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Cass (9:08 p.m.): *hugs* I hate that there’s nothing I can do
Ash (9:08 p.m.): I know
Ash (Tuesday, April 18, 2023 – 12:59 p.m.): Two days!
Cass (1:00 p.m.): Two days!
Ash (6:44 p.m.): Bri is running circles around the couch singing “two days, two days, da da da da da daaaaa!” Guess she’s looking forward to seeing you too ;)
Cass (7:02 p.m.): Ugh, that’s too cute
Joe (Thursday, April 20, 2023 – 7:54 a.m.): Thanks for joining me on the trail this morning! It’s been hard to find a consistent running partner around here, and I know you’re not a runner, so I appreciate it ;)
Joe (7:56 a.m.): Safe travels later! When you get back, be honest with me about how much it rains xD
Joe (7:57 a.m.): My sister finally picked a moving date, and she needs me to make a decision. I’m leaning toward yes
Chapter Forty-Two
Cass
“Cass! Cass come visit? Come pway!”
Cass had barely stepped inside the door to Ash’s small apartment when Bri grabbed his hand and tugged him with her out of the entryway. It wasn’t the first thing he’d imagined doing when he’d arrived at Ash’s place after not having seen his boyfriend in person for almost five months, but Bri was adorable and insistent enough that he found himself following along behind her, letting her lead him into the living room. He cast a longing look at Ash, since they hadn’t even gotten to properly greet each other yet, but Ash just grinned back and shrugged.
Bri ignored his plight and continued leading him over to the coffee table. She stopped between the couch and the table and pointed at a neatly lined-up row of toys—all various marine animals.
“See! Pway! Dis whay an otter an dawphin an oct-pus an seaw an . . .”
Cass’s eyebrows went up as Bri kept going down the row, naming every single animal.
“Wow, Bri, you have so many toys. How are we going to play with them?” Cass asked, still holding her hand.
“We pway!” Bri said exuberantly. She let go of Cass’s hand, picked up a manatee toy, which was about twice the size of her hand, and then angled it toward the row of toys. “Rawrrrr!”
Cass flinched as Bri slid the toy across the table, crashing it through the whole line of other sea creatures, then banged the toy down against the table.
“Oh no! Man-tee rawrrrr!” she repeated, and she looked up at Cass, giggling. “Pick up! Now pick up!” she instructed. She bent over, picked up the dolphin, and handed it to Cass. “Un-ca Ash pick up too!” She grabbed the otter from where it had landed under the coffee table and gave it to Ash, who had moved up behind Cass after the initial crash.
“She wants us to line them back up so the manatee can destroy the whole line again,” Ash explained. He leaned over and placed the otter toy back on the edge of the coffee table, and Bri nodded in agreement and then took Cass’s wrist and guided his hand to place the dolphin next to the otter.
“Oh, I see. Like this?” Cass sat on the couch and then picked up a clownfish toy and set it in the row.
Bri’s smile widened, and she clapped. “Yay! More! More!”
Amused, Cass picked up another toy and then another, setting them in the growing line on the table. Bri clapped enthusiastically with each one. After Cass set the final toy in the line, Bri giggled and stepped in front of him, realigning each toy into a straighter line.
“Dis. Yah, dis,” she mumbled as she worked.
Cass watched her for a few seconds, then looked up at Ash, who still stood next to the couch, an amused smile on his face. Their eyes met, and Cass’s stomach swooped.
You’re absolutely beautiful, he wanted to say, because it was true. Yes, he’d seen Ash quite a bit thanks to their frequent video calls over the last several months. But seeing him over the phone was nothing like being with him in person. Everything about him seemed so real and soft, and there was this joy in his expression, a depth to his gorgeous blue eyes, a warmth surrounding him that Cass could feel.
With a sharp breath, Cass pushed himself to his feet, closed the distance between them, and slipped his arms low around Ash’s waist.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
Ash smiled. “Hey.”
