Page 73 of All the way home

“That was it.” Dad sounds as brightly cheery as ever. “We’ll make the Quadrantids even more special this year to make up for tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” Zach whispers, hoarse.

“Miss ya, bud. Can’t wait to see you.”

“You too.”

There’s a loud crash in the background. Barely audible, Erik’s exclamation—“Dunk on youuuuu!”—gets cut short by Anwen’s sharp objection.

Dad sighs. “I better go find out what that was.”

The ghost of a smile sinks hooks into Zach’s face before he can help himself. “Okay. See you later.”

“See ya later,” Dad says. “Love you loads.”

“And loads.”

As soon as he hears the click on the other end of the line, the weight of the day slams into him all at once. If all had gone to plan, he would be on his way home with Tove by now. Maybe they’d be blasting one of her Led Zeppelin albums or, more likely, she’d be filling him in on her latest adventure. Tove is only fourteen months older, but sometimes it feels like generations. Hell—she’s been to Europe via sheer force of will and networking.

She’d know exactly what to do.

His phone buzzes.

hellooooo

Mara. He’d missed texts from her earlier—probably when he was making an ass of himself with Kieran—and swipes through to catch up.

is this him?

because if so DAMN

She’s attached a screenshot of an Instagram post. It’s a picture of Kieran, posted a few weeks ago. He’s dressed up for something—Thanksgiving, maybe—in an all-black suit, looking out of frame at something or somebody else, adjusting his cuff links. It’s clearly only half-candid; after spending nearly four hours straight with him Zach somehow knows that it’s just slightly posed. Not that it’s a bad thing. The angle shows all the clean lines of him: broad shoulders down to a narrower waist, hair artfully tousled. Heart-stopping smile. No caption.

It’s a good picture.

Zach lets out a low groan and lets his head fall back against the wall, wanting to sink into the floor and disappear.

The University of Calgary has a fairly big campus, thirty thousand students, and Zach avoids the Kinesiology Building—and all of the loud jock types in it—like the plague, so the chances of running into Kieran if this all takes an abrupt nosedive are low.

It’s his fault. All of this. Kieran’s words echo. Because you assumed you’d never see me again. The flash of indignation. The clear hurt.

holy shit??? dude

he goes to your school?????

Mara sends another screenshot. In this one, Kieran sits at a table in MacEwan Hall, in the basement. Here he’s dressed more casually: a black puffy vest sits unzipped over a white sweatshirt, black jeans, and canvas sneakers. Hood up and nearly obscuring his eyes, Kieran leans back with his arms folded, feet up on the chair next to him, clearly laughing at some unheard joke.

The caption reads: Good friends take candids and distract you from studying (looking at you, Rocky).

Zach wants to laugh at the irony. What would he have done if this was how he’d found out? If he’d had more time to think about it, would he have reacted any better?

Wearily, he texts Mara back.

wow

insane good fortune

good fortune is one way of putting it