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“It’s all good, Charlie. See you around and good luck with Evan.”
He breathed out loudly and shook his head. “That’s a dream. It won’t happen. But thanks. And nice meeting you, Coury.”
Coury waved and put his arm around Liam’s waist. “He seems nice.”
“Charlie is really nice. He also has a crush on his gay frat brother.”
“That can be dangerous.”
“Or maybe it can be good.” Liam raised an eyebrow. “Dream guys sometimes come to their senses.”
“This is where I nod and agree rather than argue with my brilliant boyfriend.” He winked and set his bag down. “Who is right, again.”
Liam smiled at the way “boyfriend” rolled so effortlessly off Coury’s tongue. Ignoring the 800-pound gorilla in the room, he stayed in the moment. “Right. Let’s start with Glover’s class. You have a test tomorrow.”
* * *
Coury
He closed his statistics book and yawned. Liam had been right, as usual. He could do better if he studied harder. It also wore him out.
“Tired?” Liam rubbed Coury’s shoulders. The way he squeezed and massaged loosened his tight muscles.
“A bit. It’s been a long week.”
“Between school and baseball, you’re busy.”
“Especially if I put as much time into studying as baseball.” He leaned his head back and rested it on Liam’s shoulder.
Liam dropped his hands and wrapped them around Coury’s torso. “I’m proud of you.”
“Truth? I’m proud of myself.” It helped that it made Liam happy.
He leaned into Liam’s hard body and melted into the hug. His body thrummed with the contact. It was a perfect moment, until he yawned again.
“Come on.” Liam let go. “Bed.”
The easy way it rolled off his tongue made Coury smile. They fit so well together.
“Hold on.” He tugged Liam’s arm to keep him seated. “About tomorrow.”
Liam’s mood flattened. “Do we have to? Can’t we just go to sleep?”
As if once they hit the bed they’d go right to sleep. “We need to talk about it before Beckett gets here.”
Liam closed his eyes and heaved out a breath. “Can we talk tomorrow?”
“You’ve been saying that all week. It’s tomorrow already.” It came out harsher than he intended. “I’m sorry. The whole thing has me unsettled.”
“No, this is me. I keep kicking it down the road. I’m sorry, Coury.”
He pulled Liam’s hand to his lips. “I get it. I don’t want to deal with it, either. But we need to tell Beckett.”
“I know.” He felt the dread rolling off Liam.
“Let me do it?”
“You?” Liam snapped his gaze to Coury. “Why?”
“You’re still his little brother. He still thinks he can boss you around.”
Liam hmphed. “He needs to think something else.”
“I agree, but even if he’s mad at me, he won’t try to push me to do things his way.”
“I don’t know that it matters who tells him.” Liam shrugged. “If you want to do it, that’s fine, but I want to be there.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m not doing this alone.” He laughed to cover how nervous it made him. “We need to do it together. He needs to see it matters to us both.”
Liam didn’t look at him. Eventually, he nodded. “I’m not looking forward to it, but you’re right.”
Gently, he touched Liam’s chin and pulled so they faced each other. “I’m not, either, but if we don’t and he finds out, it will be ugly.”
He pressed their lips together. “Now, let’s go to bed.”
* * *
Liam
Liam jogged down the stairs and found Coury in the kitchen, stroking Slider absently. He didn’t seem to notice Liam as he turned his phone over to check the screen. A second later he flipped it back.
They were both on edge waiting for Beckett, but Coury was also stressing about his audition for the scout earlier in the day.
“A watched phone won’t ring,” Liam said from the doorway.
“I know. I’m just—”
“Anxious.” He smiled. “He’ll call. You’ll see.”
Liam had tried to be supportive. The scout had been at the practice and planned to ask a couple of the players to work out for him on Saturday. If Coury got the call, it meant he was on track. If not . . . it wasn’t the end of his dream, but it wasn’t a good sign.
“You’re right.” He nodded several times but didn’t put the phone in his pocket. “But that’s only half of it.”
“I’m nervous, too, but you’re right.”
“If that’s true, why am I so tense?”
Liam pried the phone from Coury’s hand and tugged him to his feet. “Because he’s important to you.”
“He is, but so are you.”
He slid the slim black iPhone into Coury’s front pants pocket. “You’re the one who keeps pointing out we’re not doing anything wrong. He may not agree with it, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”
“I wish we’d told him sooner. He’s going to be upset we waited.”
“I hope this doesn’t come out wrong, but we need to stop worrying about him so much. We can’t control what he does.” He pulled Coury toward the basement door. “Let’s go play pool while we wait for him.”
