Stag and the Ash (The Rowan Harbor Cycle Book 5) by Sam Burns

Author:Sam Burns [Burns, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-27T16:00:00+00:00

Madison and Anthony were energized by their talk with Alannah Cormier, which didn’t surprise Jesse at all. They were going over college brochures and talking about majors that allowed distance options, and Jesse felt Joshua’s boredom like it was his own. He was sitting between them on the couch while they chattered, and almost jumped up when Jesse walked through the door.

He looked at the bag in Jesse’s hand questioningly.

“Dinner for Sean,” Jesse explained. “Is he upstairs?”

“Just making popcorn,” Sean said, coming in from the kitchen. He looked better than he had in weeks, smiling and flushed. “We were going to watch a movie and wait for you to get back. Now you can help us pick.”

Jesse held up the bag. “So you don’t need dinner?”

“Is that Wade’s fried chicken? Because you know I need that, hungry or not.” Sean traded the bag for the popcorn bowl and sauntered back to the kitchen.

If he’d known having houseguests was going to do so much for Sean, Jesse would have invited someone over ages ago. He wondered if it was excess energy from having so many people nearby. Maybe Sean needed that now, and his ennui had been more lack of energy than depression.

Or maybe he was putting on a mask for their guests.

Jesse turned to the kids, pasting on his own smile and holding out the popcorn. “Who wants to pick the movie?”

They fell into an argument over what kind of comedy was worth watching, but by the time Sean came back with his dinner plated, they’d chosen something and were happily seated across the couch, munching on popcorn.

Jesse patted the loveseat next to himself.

“What, you thought I’d sit somewhere else?” Sean asked, sitting sideways on the loveseat and laying his knees over Jesse’s lap. “Meeting go okay?”

“Not bad,” he agreed. “It’s always a good meeting when Wade cooks.”

Sean snorted at him and dug into his dinner. “The cooking would be what caught your attention.”

Jesse gave him a self-satisfied grin and turned to watch the movie. It made him feel old, not because he didn’t understand the jokes, but because he didn’t find them particularly funny. It seemed like recycled humor from decades earlier, and he drifted off to sleep, leaning against Sean’s shoulder.

By the time the movie ended and they all headed for bed, Sean practically had to carry Jesse up the stairs. “Are you okay?” he asked as they got into the bedroom. “I know you'll give me some stupid joke about how you’re an old man, but I’ve never seen you fall asleep at nine at night.”

He dropped onto the bed and lay there watching as Sean changed into pajama pants. “You’re pretty,” he mumbled.

Sean shot him an unimpressed look. “I know you’re not drunk. You’ve been home two hours, and you’ve been sharing a glass of water with me. Not that I think your friends would have gotten you drunk at dinner, anyway.”

“Nah. Just didn’t sleep much the last few nights and had a busy week. Ready to sleep.

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