Page 96 of Out for the Night

“Will you come out for the night, out for the night, out for the night?”Their voices harmonized, almost like a choir. Matty wasn’t sure if he was walking anymore, or on some conveyer belt straight to Coop.

His bold rapper façade was easy for Matty to see through. Underneath, he was a nervous, bouncy piece of String Cheese.

Coop handed the microphone to the reference librarian, whose lusty eyes checked out his beefy arms and caught a glimpse of his butt.He’s mine, lady. “Matty, I’d like to ask you an important question,” Coop said, over the harmonies of the singers. Those penetrating eyes and that chiseled jaw pulled Matty closer.

Matty gulped down hard, quelling his nerves.

“What did you think of my performance?”

He exhaled a laugh. Not the question he was expecting, but he rolled with it, as long as Coop was the one asking it.

“I think you brought down the house,” Matty said. “And maybe the campus police, too.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about them. I gave them and the librarian a little bribe to let me put on this performance. I had some extra cash laying around because this douchebag paid me to distract this really awesome guy.”

“Is that right?”

“But here’s the kicker,” Coop said, his eyes locked in. “That guy wound up distracting me right back.”

“He sounds like a keeper.”

Their lips met in a kiss for the ages.

“Oh wait. I almost forgot.” Coop reached in his pocket and removed two sparkly, costume bow ties. “Would you be ridiculous with me?”

“More than anything in the world.”

Coop put a bow tie on Matty and himself. Rafe clapped in the corner, and others joined in around him. They definitely looked ridiculous, but Matty didn’t care. Because they were ridiculous together.

“What are you up to now?” Matty asked.

“I’m free.” Coop kissed him again softly. “The night is young.”

“The night is ours.”

Chapter 35

Coop

Coop’s legkept kicking the cardboard box, making the dent even bigger. Matty clamped his hand over his knee.

“Stop it. You’re going to do great.”

“I know.” Coop acted totally nonchalant, though his leg told a different story. Tonight, he was going to rap at Squadron for the first time ever. He had never seen this place so crowded, or maybe that was his nerves playing tricks on him. Memories from that first aborted attempt clouded his mind, but he had plenty of support to cheer him on this time. Matty, Rafe, Linh, and the Catan guys all showed up. The nerd contingent, and he was a proud member. Akash and Linh were holding hands, which was a development Coop couldn’t wait to get the scoop on.

“How’s the robotics internship thing going?” Coop asked her.

“Good! Really, really busy so far. I feel a little in over my head.”

“You’re going to do great!” Matty said, beaming with joy for his friend.

Denise came by, clipboard in hand. “Okay, Coop. You’re on in a few minutes. You good? You ready?”

“Yeah,” Coop said with as much confidence as he could muster, which was a lot.

“You’re going to do awesome. I can’t wait to hear it.”

“And if he tries to bolt, Matty and I are going to block the door,” Rafe said.