“I take stufftooseriously,” Cade said.
“And I don’t take stuff seriously enough,” Aiden replied. “But maybe we could help each other out a little. You think? Maybe you could help me be a little more intense, and I could help you be a little less?”
Cade nodded. “I’d like that,” he said softly.
Aiden was afraid to press his luck, but he did it anyway. “So we should go to the library tomorrow,” he suggested. “And we’ll study. For real. But then we’ll go for lunch. We won’t eat while we’re walking, so I won’t have to be a Sherpa. We’ll go somewhere with tables, and we’ll sit down and eat something and talk a bit. And we’ll probably figure out that we don’t actually like each other all that much and that’ll be it.”
Cade looked surprised, then grinned. “That would absolutely simplify things.”
“Yup. But on the off chance that we actually still get along, I think we should take the afternoon off for our own pursuits. You’ll study some more, and I’ll probably go play Ping-Pong or something. Whatever. The most frivolous thing I can think of. We don’t want to shock our systems right off the bat, right?”
“Absolutely,” Cade agreed. “We’re not looking for full personality transplants. Just subtle shifts.”
Aiden wanted to make more plans. There was Saturday night, after all, and Sunday brunch, and then Sunday afternoon, and was it too early to invite Cade up to the city for Sunday dinner with the family? Maybe a little, but they couldcertainlyhave Sunday dinner together in West Lafayette. And then there was Monday, and Tuesday, and the rest of their lives stretching out before them in a glorious array of potential that had only been unlocked moments before. It was overwhelming and dazzling, and Aiden had to work very hard to keep his mouth shut and not ruin it all with a bad case of overenthusiasm. He’d learned his lesson on that front; Cade did not like to be overwhelmed.
“And tonight?” Aiden asked hopefully. “Do you want to do something tonight?”
“It’s eleven thirty,” Cade responded. “I’m going to bed.”
“Oh. And is thereanychance that you’re inviting me to join you and you’re just being really, really subtle about it?”
“I’m going tosleep,” Cade said firmly.
“Huh.”
“And if you’re serious about getting any work done tomorrow at the library, you should get some sleep too.”
“Have youseenthe frat house tonight? You think that place is going to quiet down anytime soon?”
Cade frowned. “That’s not good. You won’t study well if you’re tired.”
Aiden’s face felt strange and he realized it was because he hadn’t smiled as much in weeks as he had in the last few minutes. “I’ll be fine. I’ll drink coffee, and I won’t be studying all that long, really. I can make it a couple hours. But thanks for worrying about me.”
“Being serious is hard work,” Cade scolded with only the hint of a smile. “You need to look after yourself. Good nutrition, exercise, and lots of sleep.”
“Good nutrition? Does that mean I can get a sandwich on Monday? I’ve kind of been missing them.”
“I thought we were going to wait and see if we could stand each other after having lunch tomorrow.”
“Oh, right. I guess I wasn’t too worried about that. We spent two hours in a car together and seemed okay.”
“Well, maybeyouwere okay,” Cade said archly. “I had my doubts.” He stopped walking and nodded toward the building they were standing in front of. It was an old brick structure with a variety store on the main level and a wooden doorway off to the side. “This is me,” Cade said.
“You live in a variety store?”
“I liveabovea variety store.” He pointed to the wooden door and used his fingers to mime walking up stairs.
“Handy for when you run out of milk,” Aiden said.
“It is.” And then Cade headed for the door.
Aiden wanted to stop him, but couldn’t think of a reason to. A good-night kiss seemed like a step way too far. A good-night hug? That would be weird. Really, Aiden didn’t want to be saying good night at all, with any wordsorgestures. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” he said quickly. “At the library.”
“Yeah,” Cade said. And there was a little tremor in the word that made Aiden realize this was just as momentous and strange for Cade as it was for him. Whatever they were doing, it meant something. To both of them.
That made it easier for Aiden to step back and watch as Cade went through the door and pulled it shut behind him. Aiden knew where Cade lived now. He’d been trusted with that information. And they’d made plans.
Things were moving forward. In a good direction.
