to my shoulder. “You hit the ground pretty hard.”
