And now he was staring at me.
What did he ask? Oh, yeah.
“I’m fine,” I replied and sipped my coffee.
“When is your interview?” George asked conversationally.
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
“Cool.”
“I don’t know if I have a shot. Everyone wants a part of the Mars expedition. Even through the PIXL lab. Don’t tell them this, but I’d do it for free.”
George chuckled. “Thankfully, there’s a salary involved. Maybe not as much as Simon is paying you, though. How’s he doing?”
“He struggles with calculus, but otherwise, I think he’s progressing well,” I replied in a rush, gulping half my coffee and pouring the rest down the sink.
I made a production of rinsing my mug, hoping to buy some time to pull myself together before I had to face George. With any luck, he’d get an important call or suddenly realize he was running late.
“That’s good. He hasn’t said a word about school, but my dad just told me Simon’s agent might have found a home for him with the Broncos. I have no idea what that sentence means, but I’m guessing he’s happy about it ’cause according to my parents, Simon has been in high spirits lately.”
“Oh. The Broncos?”
“It’s a football team, I think. I know this sounds terrible, but I don’t want him to play anymore. Simon’s last concussion was ugly. They were minutes away from inducing a coma when he finally came to. He couldn’t see straight, and his short-term memory was shot. He didn’t know where he was or anything about the game he’d played. And he had to be reintroduced to the nurse on duty every time he walked in the door. If the nurse was a woman, I might have thought Simon was flirting…badly. He didn’t seem like himself for days afterward.” George tapped his temple. “In his brain, anyway. Physically, it was months. Why go through that again?”
“He loves the game,” I said softly.
“Yeah, but there have to be other ways to love the game. Ways that don’t wind up with him in the hospital.” George cocked his head. “You’ve spent a few weeks with him. Does he talk about football a lot?”
“No. Not really.”
That was true. We spent most of our time making out during lectures and sucking each other off afterward. Or beforehand, or during a break, or…yes, sometimes we closed the computer, got naked, and screwed like rabbits. I’d never done so much laundry in my life. I’d actually started taking a load to wash at my parents’ house so my roommates wouldn’t question the excess utility usage.
It was also an excuse to visit Gran, who was the only person who knew about Simon and me. I didn’t blab about him, but I didn’t protest when she pulled out the cards and asked a million questions about my crush. Was he tall, handsome, funny, charming? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. I didn’t share much, but it was nice to share something with someone.
But I realized now that by sticking to sex and education, I was missing a few pieces of…Simon. Theoretically, it was smart to maintain emotional distance. I could not allow myself to form an attachment to him. However, I was curious. And worried. I didn’t want him to get hurt either.
“I’m all for pursuing your dreams. I just wish his wasn’t dangerous. I worry less about astronauts tethered to a spacecraft miles above the thermosphere, for fuck’s sake,” George huffed. “Speaking of which, I read an interesting paper about Newtonian mechanics and the effects of solar radiation on…”
I nodded to indicate I was listening…sort of. I mean, c’mon, all aspects of Newtonian mechanics were incredibly fascinating. But maybe not as fascinating as Simon. It looked like I had a few things to learn.
Knock. Knock.
I frowned as I checked my watch. Simon wasn’t supposed to be here for another hour and yikes…everyone was home. Holden was showering, Asher had just gone back to his room, and George, his brother, was right here…next to me. I heard the front door open, then Tommy’s lilting voice followed by Simon’s friendly “Good morning.”
“Sounds like your pupil is early,” George commented just as Simon appeared in the doorway.
“Look at you, bro. I see they made you trade your cape for a suit.” Simon teased, offering his brother a high five.
George flipped him off and nodded. “For now. Getting an early start today?”
“I just happened to be in the neighborhood, and I need help with uh…an assignment,” Simon replied sheepishly.
George arched his brow. “I see. Have fun. I’m off to do space shit. Later, boys.”
I waited for George to leave before glancing at Simon. His Cheshire cat grin was contagious.
“Too early, eh?”
“A little. Everyone’s here.”
He stood beside me at the counter, so close his arm hair tickled mine. “Is this a bad time to tell you I dreamed about you last night?”