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“Yeah, okay.” He propped himself back up on one elbow. “I love you, Shai.”

“Love you, too, Ash.”

Matty (Friday, January 14, 2022 – 10:56 a.m.): Yo! So, you and Joe? Seems like it’s going well? I told you he’s a good guy. Text me, we should get together and catch up

Chapter Eighteen

Cass

All day on Friday, Cass pretended not to be glued to his phone, hyperaware of every single time it buzzed or dinged or vibrated in his pocket. All day, he tried to keep himself otherwise occupied. He cooked breakfast for his mom and then did the dishes afterward. He did laundry, changed the sheets on his bed. He took his mom out to Turtle Bay again. He even spent an entire hour organizing his parents’ books on their bookshelves in the living room—first by genre and then alphabetically.

As the day wore on, however, he started to fret. And by the time his dad got home at six thirty, he’d resigned himself to what had to be bad news. He’d obviously not gotten accepted into the online MLIS program at University of Washington, or they’d have sent him an email by now, since today was the notification deadline.

At around eight, Joe called him and invited him out to Westside for drinks with Matty and Tam. Cass hesitated but then ultimately decided he’d be better off moping in the presence of his friends than moping around alone at home. So he said yes.

He’d only just pulled into a parking spot in the lot at Westside when his phone buzzed once and then once more. He turned off the engine and reached over to the passenger seat, fully expecting to see a text message notification from Joe or Matty. Instead, there it was—the email he’d been not-so-patiently waiting for all day.

The subject header read Welcome to the UW MLIS Program.

Cass’s hands immediately started to shake, and he pressed his thumb onto the screen to unlock it and then clicked the email notification and read silently.

Dear Caspian,

Congratulations! On behalf of the Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) Admissions Committee and the Information School faculty, we are pleased to offer you admission to the MLIS online program for the Fall 2022 term.

That was as far as he got before a knock on his window startled him, making him jump slightly in his seat. He looked up to see Joe standing outside his car, grinning. Quickly, Cass unfastened his seat belt and opened the door.

“Is that what I think it is?” Joe asked, and Cass could only nod and grin as he shoved the phone at Joe and climbed out of the car. Joe’s eyes lit up, and he looked down at the screen, his smile growing bigger. “Holy shit, you got in?”

“Yeah, yeah. I literally just got the email,” Cass confirmed. He straightened up and watched Joe read through the email, an excited buzzing in his chest.

When Joe finished reading, he lifted his eyes, shaking his head slightly. “Damn. This is incredible, man. Congrats,” Joe said, and he handed Cass back the phone and then immediately pulled him in for a hug.

It felt good in a way that Cass was starting to get used to, and he grinned again and wrapped his arms low around Joe’s waist in return. Then he shook his head and started laughing. He couldn’t completely control it, but it also felt good, and so he didn’t really try to. Joe straightened up, still holding Cass, and with a wide smile, he leaned in and pressed a short kiss to Cass’s lips.

“Guess we’re here to celebrate, then, huh?” Joe said, his eyes bright with enthusiasm.

“Guess so,” Cass agreed.

Joe stretched up to him one more time, and their lips met again in another kiss that lingered for a second. It was pleasant, like the hug, and Cass found himself smiling into it.

Joe hummed and pulled back, also smiling. “Shall we?” Stepping away, Joe offered his hand to Cass, who nodded, and together, the two headed out of the parking lot and toward the bar.

Inside was warm and loud, as was typical for a Friday night, and after a moment of scanning the crowd, Cass and Joe found Matty and Tam already sitting at a table in the back. Joe led the way, still holding Cass’s hand as they weaved through tables and around other patrons, and Joe was quick to urge Cass into announcing his good news to his friends. There was much congratulating and more hugging. Then Matty collected Cass’s and Joe’s keys and bought all of them a round of beers, and they settled down to drink and talk and hang out.

When their second round of drinks came not long after, Joe’s arm looped up around Cass’s shoulders, and when refills came again, Joe got even more comfortable, his hand first rubbing down Cass’s back and then finding a place on Cass’s upper thigh.

Joe leaned in and whispered in Cass’s ear, “Is this okay?”

It was, at least in his current slightly tipsy state, so Cass nodded his consent and shifted his arm up around Joe’s shoulders.

He tapped out after that round of drinks, however, not wanting to have any regrets or do something stupid, and then excused himself to go to the bathroom. He took his time relieving himself and washing his hands and was heading back out to rejoin his friends when his phone buzzed from his pocket. Figuring it was Joe checking on him or maybe Brendan, he pulled the phone out and then froze with one foot out the bathroom door, his eyes locked on the notification on the screen.

It was a text message.

From Ash.

Ash, whom he hadn’t heard from in weeks now, not since Christmas.