Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

to admit, and the only possible more— was Alan.
    At two in the morning in the privacy of my room, I let out a groan and threw my arm over my face.
    Alan Lacroix. He got under my skin with astonishing ease. Smart and funny and so blasted… smartass . Beautiful and brave and so out . I wanted to touch him. I wanted to protect him. I wanted to make him laugh. I wanted to talk to him without getting snapped at. To know about his dad, his family, his middle name. Where he came from and where he was going.
    God help me.
    I sat up and picked up my phone. Forwarded the picture that looked pretty dark to my email where I could have a better look at it. Shut off the alarm and got up.
    The picture was, as I'd expected, pretty bad. I played with improving it, but looking at it only made me angrier. My email was empty of anything useful for occupying my mind. I shut my laptop and crept downstairs, rationalizing that it was nearly time. That it was medically necessary for me to watch Alan sleep.
    Lilia believed in night lights. As she explained it, she could have the lights, or she could trip over a dog or five and break a dozen bones. So I could see pretty well in the living room with my dark-adjusted eyes. I saw Midas sit up when I came in, and Javert slither out of the antique Victorian settee none of the dogs were allowed on. I saw Alan, curled up on the couch with his hands under his cheek. He'd switched the pillow to the other end of the sofa so he could lie on his shoulder without sleeping on the bruised side of his face. My hands tightened into fists at sight of it, swelling nicely now. He'd be lucky to see out of that eye before Tuesday. He'd have to walk around looking like that. Branded as someone deserving abuse by some jackasses—
    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Let it out and took another and deliberately relaxed my arms as I exhaled again. It was early Saturday morning. By Monday he'd probably be able to hide it under his eyeshadow. And I really needed to get over the urge to kill people anyway.
    The afghan was slipping onto the floor; Alan had it tucked around his feet but it had slid off his torso and maybe he was curled so tightly because he was cold. I moved behind the coffee table to pick it up and stepped on Twiggy's tail, realized before I hurt her and jumped, almost fell on Alan. The dumb dog had wrapped herself in the end of the afghan, stealing it like Will would, sneaking into my bed after a nightmare back when Mom worked nights and Will still thought his big brother could do anything.
    "Twiggy, go sleep in your bed if you're cold!" I breathed, tugging the afghan away from her. Twiggy scrambled up and slunk off with a guilty and guilt-inducing look over her shoulder. I pulled the afghan up to Alan's neck, gently shook him. It was time.
    "Hey, Alan. Wake up. Alan—"
    "Hmmph?" He lifted his face, stared at me one-eyed. I shoved my anger away yet again.
    "Quiz time. What's your full name?"
    "Alan Lumina Lacroix," he mumbled, sinking back to the couch. "Go away."
    "Lumina?" I asked instead of my next question.
    "My folks' first new car. Conceived me in the back seat, named me after it, fuck off."
    "Do you know where you are?"
    "Trying to sleep in your goddamn living room; now go away before I sic that man-eating greyhound on you."
    Perfectly coherent. I ruffled his hair before I realized I shouldn't then stepped back.
    "Sorry. Go back to sleep."
    "Thanks, think I will…"
    In seconds he was asleep again, on his stomach with his face buried in the pillow. That didn't last long. He tried to turn his head away, made a soft sound of pain and rolled to the way he'd been. The afghan slipped and Twiggy tried to creep back, but I picked it up first and tucked it around him. Then I moved her bed over by him, and she flomped onto it with a doggy sigh.
    "Good girl," I told her. "Anyone messes with him, you rip their face off."
    It didn't mean anything when he was safe in my living room and she'd never do that anyway, but I patted her head and went back upstairs. It was not medically necessary for me to watch him sleep, and it was creepy. So I didn't. I set my phone alarm and crawled back into my bed, burying my face in my pillow to shut everything out, but eventually I needed air. I rolled to stare at my ceiling.
    New rules, Lukas. I didn't know how I felt about Alan, but I knew protectiveness and lust were tangled up in it, and neither were the basis of a relationship. Also I knew that no matter how I