Page 36 of Adonis

Connor threw back the heavy blankets and got out of bed. He was getting worked up in a way that was out of character for him, and he didn’t have to do much soul-searching to know why. He liked Laurence. Liked his smiles, his innocence, the attitude he threw Trevor’s way, and even how he responded to a bit of teasing.

Connor opened his bedroom window. The ocean was dead calm outside. The air was still, and there wasn’t even the tiniest wisp of cloud in the sky. He’d been watching the weather reports, waiting and biding his time.

There had never been a more perfect day.

Connor checked the time on his phone—the new one Trevor had bought while Connor and Laurence ate yesterday—and saw that he didn’t have long to do his convincing. He trotted downstairs, following the sounds of voices and cooking.

Laurence was bent over the stove, carefully stirring something in a pot. Everyone else ate a mixture of toast and cereal at the table. Nick watched Laurence’s back with a frown until he noticed Connor, and scowled at him instead.

Connor approached Laurence, seeing that he was concentrating on four eggs poaching in boiling water. “Is this for me?” he asked. To someone else, it might have sounded presumptuous. To Connor, who had seen the reverence with which Laurence studied Sally’s menu yesterday, it was too certain to even be called a guess.

Laurence’s focus didn’t waver. “It’s almost done.”

Connor leaned against the counter next to him and glanced toward the table. Edith was typing on her phone—very rare since she was usually engaged during mealtimes—while Trevor poked at his food, staring at Laurence’s back with a faint frown.

“Did he refuse to cook for you?” Connor asked, trying to interpret that frown. He dismissed Nick’s expression, rotten as it always was.

“There aren’t enough eggs for the rest of us second-class citizens,” Trevor explained.

Laurence’s cheeks turned red. “There was plenty of other food you could have had. You’re the ones who decided to just make toast for yourselves.”

Trevor took a bite of said toast, levelling an unimpressed look on Laurence. As usual, Connor could detect no actual bite in the regard directed toward Laurence. He had to do his best to stop his smile. The idea of a little brother giving him special attention wasn’t so bad.

“Watch out, Trevor, he’ll be sending his CV to Sally next,” Connor warned jokingly.

But the look that darted across Laurence’s face wasn’t what he’d expected. Laurence shifted his weight, poking at the eggs he should be leaving to cook. “It’s not the worst idea…”

Nick put his spoon into the cereal with a clank. “Laurence,” he said his name, packing disapproval and warning into it. There was no follow-up message; he let his tone do all the work.

“I want to learn how to cook all the vegetarian meals,” Laurence said meekly.

Trevor raised his eyebrows at Laurence, but there was no sharp word or harsh discouragement. “If that’s what you want,” Trevor said, his tone mild. Connor didn’t think Trevorwasmad at Laurence for wanting to work elsewhere. It made sense, actually. Trevor didn’t seem the type to bind one’s wings.

“I was thinking I’d give the lab a miss today,” Connor ventured into the lull of conversation. “I’m still waiting for the social worker to review the work I sent on already. No point in working too far ahead if I’ve been doing something wrong.”

“How does one read a book wrong, exactly?” Trevor wondered.

“My comments on Orlando were closer to trash talk than critical reading.” And it wasn’t even that Connor disliked the book—he hadn’t. It was that Orlando was competing with a merman for Connor’s attention and had lost the battle tragically.

Trevor snorted, amusement colouring his face. Edith’s lips pinched tighter together, but beyond that, there was no hint of any other emotion.

“I don’t see any problem with it,” Trevor said, glancing at Edith for her input. Connor didn’t think Trevor realised she wasn’t going to disagree with him so obviously. And since Trevor had already spoken his opinion, Connor had gotten out of the lab.

“You won’t have a car,” she said. “If you get bored, you’ll only be able to walk into town.”

Was that supposed to dissuade him? He’d spent his childhood walking into town. It was only last summer that he’d started taking his dad’s Jeep around the place, and he’d never once been allowed behind the wheel of his mom’s car. And asking Edith for a lift anywhere? Forget it.

“I’ll be fine,” Connor reassured her with a bladed smile. She met it without so much as a flinch.

“I’m pretty caught up in my schoolwork…” Laurence ventured, peeking over his shoulder.

“Not a chance,” Trevor told him promptly.

“I want to hang out with Connor!”

“You can do that after school.”

Laurence pouted.