Page 120 of All Roads Lead to You

My face burned, and so did Nick’s. “So much for that,” he laughed.

Nick and I were safe for now. Safe within our little family and friends. All those who were essential to us knew about us. And they still loved us.

That night, Nick crawled into bed with me again, this time with less apprehension and nerves than before.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here for head. I’m too fucking drained.”

I laughed. “Then why are you here?”

“To tell you I’ve come to a decision.”

“That must’ve been totally hard.”

He climbed on me and straddled my body, slapping my chest. “Be nice, or I’m going to leave, Snuggles.”

“Ow!”

“Seriously. I’m coming to Berkeley.”

I sat up and held him to me. “Say what?”

“Yep, I can’t do this long-distance thing in two different schools.”

“We’d only be an hour away from each other,” I teased him, but I was seriously going to miss him, too. Regardless, I couldn’t risk him missing out on his tennis scholarship for me.

“You know what I mean. Even at Berkeley, we wouldn’t be able to sleep together all night, but at least we’d be closer.”

“No. You have too much to lose. I’ll come to you.”

“Look, going to Stanford had been a plan with Lauren. I want to start fresh. And I’m not talking about this semester. It’s already too late for that. But I’m going to transfer everything for next semester. Besides, I’ve already called about transferring. I’ve got a better chance of getting into Berkeley as a transfer student than you do transferring to Stanford. And Berkeley takes students mid-year. They also have a good tennis program. It’s easier for me.”

“You’ve already researched this?”

“Yep, I did some calling. I’m smart like that.”

I laughed as the world just fucking righted itself. “Have I told you I loved you?”

Nick pretended to think. “Only about ten times. You’re short a few.”

“Ass.”

Chapter 37

Logan

Despite being close to San Francisco, I had to admit the amount of openly gay couples, men and women, surprised me. That didn’t mean there wasn’t rampant homophobia, even with the rise in AIDS deaths. The pandemic had claimed almost twenty-five thousand people.

But here on campus, people were relatively open, which helped me to breathe a little better now that Nick and I were together. Once he arrived next semester, I wouldn’t be so afraid to be with him out in the open.

Hunter was scrambling to move into his dorm while I was ready. The room was small, crammed with a bed on each side, two built-in desks, built-in shelves, and two narrow closets.

I hadn’t met my dorm roommate, but when I walked in, I found a guy hanging up some clothes in his tiny closet. He had dark brown hair, darker than Nick’s, and he wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off down to his sides, as well as tight jeans. I couldn’t see his face with his back to me.

“Hey,” I said. “I think I’m your roommate, Logan Conrad.”

He turned with a beaming smile full of dimples. He wore a bushy but trimmed mustache, and his eyes were a deep blue. I was taller than him by several inches, but he was built and stocky, showing he had clearly worked out.

“Hey, there! I’m Ryan Miller.”

---