Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Alex
“Please, please, please call me when you land. Oh, and don’t forget sunscreen if you spend too much time outside.
And water! Don’t forget to drink enough water, too, okay?
It’s easy to forget when you’re traveling.
Nico, I put Alex’s EpiPen in the outer pocket of his carry-on.
You know how to administer it, right? Please be careful about what you eat.
Oh gosh, I’m going to miss both of you so much. ”
My mom hastily wipes a tear from her cheek, and I shake my head, laughing.
“We’re only going to be gone for a couple days, Mom.”
“I know, I know, but I’m still going to miss you,” she says, and then she quickly pulls me in for a hug, squeezing me tight for several long seconds before she lets me go.
She turns to Nico, who’s standing stiffly next to me, his backpack hanging from his good shoulder and his left arm still in the sling he got from the nurse at the urgent care clinic three weeks ago.
I can see him hesitate, but then he drops his chin and steps forward into her embrace. His eyes close, and his shoulders relax a little. And my heart stutters.
“You’re going to do great, I know it,” I hear my mom whisper to him, and he sucks in a breath and nods against her.
My mom’s holding back more tears when they part, and she smiles gently at him, one hand still on his upper arm.
“Vera’s a very nice woman, and she wouldn’t have invited you for an in-person interview if she wasn’t serious about you as a candidate for the position. Just remember that, okay?”
Nico nods again, more decisively this time, and then he steps back closer to me. I reach up and set my hand on his back.
My mom just stares at us for another few seconds, blinking away tears as she smiles.
I tilt my head toward the security line. “We should go.”
She nods. “Yeah, yeah. Call me. Please?”
“I will, Mom,” I assure her. I shoulder my duffle bag and give her a smile. “Love you.”
“I love you, too. Both of you,” she says, and then she purses her lips and wipes another tear from her cheek as Nico and I turn and start walking toward the short security line.
It’s not busy for a Friday evening. Not that I have much experience at busy airports, or even airports in general, but there are only a couple of people in line ahead of us, and within just a few minutes, we’re through the TSA check, slipping our feet back into our shoes on the other side of the scanners.
I look up and find my mom again, and I give her a wave.
She blows me a kiss and forms a heart with her hands, and I grin and send her a heart back.
Then I turn to Nico, who’s just finished stuffing his boarding pass and wallet back into his pocket.
“Ready?” I ask.
“If I say no, will we have time to catch your mom before she leaves?” He lifts his eyes, and I can tell he’s only half joking. “Also, I hate this stupid sling. Why are you making me wear it again?”
I shake my head and laugh, but he gives me a scathing look.
He’s getting anxious, which I really don’t blame him for.
He’s never been to an airport, or on an airplane, or to California, or on an all-expenses-paid trip funded by a potential employer.
And even if it’s not busy by my standards as an inexperienced airport-goer, it’s a lot for him just to be here.
I reach my hand out to him, and he frowns but takes it, our fingers intertwining.
I bring his hand up to my lips and kiss his knuckles.
“No, we won’t have time to catch my mom, I’m sure she’s already out at her truck.
” I’m really not sure, and I bet if I turn around, she’ll still be there, watching us from the other side of the security lines.
But I continue anyway. “And you’re only wearing the sling while we travel—at the recommendation of Dr. Carlisle and your physical therapist—because having it in the sling will keep you from overusing it.
They both said you can take it off when we’re not traveling. ”
He scowls but doesn’t argue, and then he looks up and around the airport. “We’re flying out of the North Terminal?” he asks, tipping his chin to my left.
“Yeah. Gate B14.”
He swallows hard and nods, and together, we make our way to the gate. Our flight doesn’t leave for an hour and a half still, and we already ate an early dinner on the way here, so we just buy a couple of bottles of water and some snacks for on the plane, then find a place to sit that’s not crowded.
“You okay?” I ask after we get settled. He shrugs but closes his eyes and leans against me.
“I’m nervous.”
“About the flight?”
“Yeah, but also . . .” He takes a slow, deep breath, and when he exhales, his whole body seems to shudder. “Tomorrow’s important,” he says quietly. “I don’t wanna fuck it up.”
His interview with Vera is tomorrow morning.
