Boy Trouble GT

Chapter 25

[KYE]

The dorm felt too quiet. Too still.

Kye lounged on the couch, his long frame stretched out, one leg dangling off the edge while the other bent at the knee, foot braced against the cushions. His head rested against the armrest, gray eyes fixed on the ceiling as if it held some kind of answer to the mess in his head. His laptop sat open on the coffee table, abandoned, the bright screen illuminating the dark room in an eerie blue glow. He wasn't even sure why he'd opened it—maybe to trick himself into thinking he was doing something productive, like catching up on the classes he hadn't been to in weeks.

I should be in class right now.

That thought came and went, floating through his mind without sticking, without making an impact. He knew how bad his attendance had gotten. At this point, the university was definitely keeping tabs on him. He'd be called into an office soon, forced to sit in some too-small chair while an administrator asked him questions he didn't have answers for. Why aren't you attending your lectures? Why do you only show up sometimes? What's going on, Kye?

He didn't know.

And the worst part? He didn't even care enough to make something up.

But there was something else gnawing at him, something heavier, something worse.

His eyes flickered to the door for what felt like the hundredth time.

It was pathetic, the way he kept glancing at it like Mason was about to walk through any second. Kye knew Mason's schedule—knew his classes ran later, knew he had practice afterward. Mason wasn't due back for hours.

And yet, Kye's chest tightened every time he heard the faintest noise in the hallway.

What the hell is wrong with me?

His fingers curled into the fabric of his hoodie, twisting it between his pale fingers. He could feel the nervous energy crawling under his skin, something restless and unfamiliar.

It was him. Mason.

Mason, who had been acting so different lately.

Mason, who had always been affectionate, always loud, always shoving himself into Kye's space like it was the most natural thing in the world. But recently, it felt... different. More deliberate. More intentional.

And Kye didn't know how to handle it.

Mason had always been a force of nature, crashing into Kye's life with relentless enthusiasm, refusing to be pushed away no matter how many times Kye tried to keep him at arm's length. But now, that persistence was laced with something new. Something dangerous.

Kye exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face.

He had spent so long pretending his feelings for Mason didn't exist. He had convinced himself that if he ignored them, if he never acknowledged the way his stomach twisted whenever Mason laughed, if he never let himself look too long at the way Mason fit against him whenever he draped himself over Kye's chest, then maybe—just maybe—it would go away.

But Mason was making that impossible now.

With the way he looked at Kye sometimes, green eyes soft and searching. The way he curled up against him so naturally, like it wasn't a big deal. The way he had started following Kye around, showing up in his room, knocking on his door just to be there.

And worst of all?

Kye wanted it.

He wanted Mason to come home.

But he also dreaded it.

Because Mason was the only person who had ever gotten this close to him. And if Kye let himself believe—even for a second—that this meant something more, that Mason wanted something more, then everything would unravel.

Kye's breathing slowed, his hands gripping the hem of his hoodie so tightly his knuckles turned white.

He knew what would happen the moment Mason walked through that door.

Mason would smile at him, like he always did. He'd make himself comfortable, like he always did. And Kye would let him, because he couldn't stop him.

Because Mason felt like home.

And that scared Kye more than anything.