Page 86 of Checking Out the Librarian

We have to talk about something else. I’m at the library.

Connor

Ok

My birthday is August 9. I’m a Leo

Jonathan

Of course you are.

Connor

I’ll reserve a few hours for you on August 7 in my craft room

Jonathan

Sorry, my job gives me all the craft opportunities I can handle.

We are currently debating names for our summer craft program.

I cannot handle more anthropomorphic yarn, stickers, popsicle sticks, or obnoxious-faced emojis giving me elaborate instructions.

Connor

Acutally I’ll probably be at the ranch, I’m sorry

I always go for a couple weeks at my birthday

Jonathan had to stop chewing and swallow. He needed more water. If Connor had done all of this, roped in complete strangers to help Jonathan feel special, how was he going to give that feeling back?

Teasing him and pretending like he was going to ignore his birthday wouldn’t be fun if Connor wasn’t going to be around and Jonathan wouldn’t be able to do the opposite.

Connor

Maybe I’ll come back early this year

Jonathan

I would like that.

Please.

19

SPORTS WITH BALLS DO NOT ALWAYS SUCK

Jonathan never expected that he would think a sporting event would be a good place to celebrate his birthday, but here he was at the softball field.

He’d researched the game, nothing worthy of a master’s degree because most of his effort had been directed at reading baseball romances by KD Casey and trash-talking with Lily, who had a thirst for sports exceeded only by her thirst for sportsball players. But it made him more comfortable at the field, and he enjoyed watching the man he was dating play this game.

Yes, Jonathan had started using that word, although only in his own head.

It had been a month, so why the hell not.

Okay, it had been three weeks. Which was almost a month. But he had a paper with medical test results in his car that he would show Connor tonight and that felt like the most dating type of thing he’d ever done.

And Lily had insisted this morning’s drop box stunt was “Big Dating Energy,” as she put it.