Page 100 of Inevitable

“You already said that,” Drew said with a smile.

Ezra shook his head.

“What if you end up hating San Francisco?” he asked.

Bas shrugged.

“Then we’ll come back once you’re done with school. That’s why we decided to rent the apartment out instead of selling it, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, but a PhD will take me about five years. That’s a long time to hate a place.”

Bas pressed a kiss to the side of Ezra’s head.

“A city is just a city,” he said. “As long as I have you two, I can live anywhere.”

“But your studio—” Ezra started to say.

“Will be in good hands. We’ve talked about this a hundred times already. Stop worrying. You’ve worked so hard for this. Ez, you got into Stanford. It’s a huge deal. And don’t even start with the whole I’ll be happy in any school. You want to go to Stanford. You deserve to go, and we will make it happen,” Bas said in a tone that allowed no arguments.

“It’s an adventure,” Drew said, pulling Ezra’s attention away from Bas. “Besides, I quit my job, and we already promised Harley he’d get to live in a place where he doesn’t have to deal with snow.”

Harley’s ears perked up at the sound of his name. He nudged Ezra’s palm with his nose.

Ezra laughed and scratched Harley’s head.

“What do you say, buddy? Want to become a California dog?”

Harley barked his reply, wagging his tail so enthusiastically that his whole butt was shaking. He jumped into Ezra’s lap, so Ezra lost his balance and landed on his back on the deck.

Harley scrambled toward Ezra’s face in his haste to shower him with doggy kisses.

“Dude, not to be rude, but your breath stinks.” Ezra laughed and pushed Harley’s snout away. Harley took it as an invitation to play, so in a matter of seconds, the two of them were rolling around on the deck.

Harley let out an excited yelp when Ezra eventually stretched out on his back, and he got to plant his paws on Ezra’s chest and lick him all over his face. He looked around proudly like he’d just conquered an enemy’s army all by himself, still wagging his tail.

Ezra pushed himself back into a sitting position, and Harley settled in. Ezra’s lap was his favorite place, and lately, with all the moving madness, he hadn’t had enough time to enjoy it.

Harley had seamlessly fit into their lives. He’d been living in the shelter for five months before Ezra, Bas, and Drew met him. He’d been the saddest dog Drew had ever seen, but no one would have guessed it, looking at him now.

Bas leaned his head on Ezra’s shoulder. Harley closed his eyes as Drew scratched him behind his ears.

“Did you let your parents know?” Bas asked, breaking the silence.

Drew nodded.

“I sent them an email and gave them our new address. They said good luck.”

“I’m sorry,” Bas said.

Drew shook his head.

“I have no regrets,” he said. Being cut off had stopped hurting years ago.

His parents hadn’t come around. Neither had Ellie. That was life. To Drew’s surprise, his brothers hadn’t stopped speaking to him. Both Adam and Jon had met Ezra and Bas and didn’t seem to find their relationship strange or wrong. And they both lived on the West Coast, so now there was a possibility of seeing them more often.

He felt peaceful. Some doors were closed for good, but there were new ones opening all around him. He’d learned to appreciate that and not live in the past.

The sun dropped behind the horizon, painting the sky in purples, reds, and oranges.