“You guys do this every week?” Coop asked.
“Don’t you have your Catan group?” Matty shot Coop a mocking smile that showed off his dimples.
Damn, this guy is even cuter when he wins.
“Are you taking off?” Coop asked him.
Matty nodded. Coop said good-bye to the other guys and hoped he saw them around campus. He jogged up to Matty, who was already opening the front door.
“I’ll walk with you.”
Chapter 8
Matty
Matty and Coopstrolled down a path that cut across the sleepy science quad. The buildings reminded Matty of sleeping giants, catching shut-eye before being overtaken by students in the morning.
“I had no idea Tom was studying to be a bishop, or that he was Mormon. That’s really cool,” Matty said. “And Tim has participated in environmental protests. And you can rap. How’d you get into rapping?”
“One Thanksgiving years ago, my cousin and I snuck away from the table, and he had me listen to this Kanye West album. It seriously blew my mind. He would email me albums and artists to check out. I was hooked. It was a great escape.”
“An escape from what?”
“Just life, I guess.” Coop seemed flustered for a second before regaining his cool. “So you really had no idea about any of those guys? How long have you been playing with them?”
“Since September.” Matty didn’t have to see Coop’s reaction to know how strange that sounded. “When we get together, we play. Catan is no time to play twenty questions.”
That wasn’t the best answer, but it sounded most like the truth.
“They know what I major in.” Matty listened to the breeze sweep through the branches above them. “There isn’t much else to know.”
“I think there is.” Coop said it with such conviction that Matty had to take a deep breath. Either Coop was just saying that to be nice, or maybe this was the longest con ever.
Matty stopped and leaned against a mighty oak tree. A nearby lamppost lit them in the darkness. “What’s going on? What’s your deal?”
“My deal?” Coop slipped his hands in his jeans pockets, and Matty checked out his triceps.
“Why are you so interested in hanging out with me?”
“Why is it so weird that I think you’re cool?”
“Because nobody does.” Matty’s voice echoed in the quad.
Coop took a step toward him. The first prickles of stubble formed on his cheeks. His thin lips pouted, his eyebrows were stick straight, and his eyes…they seemed to peer right through Matty’s paranoia and insecurity, to a private place not many people got to see. Or cared to see.
“They just aren’t looking hard enough.” Coop placed a gentle hand on Matty’s arm.
The short distance between them had enough energy to power a major city. Matty was very aware of his heart beating, and his mouth going dry, and his stomach caving in.
Does Coop know that I’m gay?
Does he want to kiss me?
Do I want to kiss him?
All valid questions.
“I’m up here.” Coop pointed left at his dorm.
