Page 58 of The New Place

14

ABBOT

The door to Ned’s bedroom creaks open and Abbot pats the mattress next to him, inviting Ned onto his own bed. “Did you fall asleep reading to Peggy again?” he asks.

Ned rubs his eyes, his hair sticking straight up. “Only a little.”

Abbot scoots closer to the wall to make room for him, and Ned yawns again as he lays down, nosing close to Abbot, all stubble and sleepy warmth.

“Hi,” Ned says and kisses his chin.

Abbot folds the book closed without bothering to mark his spot. He wasn’t reading it anyway, just staring at the page, trying not to think about Beverly. He reaches over Ned to set it on the nightstand. “Hello.”

Ned twists to see the title. “Multilevel modeling: an examination of variance in educational populations,” he reads.

Abbot steers him back around with a finger on his jaw. Having Ned in bed is much better than reading. Or thinking. “It’s thrilling.”

They share a long kiss, but it’s more affection than heat, and when Ned draws back, Abbot finds himself being closely studied.

“So today,” Ned says.

Abbot kisses him again. It works, but only for a moment before Ned gently pulls back.

“I’m holding onto the fact that Beverly didn’t flat-out say no, at least.”

“No, she didn’t. And Sandy got back to us. She can see us first thing in the morning.”

“How wonderful.” Ned slumps against the headboard. “Either way, you’re good. You’ve got a spot there. You’ll take it, right?”

Will he? It’s hard to imagine saying no to the opportunity, laying here in Ned’s bed, Ned next to him, when saying no would mean staying in Portland.

Abbot turns on his side so he can trace the line of Ned’s collarbone beneath his T-shirt. “Classes end the first week of May.” Yes, he’ll likely take it, Beverly aside. The end of the semester suddenly feels so soon, and classes have only been in session for two weeks. He has his students’ first assignments to grade this weekend, and their midterms are just a date on the calendar, yet the thought of moving down to Boston makes even finals seem close.

If he finds a house early this spring, he can do the bulk of the move the last week of class, when they’re working on papers and there’s a lull in his busyness before he has to start marking their exams and submitting their grades for the semester. He could be down here while he goes through their finals, his house in Portland packed up and empty and listed for sale.

Or sold already. He traces his knuckles down the inside of Ned’s forearm and back up over the thin skin and the bump of veins.

“May,” Ned repeats.

Abbot touches his chin. “Newbury will work out for you too.”

“I hope so,” Ned huffs. He draws himself up and puts on a smile. “We can have a great summer again. Like last year. Even better without you going back to Callahan by mid-August.”

“I’d like that.”

“Mom and Dad already assume you’ll come back down the Cape. Which I know, being trapped in a rental house with that many people is a lot, but I personally am in favor of the whole you-in-a-swimsuit situation repeating.”

“It was fun.” The swimming, the beach, the time with Ned when they could just be. The amount of Ned’s family who were also there, aunts and uncles and cousins…well, it was still fun, and at least this year he’ll be prepared. “Liesl wants to come.”

“Bring her. Didn’t you say she grew like two inches? We need her for beach volleyball.”

“I’m glad to know you’re already planning your comeback.”

“Well, I’m sure as hell not letting Pat on my team again. Though the way things are going, he’ll be so head over heels for Claire that he’ll get beaned with the ball right away and I won’t have to worry about it.”

“You think they’ll still be together this summer?”

Ned lifts a shoulder in a shrug and Abbot lets himself enjoy the flex of muscles beneath his hand. “Sounds like if it’s up to him, then yes.”