Page 74 of Slick Trip

The cold logic of coding hooked me completely.

I blinked, realizing I wasn’t in Mr. Hill’s small classroom. I was still being embraced by Mrs. Taylor. She had talked with Gerald, so she was all caught up on our new statuses. But she seemed more interested in our relationship.

At least if her radiant smile was anything to go by.

“I’m so happy for you both,” she said.

Behind her, Jack frowned.

“They were gone less than a week,” he pointed out, genuinely puzzled. “I mean sure, it’s great to see my baby brother and best friend again, but they weren’t on a decade-long pilgrimage.”

“We’re together, you idiot,” Cooper told him.

Jack’s mouth fell open. Literally. A fly could’ve flown in.

“No way.” His eyes bounced from me to Cooper and back again. “Really?”

I tensed. I didn’t think Jack would be a jerk about this, but I was still ready to—what, exactly? Punch my best friend if he upset Cooper?

Yep. Probably.

But of course Jack wasn’t a jerk, he was excited. First, he ruffled Cooper’s curls, mercilessly but with affection, and then slapped me on the shoulder.

“Blink twice if Coop’s forcing you,” he said, grinning widely.

Cooper shoved him immediately. “Shut up.”

Jack looked like he wasn’t going to shut up. He was going to double down.

“So who confessed first? Was it dramatic? Did anyone cry? And by anyone, I obviously mean Cooper.”

“You’ll be crying soon,” Cooper muttered darkly, leaning closer to my side. He tried to hide the yawn behind his hand, like I wouldn’t notice. He wasn’t as tired as he had been during his heat, but he was exhausted after the flight.

Jack wasn’t done, though.

“Do you remember when you used to write Jon’s name in your notebook with little hearts around it?” he asked.

“It was ironic,” Cooper said, his ears turning a vivid shade of pink.

“What about that time you stole his hoodie, wore it to school, and told everyone it belonged to your boyfriend?” Jack asked, looking entertained.

“I was sixteen,” Cooper said through gritted teeth. He took a shaky breath, his nose dipping toward my shoulder for a split second.

Jack turned to me, oblivious. “When he found out you listened to Imagine Dragons, he made them his whole personality for three months. Yet every time you came over, he pretended he didn’t like them.”

“Enough, Jack.”

I didn’t mean for my voice to sound quite so growly, but sensing Cooper’s mortification made my own skin prickle. I locked my arm around his waist, pressing a kiss on top of his curls. Jack’s grin faded for half a second, several emotions flickering across his face. Then he seemed to realize I wasn’t about to start something—I was protecting Cooper. I could almost smell his thought process. It made me wonder about what Gerald had told us, about late presentation running in the family.

Jack let out a slow breath.

“Sorry, baby brother,” he said. “I’m just so happy for you idiots.”

Then he flashed me an obnoxious smile before addressing Cooper again. “Just to balance it out, Jon always found an excuse to come and talk to you whenever he was around. And if you weren’t at home, he got all weird.”

Cooper’s smile turned bright. I rubbed my neck. I hadn’t realized I had been that obvious.

It was also obvious that Cooper was flagging. I brushed my thumb over his knuckles.