Page 48 of Inevitable

It was hard to wipe the goofy grin off his face when Bas pulled him in for a hug in front of Ezra’s lecture hall.

“Thank you,” Bas murmured into his ear before he gave Ezra one last smile, turned around, and walked away.

Ezra stared after Bas for so long that the professor had already started handing out the exams when Ezra quietly slipped into the room. The professor gave him the stink eye but didn’t say anything.

It was worth it.

15

Bas got home later that evening to a scowling Drew. He was still dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, even though he’d removed his tie and jacket.

Bas toed off his shoes and moved into the living room.

“Hey,” he said as he stopped a few feet away from Drew.

Drew lifted his tired gaze.

“Remembered you lived here, too, huh?” he asked.

Bas winced, but he ignored it and stepped closer. He placed his palms on Drew’s shoulders and started rubbing them. He stayed rigid and unyielding for a few moments before he let his shoulders drop and sagged into Bas’s touch.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“Why? You should call me out more often. I’m pretty sure I deserve it most times.”

Drew closed his eyes and let his head loll forward. Bas pressed the tips of his fingers into Drew’s neck. The man sighed, and Bas could feel more of the tension leaving his body.

“You’re not that bad.”

“Aren’t I? I seem to exceed every one of your worst expectations. Not to mention that I’m a real dick about how I go about things.”

Drew threw him a look.

“Don’t put yourself down. I prefer to view you as a broody artist and not an insensitive asshole.”

Bas snorted and shook his head.

“You just refuse to take those rose-colored glasses off, huh?”

“You think I should?”

“No. I like the version of Bas you see.”

Drew hummed in reply as Bas continued working on his shoulders and neck.

“Shitty day?” he asked after a while.

“Long. Exhausting. It’s just one of those days when you can’t wait for it to end. I should probably just go to bed and get it over with.”

Bas considered it for a while.

“You wanna do something instead?” he asked.

“What?”

Bas straightened himself.

“We should do something. Go somewhere. Anything you want. Let’s drop by the engineering library, find Ezra, and just hang out.”