Page 76 of The New Place

He hasn’t thought of Louis in so long, let alone their final months together. When? he had asked him over and over, ready to thread their lives together more closely, while Louis had delayed the conversation, prevaricating more the more Abbot pressed.

It was him, Abbot had realized. He wasn’t who Louis wanted to tie himself to. A fine option for now, but forever?

That isn’t how Ned feels, is it? He’s spoken of their future together.

Though on a much, much different timeline than Abbot has hoped for.

“I’m not trying to pry, although I am,” Claire says and it occurs to Abbot he should have already responded to her, not lost himself in his own thoughts. “You’re welcome to be as annoyed as you like about my questions, especially if it puts you in an awkward spot. But like I said, I don’t have anyone else to ask, so I either have to trust this thing with Pat or get the hell out. So thank you.”

“Please don’t share with me if you’re thinking of ending things,” Abbot says, “Because I’d feel obligated to tell Pat, and he really likes you.”

She smiles at that. “No, I don’t think I am. Which is terrifying, actually.”

“Pat’s a really good person.”

“You can be a good person and not a good partner. Hell, you can have a great relationship that isn’t going anywhere. They’re separate things, at the end of the day.”

Abbot leans down to fix Baxter’s inside-out ear. She has a point. A good one.

“I’m just really, really ready to settle down with someone. And to stop wasting my time on guys who aren’t right.”

“How did you know?” he asks. “About your ex? I’m sorry if that’s rude to ask. I⁠—”

“Not nearly as rude as grilling you about your boyfriend’s friend,” Claire laughs. “We’d been together for a while. I turned thirty and was thinking about settling down, getting married, what I wanted life to look like by forty. He was thinking we had all the time in the world, so why rush?”

“What’s a while?”

“A couple years,” Claire says.

Abbot nods, relieved. That’s longer than he and Ned have been together, so that measuring stick is certainly in their favor.

Everything is, really. There’s no problem between them. There hasn’t been for the past year, and there won’t be. Adams closing is introducing some stress into their lives, and without that change, everything would have continued on normally.

For how long? he can’t help but wonder.

18

ABBOT

Ned’s in a meeting when Abbot gets back to the house, his voice rising from where he’s sitting at his computer. Likely talking a student through transitioning to another university, how they’ll transfer their credits, what their future might hold.

And ours? Abbot wants to ask Ned.

“Hi,” Ned says when he’s done, greeting him with a smile. “Glad I got to see you before I have to run over to campus.”

Abbot can’t help but let his eyes track over Ned. The sheer physicality of him catches Abbot’s interest all over again, the width of his shoulders and how he carries himself when he walks with such easy confidence.

He smells good too, stepping close, his fingers running along Abbot’s arm and sending a tickle down his spine.

The attraction Abbot felt when Ned first walked into his classroom all those years ago hasn’t faded. Nor has the visceral comfort Abbot feels in his presence, which he only learned about last fall. He’s found he is more himself when he’s around Ned, and that being himself is entirely, wonderfully easier.

Surely that’s more important than anything else, isn’t it?

“Claire sent in some bloodwork and said you’ll hear back soon,” Abbot says.

“Thank you.” Ned leans in to kiss his cheek. “How much was it?”

“I paid for it.”