Page 57 of The New Place

Ned does laugh. “Well, yeah, I guess.”

“You have to admit that was a significant hurdle last fall.”

“That and neither of us wanted a relationship.”

Abbot takes his hand. “And look at us now.”

Yeah, look at them. Except they’d been on the same page that they didn’t want to date, and falling in love had been a happy accident. Abbot’s really looking for a place down here, and Ned very much isn’t, and they do need to talk about that at some point. “You make it sound so simple. I think you’ve been spending too much time with Pat.”

“Beverly didn’t say no to hiring you. She said no to escalating this ask to anyone else,” Abbot says. “If it’s a matter of budget or interest in you, that’s what would’ve stopped the conversation.”

“So you think that if we get her this damn proof, it’ll work out?”

“I think,” Abbot says slowly, “that we won’t know until we try.”

“Maybe you just had too much fun last fall.”

“I want to help you.”

Ned doesn’t need help.

No, he doesn’t want to need help. That’s the crux of the entire issue of being on Newbury’s campus today. Why the hell can’t he manage his life on his own, like everyone else does? Not need to be pulled along by Abbot to begin with? “You don’t even want to be at Newbury,” he says.

“It’s fine.”

“Is it?”

“It’s at least worth pursuing.”

That’s not an answer, just another topic Abbot is dodging.

Well, add it to the list of issues to talk about. Ned rubs his face. “What’re the chances this will all work out?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“No.” He drops his hands. Does he have a choice? Not really. It galls him that Beverly doesn’t think they’re serious or committed or actually together, or whatever. It’s Abbot, and Ned’s never been so serious about anything in his life. “Ok, it’s just a Realtor meeting. We do that, and it’s enough?”

“It’ll move your hiring process along, at least.”

It still feels like a waste of time, but what else is Ned going to do?

At least he’s had worse days than getting to spend time with Abbot, no matter what they’re doing. And even worse are to come with no job, he’s sure. Briefly, he lets himself consider what that will even look like, and feels the same swoop of terror he sat with at the end of his doctorate. Interest accruing, bills coming due—he has one he has to pay now. Yesterday, actually, but he’d made sure to pay child support first, and had then been waiting for his car payment to clear to make sure he doesn’t bounce the check.

He can’t be without work. Not for Peggy, and not for continuing to pay down what he still owes, all those loans he took out to keep himself afloat through his doctorate.

If he’d been better with money—but no. He can’t go there, not right now. How embarrassing to even think about the state of his finances, standing here next to Abbot in his tailored suit, looking like he effortlessly already belongs at Newbury.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Ned says, as if this might even be fun.

Abbot puts an arm around Ned and he lets himself lean into him. Today has been stressful as hell, and Abbot feels good against him. Feels right. And besides, all that with the Realtor isn’t right now. Today, he has Abbot, and tonight he gets him too.

“It’ll go just as well as it did last time.”

“What, pretending to look at a house, like we pretended to date?” Ned laughs. “Yeah, that went so smoothly.”

“We can really look.”

Abbot can, at least. But he’s right. That ridiculous ploy got them here, and Ned certainly isn’t complaining.