“It wasn’t my subtlest move, but it was probably my best one.” I chuckle and change the subject, feeling like I’ve finally cleared the air with him the way I should have months ago, but didn’t know how. “You excited about the summer in New York?”
“For the most part, yeah,” he says. “I mean, it’s kinda bittersweet, you know? It feels like this year has flown by, and as excited as I am for everything that’s coming, I’m going to miss this.” He gives me a sad half smile.
“We had the last four years together. And you’re gonna marry my sister one day, so you’ll be my brother-in-law, and we’ll definitely see each other on holidays at the very least.”
“Yeah. That’s true.” He nods as he mulls that over.
It’s all coming together for him. And here I am, still hiding my relationship with Clover, unsure of what the next month will look like, let alone the years that follow. I’d like to tell him about Clover, but I don’t want to put him in a position where he has to keep it from Lavender. It’s better to wait until convocation is over.
His jaw works for a second. “You never know, though. Maybe we will end up playing for the same team. How cool would that be?”
“Really fucking cool.” I dig into my cereal, trying to figure out why the idea of having to be on the ice, with or against him, makes me want to crawl out of my skin.
I finishmy exam with twenty minutes to spare and go over the questions I had the most trouble with one last time before Ihand it in. Now all that’s left is convocation. Kody and I go out for lunch, which turns into beers, which turns into us getting so wasted we need Lavender to pick up our stupid, drunk asses because the Uber driver said no.
I pass out in my bed for several hours and wake up feeling like a bag of shit. I shower, hoping the beer that’s still seeping out of my pores is diluted enough by the gallon of water I drink that Clover won’t smell it on me.
My ability to cover up the beer stench fails, but she seems to think it’s funny, and very appropriate almost-graduate behavior. We spend the rest of the night playing dirty strip Scrabble, and I sweat out the rest of the beer I drank this afternoon when we end up naked on her living room floor, acting out all the dirty words we made. It got a little kinky, since I played the wordshocker, and I found out it wasn’t something she’d experienced before.
The next morning, I get up early, wake Clover with oral, get inside her, make a mess of her sheets, and then pull her into the shower with me where we have more sex before we get dressed and make breakfast.
“My parents are going to be there this afternoon,” I tell her as I beat several eggs in a mixing bowl, adding shredded cheddar and some chili flakes.
“I figured they would be.” Clover fries onions and hash browns in a pan, stirring them continually. “It’s kind of a big deal to graduate.”
“It’s a lot bigger of a deal to get your PhD, but I think they’re just relieved I finished with a degree.” I add the eggs to another frying pan. “My sister and Kody are leaving this afternoon for New York, basically right after convocation is over. We have enough time for a quick lunch, and then they go to the airport.”
“How do you feel about that?” she asks.
I poke at the edges of the egg with the spatula. “I’m happy for them. He’ll be my brother-in-law one day, so he’ll always be part of my life, one way or another.”
“Change is hard.”
“But necessary.”
She hums her agreement. “Do you want to come back here after? We can celebrate together? I’ll pick up a bottle of champagne.”
“That sounds better than perfect. I can make us a dinner reservation somewhere if you like? Unless you’d rather order in?”
She runs her hands over my chest and fidgets nervously with my collar. “Maybe we could stay in? Save dinner out for another night? Unless you want to celebrate with your friends?”
“The only person I want to celebrate with is you.” I kiss her on the cheek and reach around her for the spatula.
“Okay.” She smiles, but it seems a little sad.
When I get home,the front foyer is crowded with Lavender and Kody’s suitcases. Their flight to New York leaves this afternoon, and now that the day is here, I feel like I haven’t had enough time with either of them. I’ve been so wrapped up in my own relationship. I guess that’s normal, but I still don’t love that this may be the last time the three of us are in the same city for what could be a lot of years.
It makes me nostalgic for my youth. I can almost see Clover rolling her eyes and biting back a comment if she could see inside my head. I drop my backpack on the bench and kick off my running shoes, tucking them into a corner sothey’re not in the middle of the floor, and head for the kitchen.
“What’re you smiling about? And where the hell have you been? You can’t wear jogging pants to your convocation. Mom will lecture you for hours, and we’ll all have to listen to it.” I look up to find River leaning against the counter with a bowl of cereal in one hand and a spoon in the other. He’s wearing black dress pants, a white button-down, and a rainbow tie, his customary scowl decorating his face.
“Nice tie.”
The furrow in his brow deepens as he looks down. “Josiah gave it to me.”
“Yeah, he did.” I grin.
River smirks. “I have matching boxers too.”
