With a small huff that might have been a laugh, though he didn’t look amused, Rye nodded again.
“All three?”
Rye nodded one more time and backed up a step.
“Sorry, yeah, I, uh... sure.” Jake motioned to his bed. “Let me sit, though.”
He held down the power button to turn Rye’s phone on, then moved to the bed and sat. Rye took a seat on the edge of his own bed, just across from Jake, wringing his hands together. With a gentle smile, Jake held up the phone. “Let’s see what we got, huh?”
As if on cue, the phone started to vibrate with notifications. A lot of them. Jake paused for a second to scroll through everything.
“There are some email notifications and then three texts from your mom. Another one from Elsie, one from Jon, and another from Janice.” He quickly scanned the texts, smiling as he saw all of the messages of encouragement Rye’s friends and family had sent. “The text messages all just say good luck,” he explained. “Your mom’s”—he tapped again on the message from Shirley and held the phone out so Rye could see—“has a whole lot of exclamation points and emojis, and says how proud of you she is. And there’s the last one here from just a little bit ago asking how the tests went.”
He watched as Rye looked up, his gorgeous blue eyes anxious as he scanned the texts. A tiny, tentative smile grew on his lips, but then he blinked and dropped his gaze.
Jake’s chest constricted as he watched Rye scoot back on the bed and pull his feet up, his shoes still on. Rye then wrapped his arms around his knees and lowered his head.
“What’s...” Jake trailed off as Rye shook his head strongly and tightened his arms around his legs. And suddenly Jake understood Rye’s anxiety. The tests. Why Ryeneededto know.
With a short breath, Jake looked down at the phone again and clicked on the first of the email notifications. A link took him to the main GED login page, where Rye’s login credentials and password were saved. Not more than a few seconds later, Jake cleared his throat and grinned.
“Rye, here, look.”
He turned the phone around in his hand and offered it to Rye, who barely peeked up over his knees. Rye’s eyes widened as he saw the phone screen, and he sat up straighter and lowered his knees to sit cross-legged.
“I... passed?” He reached out to take the cell phone from Jake, staring in disbelief at the screen. “I passed?” he repeated, his voice catching this time.
“You passed,” Jake confirmed. “Easily.”
Rye just kept staring at the phone for several more seconds, and he shook his head. “I passed.”
Chuckling, Jake stood and then slowly moved to sit next to Rye on his bed. He settled his hand low on Rye’s back again, though what he really wanted was to scoop Rye up in his arms and give him a huge hug.
“You not only passed,” he said, “but you also got that special College Ready designation for every test. Scores above one seventy-five all around.” Jake shook his head in amazement. “That’s incredible.You’reincredible.”
Jake wanted to say so much more, but he found himself at a loss for words, and he closed his eyes for a moment, both in awe and so damn proud of his friend.
“I... I can’t believe...” With an exhausted sigh, Rye turned and collapsed into Jake, pressing his face into the crook of Jake’s shoulder. “I can’t believe it.”
Rye’s breath was warm against Jake’s chest, the sensation spreading through him like a wave. It felt so good, and for the briefest of moments, it nearly overwhelmed him. Slowly, to give himself time as much as to give Rye time to say no, Jake let his arm slip around Rye’s shoulders, and then he squeezed Rye gently in the softest of hugs.
“You did it, Rye,” he breathed, carefully lowering his cheek to rest against the top of Rye’s head. “You did it.”
Rye shuddered and buried his face deeper into Jake’s shoulder. “I... did.”
“Yeah. I’m so proud of you.”
And Rye shook his head but didn’t say anything else. He just stayed right where he was, right in his place in Jake’s arms, letting Jake hold him.
It was the most perfect thing Jake had ever felt. And he loved every second of it.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Rye
Jakedidsnore.Softly,though, and it was rhythmic and soothing. And Rye found himself appreciating it a lot that night as he lay awake, staring up at the ceiling.
Every time he closed his eyes, it was too dark, and he felt himself slipping off into somewhere cold and filled with terrible memories just waiting to haunt him.
