Page 114 of All the way home

“Yeah, and that’s the fun part.” Cards in hand, Kieran shrugs out of his peacoat, drapes it over his suitcase, and sits down right on the ground.

Zach tries—really tries—not to stare, but fails miserably. The black long-sleeved turtleneck tucked into slacks does a good job of showing off everything the peacoat didn’t: broad shoulders, every inch of him tightly contained, clean lines.

When Zach doesn’t immediately join him, Kieran pats the ground.

Zach sits.

Stifling a yawn with his shoulder, Lucas asks, “You going to be here for a bit? Could you watch the bags?”

Kieran nods, picking up the coffee cup Rena had left behind, sniffing at the lid. He shrugs and takes a sip, then he laughs. There’s something close to vindication in his smile when he says, “Cream.”

“What?”

“Cream in her coffee,” Kieran tells him, as though that’s supposed to be significant to Zach. “Want any?”

“I’m good.” Zach waits for him to set the cup down before he asks, “What if I don’t have any more secrets?”

“Everyone has secrets, Zacchaeus.” Kieran shoots him a sly grin as he places the coffee cup out of sight, behind his peacoat.

“Don’t you dare.”

“It’s a cute name!”

“In what world?” Zach laughs. “Dude was a tax collector and everyone hated him.”

“Your mom must have had a terrible pregnancy to inflict that on you.”

“So the story goes.” Zach takes the deck and cuts it.

“Your secret gets bonus points if you haven’t told anyone else.”

“Oh, we’re playing for points?” Zach’s eyebrows arch. “You should’ve opened with that.”

Kieran’s grin opens up his whole face. “Competitive, are we?”

“Always have been.”

“Excellent. That should make it interesting.” Right off the bat, Kieran steals Zach’s first card. He raises his eyebrows and demands, “Secret.”

It’s a foreign feeling, this eagerness to share. He just hopes that what he has to say will be deemed worth it.

“When Tove dropped me off at school,” he starts slowly, uncertain. Is this the sort of thing Kieran will want to know? “I cried a little. Like, after she left. Super uncool, I know. But I get the bonus points, because no one else knows that.”

Kieran gives him a little half smile as he flips his next card over and Zach takes it with a king. “I can beat that. Last year—Christmas break—I cried so hard I gave myself a nosebleed. Uncool, maybe, but I try not to give crying any moral weight.”

A spark of dismay shoots through him. Zach tilts his head. “What happened last year?”

Smile not quite meeting his eyes, Kieran turns over his next card. “Win the whole game and maybe I’ll tell you.”

Zach turns his card over, too, albeit reluctantly, because that feels important.

Kieran takes Zach’s 3 with a 6.

“I can’t think of anything else. Ask me a question and I’ll answer.”

“All right. Who else have you kissed, besides Seth?”

Zach can’t help laughing. “You’re really just going straight for it, aren’t you?”