A customer cleared his throat a few stools down, and Rafe paused their PDA to help him. Eamonn was so proud of Rafe for his drive and direction. Over these past two weeks, he’d been diligent about checking things off his school list for extending his stay here. It seemed like every few days, he would run to Eamonn’s room to celebrate getting approval from his school representative or finding out he could stay in Sweeney for the second semester. Eamonn was thrilled, truly. The thought of getting to spend an entire year with Rafe filled his heart with joy, but it would also send him a jolt of guilt. He worried that Rafe staying at Stroude might derail his future. Rafe had told him how competitive that BISHoP thing was. Even though Rafe said that he wasn’t staying for Eamonn, he was afraid of what Rafe might be givingup.
“What about you?” Rafe came back and refilled Eamonn’s drink. “I know you have this interview tomorrow, but have you looked up non-profits where you couldapply?”
“I don’t think it’s for me.” Rafe had brought this up before. He had found some non-profits doing amazing work, but the management trainee program was the more solid, more adultoption.
“Have you heard of this company Water Water Everywhere? They’re committed to bringing clean water to children around the world. It’s right up your alley, and they have quite a few Brits working forthem.”
“I’ll check itout.”
Rafe didn’t seem to believe him, but he didn’t push it anyfurther.
Rafe’s boss came out for his hourly check of the place. The rest of the time, he was holed up in his office watching TV and reading, per Rafe’s reporting. It was a sweetlife.
“Hey Alfie,” Rafesaid.
Alfie came over and rubbed Rafe’s shoulder. “Mate, have I told you how excited I am to have you here untilMay?”
“Multiple times.” Rafe tried to act modest, but Eamonn loved watching him soak in theacclaim.
“I’m going to keep training you. By spring, you’ll be bartending Friday and Saturday nights, making a lot more than you do now. Is this the boyfriend?” Alfie turned to Eamonn and shook his hand hard. “Thank you for getting him tostay!”
“Oh, no. Ididn’t—”
“I’m staying for a variety of reasons,” Rafesaid.
“Well, I’m sure having him here didn’t hurt.” Alfie elbowed Rafe and broke into a wheezy laugh. Rafe laughed along with him, though Eamonn could tell it was only forshow.
Once he left, an awkward silence hung in the air between the boyfriends for a moment. Then it was gone, but notforgotten.
Rafe
All during medieval history class, Rafe thought about Eamonn, wishing him luck on his interview. Even if he wasn’t crazy about Eamonn taking the job. Rafe had seen people he worked for in his internships miserable but unable to leave their jobs. They were stuck. Rafe didn’t want that to happen to Eamonn. If only he knew how much he was truly capableof.
On his walk back to the dorm, he got a Facetime request from Coop. He waited until he was in his wifi-enabled dorm room before answering. His finger hovered over the acceptbutton.
“Hey,” Rafe said. He took deep breaths and rubbed his free palm on hisjeans.
“What’s up? What are you doing for Thanksgiving next week?” Coopasked.
“I’m cooking it. Or attemptingto.”
“Nice.” Coop cocked the brim of his hat. Rafe found it adorable how this white kid from suburban New Jersey tried to act alltough.
“How’sMatty?”
“He created his own version of Alexa that can turn the lights on and off and play music. I told him to name it Fuckface so that when you ask for something, you go ‘Hey Fuckface, what’s the weather outsidetoday?’”
Rafe laughed. He missed his daily dose of Coop. They had really great roommatebanter.
“I can’t wait for you to play with Fuckface inJanuary.”
And here it came. The inevitable moment Rafe had been delaying. Now was time to pull the trigger. “So actually, um, the thing is…is that I’m extending my trip. I’m staying at Stroude intospring.”
Coop’s mouth hung open. “Oh. Like the wholeyear?”
“Yeah. ThroughMay.”
“So you wouldn’t come back to Browerton until nextfall?”
