Page 117 of Ours
The two caught their breath as Derek undressed and joined them on the bed. Nic pulled out with a gentlepopand rolled over onto his back, allowing for sweat-soaked Cory to get some much-needed air. Derek smirked at the two as they caught their breaths and considered rolling Cory over for another round himself, but he wasn’t sure he had anything left in him. For now, at least. Instead he just rolled onto his side and watched the two come down from their endorphin high.
Nic was the first one to get up and walk to the shower, washing himself quickly. Cory sat up a few minutes later when he walked back into the room, ready for his own turn. As he walked to his bag to grab some soap—hotel soap sucked—he walked back through the day’s events and then the previous day as he walked to the shower. Then the weeks before that as he stood under the hot water. And the many months before, all leading up to this, as he washed the grime and dirt of the day from his body.
None of this, nothing that had happened to him, was even close to where Cory saw his life going a year ago. Things were up and down, fast and slow, encompassing some of the darkest moments of his life as well as the best. And he was only eighteen. Cory finished drying his hair and threw the towel over the shower rod. When he walked back in the room, he saw the boys had moved to the room’s other bed—the one they were on previously had been deemed by Nic the “fuck bed”—Derek on his laptop and Nic on his phone. Throwing on a clean jock, he climbed on between the two of them. Derek was looking atGoogle Maps while Nic was playing some stupid game about candy.
“We should get there pretty early tomorrow,” Derek informed them. “Plenty of time to wander around the campus before we take the tour my parents scheduled for us.”
“Cool, cool, cool,” Nic commented without looking up from his screen.
Cory chuckled. Perfect Derek and Nic. Control freak and lazy bum.
“Hey, guys?” Cory questioned the pair.
“Yeah?”
“Sup?”
“I just wanted to say… Even if this college thing doesn’t work out, even ifwedon’t work out … you guys are my best friends. Even with everything that’s happened, and anything thatmighthappen… I’m just really glad you guys are in my life.” Cory wasn’t sure what brought on the sudden surge of emotion, hating that he started choking up toward the end.
“Aww, Cor.” Derek closed his laptop and turned to face Cory, pulling him close. “I feel the same way. I hope that no matter what happens, we can still be there for each other. I love you guys.” Cory felt himself be hugged on his left before turning to his right to look at Nic.
“Are you guys gonna make me say some sappy shit now too?” Nic mumbled sheepishly.
“Yes!” both boys said in unison.
Nic grumbled under his breath to himself before speaking to his bedmates a little louder.
“What?” Cory and Derek cocked their heads, unable to understand the mumbled speech.
“I said, I would really miss you guys if we ever had to split up, and I’m really glad we might not have to,” Nic said louder and clearer, though with his eyes closed.
“Aww.” Cory turned and glomped onto Nic. “You like us.”
“Uuugggghhh, yes, I like you. Shut up,” Nic fake-complained as he turned to hug Cory.
The three boys squeezed together in bed, forming a huggy and misshapen beast-with-three-backs. After a few more snuggles, the boys turned out the lights and settled in for bed. Tomorrow was an important day. It would be the day that could determine where they spent the next four years of their lives. The day that would determine whether or not they stayed together. None of them wanted to say it out loud, but they all knew they had a lot riding on tomorrow and John Adams University.
They had a pretty good feeling about things, though.
Chapter 19
Shit. The zipper on Cory’s suitcase wouldn’t close. Grumbling to himself, he tried to shove the stubborn clothing down farther, just enough to shut the bag. Maybe if he sat on it… Ugh. He really should have done this last night. He was going to be late.
The sudden knocking on the front door indicated that he already was.Dammit.Cory continued to put the last of his things in boxes as he heard Derek’s and Nic’s voices greeting his mom before coming to his room.
“Shit, Cor. You’re still packing?” Nic looked at the two open boxes on Cory’s bed.
“I just kept remembering things I’ll need, and time got away from me.” Cory threw in some of the cords for his desktop computer and sealed one of the boxes. “I swear I’m almost done.”
“Okay, finish up. Nic, let’s get the cars loaded up.” Derek grabbed one of the boxes Cory had laid on the floor and headed back out of the apartment, Nic toting a second box behind him.
Cory ran to his closet, deciding that hedidwant to bring his old video game consoles after all. He might run out of things to play, right?
The boy’s college visit a month and a half earlier went well. More than well—the boys thought the school was wonderful. Cory loved the state-of-the-art computer lab and felt right at home when he had a chance to nerd out with some of the students there. Derek still had no major picked out, but the school had a ton of options, and he had been looking through the course catalog almost daily since. Even Nic was looking forward to seeing what playing on a college team would be like, impressed with the way he heard some of the other student athletes talk about their coach. The boys all sent in their acceptance letters the day after they got home.
And it wasn’t just the school; the city itself was also great. After they finished touring the school, the boys wandered around downtown D.C., taking in the sights and trying not to seem like tourists—they were probably going to live here, after all. Once the boys had all made their decision, they quickly moved on to figuring out their living situation. While dorms could be an option, none of them really liked that idea. On top of the fact that one of them probably would have to have a stranger for a roomie, the general lack of privacy would get annoying pretty quickly when they wanted some alone time.
Luckily, one of the boys had a mom and dad who were currently feeling very guilty for being neglectful. With his parents’ help, Derek and the boys found a nice three-bedroom apartment—one they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise. It was a close distance to the school and had a shuttle they could take there and back, letting them save on gas money. Derek and Nic were both taking their cars with them, which is what they were loading Cory’s boxes into now. The apartmentwas fully furnished, so they only had to bring things like clothes and electronics, nothing they needed to rent a truck for.
