Page 50 of Lessons in Chemistry

On top of that, a truth has seeded itself in my heart and is sprouting. I want to go on dates with Em and do fluffy romantic things like having picnics under the stars and walking hand in hand along a beach at sunset. And if I knew that was enough for him, I’d walk into his room right now and tell him how I feel. But I don’t know, and I’m afraid to find out.

12

EMORY

“If I’d known I had to get up so early, I’d never have agreed to come today.” Auggie yawns and sips his takeaway coffee as the train sets off from Leeds station, heading towards York.

“I take it you’re not a morning person?”

“Nope. I’m a confirmed night owl. This time of day shouldn’t even exist.”

He looks more dishevelled than normal. Has he even run a brush or comb through his choppy dark hair? His beard is even more unkempt than I’m used to. But damn, he’s gorgeous.

Things have been great with Auggie over the last few days. He’s kept flirting to a minimum, especially while I’ve been tutoring him. He gets bored after an hour. Okay, he gets bored after ten minutes, but I keep him on task for an hour before he distracts me with iced coffee or chatter.

I’ve imagined myself kissing him again more than once. Several times. He and Casey have consumed my dreams, sometimes together. Those are hot dreams, and I always wake from them gasping, sweating, and with an aching erection. I’ve jacked off more times this week than in the two months before. Why are my dreams so intense? My subconscious keeps handing me movie reels of them kissing, touching, and making love to me in tandem. It’s not as if that would ever happen. Still, it’s a nice fantasy.

“How did the party go last night?” I ask.

Auggie drinks more coffee. “It was fine. Lots of people showed up. Half of them were strangers. A few people passed out. They didn’t thank me for chasing them out of the house this morning before I came to meet you. Oh, and I’ll have a hell of a clean-up job to do later.”

“But did you have fun?”

“I guess so.” His phone beeps. He takes it out of his pocket and stares at the screen before waving it in my general direction. “Someone asking me when the next party is.”

“When is it?”

He shrugs and puts his phone away. “I don’t know yet. What can I expect from today?”

“A lot of sitting around watching swimming.”

“Ha ha, smart arse.”

“It’s a short-course competition.”

Auggie turns his hand to ask for more explanation.

“It describes the length of the pool. Short course is in a twenty-five-metre pool, and long course is in a fifty-metre pool.”

“Does it make a difference?”

“Times over short-course races tend to be faster because they have to turn more. Three times over a one-hundred-metre race instead of once, for example.”

Auggie frowns. “Shouldn’t turning more make it slower?”

“No, because swimmers cover a lot of distance when they push off the wall and glide underwater, which they do out of a turn.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense. What races will Casey be doing?”

“The one-hundred- and two-hundred-metre freestyle races, as well as the men’s medley relay and the mixed medley relay.”

Auggie waves both hands. “Slow down. What’s freestyle?”

“Technically, it means any style the swimmer chooses. Most do front crawl because it’s the fastest. In the relays, you’re not allowed to do backstroke, breaststroke, or butterfly for freestyle.”

“How do you know so much?”

My cheeks flush with heat. “I’ve been to a lot of Casey’s competitions. He, uh, looks sexy in his Speedos.”