“Okay. Time to change my passcode. Why did you delete the message?”
“Because I don’t want to go. I’ve made friends here.”
“Would one of these friends be Kay, by any chance?”
He shrugs. “She’s nice.”
I don’t press the Kay topic because he’ll tell me when he’s ready. He always does.
“I told Kay about me.”
“Oh yeah? And how did she take it?” I ask, pretending I didn’t hear the whole conversation. Somehow, I don’t think it would go down well, even though it was unintentional.
“She hugged me.”
“Wow, that must have taken you by surprise.”
“Yeah. You were right. The people who matter won’t care. Kay and my other friends are pretty well educated on HIV, thanks to the charity project. I’m not ready to tell everyone, but I’m really happy I have a friend who knows.”
I reach out and squeeze his shoulder.
“I’m really happy for you, bud. And if you need any kind of reassurance, we’re not moving anywhere.”
“Serious?”
“Of course. I love it here. I like baking for Bittersweet, and Stillwater is a pretty nice place.”
“And how about Julius?”
I raise my brow.
“Come on. Don’t treat me like I’m a kid. Last week, I know I walked in just after you’d been kissing.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your face was all red like you were running a marathon and you wouldn’t look at me. Plus, all your answers were one word.”
Yeah, I remember that. I’d thought it was a close call, but we were caught anyway.
“Okay, so how would you feel if Julius and I were dating?”
“If you’re serious about him, then I don’t care. I’m happy for you. You’ve already given up so much for me. I don’t want you to think you have to stay single forever.”
I pull him into my arms and squeeze him tight.
“Dude. My hair!”
I laugh, and for the first time since I found out about his diagnosis, I feel he’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. Yeah, our lives will always be different, but we have all the important people around us.
“Shit. The message.” I pull out my phone and touch the screen. The message from Piper flashes right in the center, which means Julius saw it.
“What’s wrong?”
“I ran out on Julius after you sent your message. When my phone dinged again, I thought it was you and asked him to check it.”
“He’s going to think you’re leaving.”
“Yeah.”
