Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60851 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“So,” Rupert said when they found a free bench outside to sit on. “It’s working out well in the new house, then?”
“Yeah. It’s great. I’m so grateful to you for helping me find it.”
“Shawn’s not giving you any trouble?”
“No. I hardly see him, to be honest. He’s got a girlfriend and spends a lot of time over at her place. Mike isn’t around much either but he seems okay. And Mac, Jez, and Dani are all really nice.”
“I’m glad.” Rupert studied Dev intently. “You look like a different person.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Just… more relaxed. You had a kind of tense, hunted look about you before, and it’s gone. You look happy.”
Dev smiled. “I am happy.”
Dev hadn’t realised it until he said it, but he was truly content. Even before all the horrible shit with Matt and the other guys in his corridor, Dev hadn’t been happy. Although he’d wanted to come to uni, leaving home had been stressful. He found change difficult and just as he’d started to feel settled, everything had gone wrong. Now, at last, he was living somewhere he could relax, with people who liked him for who he was. “My new housemates are cool, and I’ve also made friends with this guy who lives next door.”
Dev’s smile widened. Ewan was one of the best things about his life at the moment. Even thinking about him made Dev feel all warm and gooey inside, like melted chocolate, or marshmallow.
“Dev?” Rupert snapped his fingers in front of Dev’s face, and Dev realised he’d been staring into space with a goofy grin.
“Sorry,” he said.
“I lost you there for a minute.” Rupert’s expression was amused. “This guy next door must be really something.”
Just then, as though conjured up by Dev’s imagination, he caught sight of a familiar figure walking along. Ewan’s head was angled down towards his phone; he was going to pass them without noticing.
“Ewan!” Dev called out before he could think better of it.
Ewan’s head snapped up at the sound of Dev’s voice, and he greeted him with a huge smile as he crossed the space between them.
Ewan stopped in front of them. “Hi.” His gaze drifted uncertainly to Rupert, and his smile dimmed a little.
“Hi, Ewan.” Dev’s stupid grin seemed stuck to his face, and he couldn’t shake it. “Um”—he gestured to Rupert—“this is Rupert, a friend of mine. The one who helped me move, remember? Rupert, this is Ewan, my… one of my new neighbours.”
“Ah.” Rupert shot Dev a knowing glance.
Ewan nodded and stuck out a hand to Rupert. “Hi. You’re the guy who helped Dev find the room?”
“Yeah. Hi, Ewan.” Rupert shook Ewan’s proffered hand.
Ewan still looked a little wary, and Dev wasn’t sure why.
“Why don’t you join us?” Rupert asked. He moved away from Dev to make space for Ewan between them.
Ewan sat. “What are you guys up to?”
“Just catching up. I haven’t seen Dev since he moved in,” Rupert said.
“So, how did you know about the room in the house, then?” Ewan asked. “What’s the connection?”
“I know Jez and Mac. My boyfriend, Josh, used to live with them before he moved in with me a few months ago.”
“Oh, that’s cool.” Ewan relaxed then, the tension leaving his posture as he settled against the back of the bench.
“Josh was asking about you the other day, actually, Dev,” Rupert said. “I’d been meaning to text. Hey—you should come over for dinner sometime. How about tomorrow night. Are you free?”
“No. I’m… we’re….” He glanced at Ewan. “I’m studying with Ewan tomorrow.”
“Saturday, then?” Rupert persisted. “Why don’t you come too, Ewan? You’d be very welcome.”
“Okay, I can do Saturday.” Dev’s stomach turned over at the casual way Rupert extended the invitation to Ewan.
“Me too, thanks.”
Ewan sounded happy with the arrangement, but Dev felt flustered. He wasn’t sure what assumptions Rupert had made about them.
Rupert finished his coffee. “I’d better get going. It was great to meet you, Ewan, and I’ll see you both on Saturday—about seven?”
“Okay.”
Rupert stood, and Dev got up too. Rupert gave him a hug goodbye. “See you!”
Dev sat back down next to Ewan as Rupert strode off.
“He seems nice,” Ewan said.
“Yeah. He’s a good guy.” Dev offered his cup to Ewan. It was still half-full. “Here, do you want some of my milkshake?”
“Thanks.” Ewan took it with a grin.
They finished it, passing it back and forth between them. When they’d emptied the glass, Ewan asked, “Are you heading home now?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too.”
They walked through the city streets together. Dev hesitated at the steps that led to his front door. He wished he was brave enough to ask Ewan in, but for what? He didn’t have anything interesting to cook tonight, and they already had an arrangement for Friday. They’d broken their routine once this week, but that had been Ewan’s idea, and Dev didn’t know how to ask for what he wanted. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?” he said instead.