After his initial phone interview three weeks ago, on the same day that Patrick attacked him at the library, and another interview last week via a Zoom video call, Vera requested an in-person interview at her office in San Jose.
She’s paying all of his travel expenses—flight, transportation to the hotel, hotel for two nights, even a “per diem” for his meals.
He couldn’t believe it when she offered.
And he’s been bouncing back and forth between hopeful and anxious ever since.
I don’t blame him. I’m actually a little anxious myself—not because I’m worried about him doing well at the interview but because of what it will mean when he gets offered the job.
Vera does in fact pay well, as my mom expected.
The position is a full-time position with benefits, including health insurance, and starts at twenty-six dollars per hour.
Nico would have a lot to learn, but my mom was also right that his experience at the library is giving him many of the skills he would need.
Tomorrow is important.
But I just know he’s not going to fuck it up.
I slip my arm up around his shoulders and rest my cheek against the top of his head, even though what I really want to do is kiss him. “You’re perfect for this job,” I murmur, “and tomorrow’s just going to prove that. You can do this. I know it.”
He sets his hand on my thigh but doesn’t say anything right away. It’s pretty quiet around us, generally sort of low-key and calm, with only a few other passengers coming and going. Finally, he breathes deeply again and then asks, “What time is your meeting tomorrow?”
“Ten. Ten to about noon, Dr. Ellis said. Maybe a little later. He’ll give me a tour of his lab, and then one of his grad students is giving a presentation to the department at eleven.
It’s going to be about how stars gain mass.
Dr. Ellis said it’ll be good for me to come and listen.
” I try to not sound too excited, but I know I’ve failed when Nico sits up and turns to me, grinning for what might be the first time today.
“You’re going to be in fucking heaven there, all that nerdy space talk,” he teases, nudging me with his shoulder.
His eyes are beautiful, gleaming with a hint of silliness that I just adore, and I can’t help it.
I give into the feeling I’ve been fighting since my mom and I picked him up from work about an hour ago, and I lean in and kiss him.
It’s a brief kiss—short, sweet, and soft—but he meets me in it, kissing me back with a quiet longing and need I can feel.
Warmth spreads from my chest down into my groin, and I pull back with a muffled groan before I do something I very much should not do in the middle of the airport.
The look on Nico’s face doesn’t really help my predicament.
He’s smiling at me with a crooked, knowing grin as though he can read my mind, and when he gives my thigh a subtle but deliberate squeeze, I nearly groan again.
His smile turns into a smirk, and I shake my head. “You’re awful, you know,” I say.
He leans back in, his fingers sliding up my leg a little higher, and he whispers in my ear, “Yeah, but you love it.” Then he straightens up as I inhale to hide the heat rushing to my cheeks.
I do love it. And I love him.
He’s still grinning as he holds my gaze for a few more seconds, and then he winks at me and reaches down to his backpack.
“Wanna help me beat Absolute Radiance?” he asks, completely casual, pulling my Switch out.
It takes me a second to reset and steady myself. Then I shake my head. “Bro, you don’t need my help.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” he quips with a laugh. “Wanna watch me kick Absolute Radiance’s ass?”
Several hours, one cross-country flight, and a short drive later, I hold open the door to our hotel room in downtown San Jose, California.
Nico steps in ahead of me, his shoulders tight and hunched.
He lets his backpack fall from his shoulder just inside the entryway, and then reaches out to flip the light switch on as I follow him inside.
The door shuts with a decisive click just as the light flickers on, and Nico shakes his head and huffs a laugh.
“Wow. Wow. Holy shit, this place is nice,” he says, stopping just at the edge of the large king-size bed.
It is nice, maybe even the nicest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in, and the room is huge—easily three or four times the size of my bedroom at home.
In addition to the fancy kitchenette behind us, there’s a cushy-looking sectional in one corner opposite a small dining table with two chairs and a full-size desk situated in the far corner.
Hanging on the wall across from the bed is a massive TV positioned over a dark-wood dresser.
Wordlessly, I set my duffle bag down next to his backpack and step up behind him, slipping my arms around his waist. He’s still stiff, but he leans back into me, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath.
“This is so . . . much,” he breathes, and then he turns around in my arms, letting his head drop to my shoulder. “I hope I don’t screw up—”