“Wow. Kill a man’s ego why don’t you. I thought I was good company.”
“You were great company, but didn’t you say we’d be more comfortable hanging out at Pop’s house?”
“Damn. You really listened to me.” He put his hand over his heart and tried to look touched. “That repairs my damaged ego, and then some.”
“You’re such a goof.”
“It’s part of my charm.” Beckett had said Liam would be resistant to going out. “How about this—you come to the party, and if you’re hating it, we’ll blow out and find something else to do.”
“You don’t need to do that.” Liam studied his mug.
“And you don’t need to help me pass tomorrow’s quiz. To steal a line from my oh-so-brilliant tutor, hanging out would hardly be work for me.”
Liam didn’t look up so Coury waited. His patience was rewarded and their gazes met. “You really want me to come?”
“Totally. And I mean it. If you’re not having fun, we’re gone. Or, if there’s something else you’d rather do tomorrow, let me know.”
Liam’s smile dimmed. “You don’t have to do this just because I’m helping you.”
Damn. He’d pushed too far. “If it was just that, I’d have just paid you. Seriously, I’ve known you forever. You’ve been at Harrison a year and a half and we’ve hung out twice—tonight and last Friday because Beckett was here. We’re friends, even if I kinda suck at it.”
It might not have fixed things, but he’d been honest. He did think of Liam as a friend, even if he was a shitty one in return.
“We’re friends?”
“I hope so.” He shrugged. “Think about it and let me know. No pressure.”
“Sure,” Liam blurted out. “I’m in. For tomorrow.”
“Cool.” Coury realized hewasglad. “I’ll check with Luke and see if he’s staying with Nico, which is almost surely a yes because I heard that Isaiah and Darren were going to Erie to see Isaiah’s mom. So you can stay over if you don’t want to drive home. Again. No pressure. Just letting you know you’re welcome.”
Liam chewed his lip.
“Just think about it and know that the offer is open. In the meantime, I have a test tomorrow.”
“Right.” Liam smiled and cracked open Coury’s textbook. “If Glover does what Professor Jillson did last semester, this test will check if you read the intro and learned the basics. So let’s start with the eras, periods, and epochs.”
* * *
Liam
Liam waited for the Keurig to finish so he could bring Coury another cup of coffee. It was later than he’d thought, but Glover would deliberately make this first test hard to weed out those students who had no real interest in paleontology. When he took the class, he thought that was a great idea. Get rid of people who thought it would be an easy grade.
Coury hadn’t wanted to take the class, but he didn’t think it would be easy, either. Suddenly Glover’s “get the nonbelievers to drop out” attitude sucked.
The coffee finished, and he grabbed both mugs. Thankfully neither of them had an early class tomorrow. Which was already today.
They’d covered everything and Coury would do fine. He just wanted to review it once more to be sure.
Making as little noise as he could, he crept down the stairs. Just before announcing his return, he stopped. Coury had fallen asleep on the couch, book open on his chest, Slider curled up next to him.
Damn. If only he were a small terrier,he’dbe curled up next to Coury. He was beautiful awake, but asleep he looked like an angel.
Liam set the coffee down on the card table they’d used for practice tests and knelt by the couch.
“Coury?” He nudged his arm gently. Slider opened his eyes and then lazily shut them. “Coury?”
“Huh?” He turned and looked at Liam.
