“Thanks.”
Ethan brought his breakfast to a small kitchen table tucked against the back wall. He picked an orange from the abundant bowl of fruit.
Matty stood guard by the toaster. “You couldn’t sleep?”
“I slept fine. I’ve just been thinking.”
“About what?”
Ethan glanced out the window, which only led to the back porch but seemed to carry a lot more for him. “Yesterday, I took a tour of the Penn campus, and then these two law school students came out with us last night. For the longest time, all I wanted was Harvard Law School. I didn’t want to consider anyplace else. But now…Penn is nice.”
“And being with Greg will be nice, too.”
Matty jumped at the toaster popping up. He couldn’t butter his English muffin fast enough. He joined Ethan at the table.
“How do you manage to do both?” Matty asked him. “How do you have a boyfriend and straight-A’s?”
The question had been on his mind for most of this weekend. Ethan obviously had the grades for a place like Harvard or Penn, which was not easy to sustain, which Matty could sympathize with.
“I guess it helps that Greg isn’t on campus with you.” Matty bit into his English muffin and heard the hallelujah chorus of his tastebuds.
“It can be harder.” Ethan sliced up an orange for himself. “We have to make time. We can’t just sit on his bed and study. Is it hard for you?”
“I’m still getting the hang of it.”
“It’ll get easier. I’d never had a boyfriend before Greg. I don’t want to go back to that.” Ethan wolfed down half an orange. Seemed Matty wasn’t the only starving undergrad in this apartment. “Greg makes me work harder. He makes me stronger. When it was just myself, I didn’t feel as powerful.”
“But some of the most successful people were loners.”
“Not all. George Washington had Martha. Bill Gates has Melinda. Warren Buffett had Susie. Lance Bass has Michael Turchin.”
“Who?”
“I read morePeoplemagazine than I should. But the point stands. You can have it all, Matty.”
Somewhere inside of him, the words clicked.
“Greg supports me, as I know Coop does for you.”
After Matty finished his English muffin, he crawled back onto the couch, and Coop’s arm pulled him close like he’d never left.
* * *
Hadthey only just arrived yesterday? Matty had whiplash from the weekend. It moved too fast, and now it was ending. He and Coop packed their bags into Nolan’s trunk.
“It was great meeting you.” Coop and Greg did one of those bro-hugs that Matty instinctively rolled his eyes at. He smiled when he noticed Ethan doing the same.
Matty gave Greg an actual hug, unafraid to wrap both arms around his frame.
“Ah, youth,” Greg said with a shake of the head. “Make sure to live it up, okay? You got three more years at Browerton. Make them count.”
“We will.” Coop intertwined his fingers with Matty’s. Matty thought Greg was talking about getting the most out of his classes, but apparently he was in the minority.
“You guys are cute together.” Greg put a hand on each shoulder. “I hope you had a good time last night.”
Heat rose up Matty’s cheeks.
“The expo was amazing,” Coop said, not missing a beat.
