Leah's fingers thread through the mess of my dark hair as I rotate my hips, looking for the angle she likes.

Her eyes peer into mine, and her pink lips part, begging to be kissed.

"Like this?" I whisper against her mouth, moving faster.

A small moan tells me she does, indeed, like what I'm doing. I doubt it can compare to how much I enjoy making love to her.

Leah's legs wrap around me. She closes her eyes and pulls my face to hers. Mouths joined in a deep, desperate kiss, we move together, consumed by each other.

She finishes first, gasping into my mouth, tugging at my hair as she lets go. 

A groan pushes past my lips. I collapse on top of her, panting.

"Good morning," I say into Kitten's neck, pressing wet kisses to the tender skin.

"Hey." She beams at me. 

I lift my body so that my weight is on my forearms and not on Kitten and move a strand of her hair out of her eyes. "You okay?"

She nods, but the frown that flits across her flushed face tells me otherwise.

"Wait." I peck Kitten's lips and slide out of her, wishing I didn't have to.

After popping into the bathroom, I'm back under the covers with Leah in my arms.

"Does anything bother you?" I ask.

Leah shakes her head and hooks an arm around my neck, pulling my body flush to hers.

I trace patterns on the skin on her back and kiss her forehead.

"Do you think we were loud?" Kitten asks, proving me right. She was worried, perhaps even uncomfortable.

"Bast is a heavy sleeper," I say. "It's barely seven a.m."

"Okay, but were we?"

I slide my hand down to Kitten's cute ass and squeeze it. "You're my girl, and this is my place as much as it is his. Even if he'd heard something, I believe he would've been cool with it."

Bast isn't a bad guy, and he sure as hell is a good roommate, but Leah didn't have enough time to get to know him. Other than that time at the bar and seeing him when she came to spend the night with me, there weren't many opportunities for them to talk.

"I guess," Leah says, but there's little to no conviction in her tone.

"We weren't loud, baby, okay?" I tell her. It's not a lie. I held back, and so did Kitten. A part of me wishes we didn't have to. It was definitely easier back at my parents' place, where we were almost always alone. 

"Okay." Leah smiles and flattens a palm on my chest, making me lie on my back. I pull her to me, but she straddles me instead.

"The boy will wake up," I say, raising my hips.

Kitten giggles. The sound makes me grin as I run my fingertips over her hips and waist, unable to look away from her in all her naked glory.

"I just wanted to say I have a present for you." Leah bites her lip and nods toward her purse she'd left on the chair by the desk.

"A present?"

"Yes. It's your first day as a college student. It's a big deal."

My stomach flutters. I grip Kitten's waist and move her off me to get my gift.

A heavy package wrapped in dark blue paper is in my hands when I return to Leah's side. She makes space for me and leans her head on my shoulder as I unwrap it.

"Notebooks?" I smile.

"I hope you like them. I know you prefer writing to typing, and I thought these were cute for a guy."

They look cool, indeed — black, hard covers with no words, just the way I like them. Kitten definitely got the idea when she saw my journals from Indonesia. 

She read some pages. I still remember her laughter when she read the entries in which I bitched about Alec making my existence hell.

"Thank you, baby. I love them." I leave the present on the nightstand and wrap my arms around Leah, squeezing her and planting a sound kiss on her cheek. 

"Are you nervous?" Kitten asks.

The old me would've lied, but my current, kinda improved version nods.

"I don't really know what to expect," I admit.

"Lots of new people and too much stuff to remember. You might feel overwhelmed, and it's okay. I did the first couple of days. Once you understand how everything works, you'll enjoy it."

"Bast will help me. It's his second year. He's not in a BS/MD program, but we will have some science classes together."

"You'll do great." Leah cups my face in her palms and kisses my lips. "I believe in you."

***

A hot shower, a big breakfast, and a motorbike ride later, Leah and I are on campus. 

I kiss Kitten in front of the Humanities building and watch her head inside, looking confident and relaxed. The timid girl I met almost two years ago is definitely gone, but I love the change in her.

The campus grounds are quickly filling with students. As I make my way to the Science building for today's lectures, I catch sight of groups of friends everywhere, hoping to see Nash or Drew. Bast doesn't have classes till later. Silly as it sounds, I feel weird because of not knowing many people yet. 

The feeling only intensifies when I locate the lecture hall. Many seats are occupied. I choose a random chair in the middle and plop down on it, putting a notebook and some pens on the folding desk.

"Is this seat taken?" 

My eyes dart to the source of the voice. A tall blond guy clutches the straps of his backpack, looking at me.

"No," I say.

The dude makes himself comfortable and speaks again. "I'm Chad. What's your name?"

"Brian." 

I shake the dude's hand, studying him. He seems to be doing the same for a silent moment, right until our professor strolls to the podium.

Chemistry used to be easy in high school. It's definitely more interesting here. Lots of concepts are familiar, but many are new. 

I make sure to take good notes and focus on the lecture for the next hour. Much to my relief, I don't feel bored. 

"Hard, isn't it?" Chad asks as we collect our stuff.

I slam the notebook shut. "Kinda."

"Kinda? What are you, a genius?"

"Just remember stuff from AP Chemistry in high school," I say. It's much better than telling the dude I'm a fast learner.

Knowing the admission criteria for the program, I'm more than sure my new acquaintance doesn't struggle academically, either.

"What was your GPA?"

"Four," I say without thinking. 

Chad whistles. "It explains a lot."

"A lot like what?"

"You found the lecture easy."

"Not easy," I say. "Just not difficult."

"Yeah, right." Chad runs his fingers through his hair. "We have the same classes today, I presume."

"Bio and Math?"

"Yeah. I hope to be luckier in those. Well, I'm meeting a friend now. See you later?"

I shrug. "Sure."

Chad walks away, leaving me alone in the now-empty hall. I rush out of the room and go to my next class. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chad and two other guys chatting next to the announcement board at the end of the hallway.

Inevitably, my thoughts drift to Bast and the way he introduced me to everyone as soon as we met. 

"Hey." The guy in question grins at me.

I fist-bump my roommate. "What's up?"

"Not much yet. I ran into Drew on my way here. We're gonna work out later. You in?"

"I have two lectures left. Let me ask Leah if she wants to do something together."

Bast smirks. "Cute."

I give him the finger and roll my eyes for good measure. "It's called being in a relationship."

"I'll make sure to ask you for advice." The corners of Bast's mouth lift, but his smile vanishes fast. 

I follow his line of vision and see Tara.

"She's fucking everywhere." Bast groans. "What did I do to deserve it?"

"You were an ass to her the other day," I say despite my initial resolve to keep quiet.

"She'll get over it."

I snort. Not because of Bast's words but because of the fact he can't look away from Leah's friend.

"I gotta go," I say.

Bast snaps out of it and nods. "Yeah, me too. Text me if you decide to work out with us."

"Will do," I say as I pull my phone out of my pocket. There's a good luck text from Jim and another text from Leah, in which she says that she loves me.

Beginnings are scary even for a dude like me, but the right people make everything better.