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.“Here,” she muttered.“Nobody works tonight, Dawson’s boyfriend is showing up tomorrow—it’s time to get sober so we can see a movie.”Benji took the water and began to drink.“What movie?” he asked pathetically.Dawson and Amber met eyes.“Something with explosions,” Amber said decidedly.“And lots and lots of dead bodies.And death.And adrenaline.And no plot whatsoever.”“And hotties,” Dawson said, not putting a gender to the hottie.“Word.”They made it so.THE NEXT morning, they all went to go get Jared, which was good, because Benji was still hungover, and Amber had to drive Dawson’s POS with the several primered spots and several nameless divots and the engine that purred like a kitten.She was so short they got one of those O pillows to go under her bottom so she could see over the steering wheel.“Why aren’t I driving again?” Dawson asked from the backseat.Benji was navigating, and Dawson got the backseat of his own car because… well, because why?“Because we want to live,” Amber growled.“Remember the trip to the ocean two weeks ago?”Well, yeah.Dawson didn’t take directions well when he was en route.“That McDonald’s trash can will recover,” he said staunchly.But his car had a new set of bright-red scratches to match the top of the can, so maybe his car was a little more damaged than he wanted to admit.“Yeah.I’m driving because you don’t know where you’re going.Look—see? This is me getting off for I-5 and going north.Next time you can do this, and you won’t need us.”Benji, who had leaned his head against the window and done his best imitation of a dead fish the whole time, actually managed to engage.“You’re good with him,” he said to Amber.“That’s a relief.I need a backup since Jared is sort of an out-of-town amusement and not a real boyfriend.”“He is too a real boyfriend!” Dawson defended.He felt real.Maybe not integral, not yet, but his texts on Dawson’s phone had been real.All three thousand exchanges.Going jogging.Come with me.At this hour? Are you insane?Chicken.Fine.Let me tell Benji it’s your idea so he doesn’t have me committed.Or, just in time for Dawson’s class break:How are the Romantics?Has it ever occurred to anyone that they were like the singers in the 60’s? Without condoms or the cool drugs?Yes, Dawson, you are not the only person to make that leap.Well, it felt new to me!Okay, so there you go.Your semester paper, and you can start collecting ideas.God, make me feel prepared!You’re the smartest person I know.Finals should not come as a surprise to you.Do you really think I’m smart?I’m only so stupid, Dawson—I have no choice.Complimenting my brains WILL get you laid.At last, a magic formula—I’m so relieved.They could go back and forth forever.They did go back and forth forever, only it didn’t feel like forever.It felt like breathing.Okay.So maybe Dawson missed Jared a little more than he missed his mom.He’d certainly never felt like his mom was part of breathing.“Dawson, did you see which way I came? Jared probably takes Southwest all the time, so you need to come to this terminal.”“Geez, Amber, you didn’t look this bossy when you moved in yesterday.”“You weren’t paying attention.Now do we have to do this again?”Dawson sighed.“Yeah, probably.Me and directions—not so much.”“Yeah,” Benji drawled from the front seat.“That’s only gonna happen if we don’t scare him away this weekend.”“Are you going to need alcohol again?” Amber asked as she pulled up alongside the curb.“Absolutely,” Benji said mournfully, and Dawson squeezed his shoulder.“Well, on the plus side, Dawson, enjoy seeing him now—Benji drunk again may send him screaming.”“Yeah, okay, that’s nice,” Dawson said absently, because the truth was, he didn’t really hear her.Jared was there, and all of that insouciance Dawson had been proud of evaporated.This was the guy who had touched him naked, and who had kept him company and lived in his head for the past six weeks, and he was right there.Dawson had the door open before Amber even stopped the car completely.She jerked on the brake and he went clattering across the sidewalk.Jared, who had been standing there with his duffel, scanning the cars coming and going in front of him, turned his head, dropped his duffel, and opened his arms.Dawson did his best not to climb him like a tree, because Dawson was bigger than the standard ballerina.It didn’t matter.Jared grabbed under Dawson’s ass, and Dawson wrapped one leg up around his hips and used the rest of his brain to eat his boyfriend, lips first.Jared tried to eat him back, tongue, mouth, lips, all points engaged.Jared held Dawson’s face still, which was good because Dawson just wanted to flail, elbows, knees, everything.Kissing.Kissing was great.Jared tasted nummy, and Dawson could take his tongue and his mouth again and again.Jared pulled back and they rested foreheads against each other, and Dawson had a moment of panic.Oh God.This really was like breathing.He’d thought he was okay without this, but he’d really been holding his breath, and after a month and a half of thinking he could do a long-distance relationship, it turned out he was really only alive when he was touching Jared.“I needed that,” Jared panted, and Dawson felt a reluctant smile.“You think? God, I’m so happy to see you.”“So, you hard yet?”Dawson’s whole south area was swollen and aching.“Yes,” he wailed.Jared stepped back and turned his head [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]