Page 61 of Road Trip

Matt gave me shit about being a frat boy, but that was just Matt being Matt. He slotted right in with the guys when he came to visit—which wasn’t often enough, but we were making it work.I never had worked up the nerve to send a dick pic and neither had he, but we made up for it the weekends we were together by getting our hands on the real thing. Dale was pretty good about giving us our privacy when Matt was here, so that helped.

There was the crunch of tires on the gravel driveway, and I was on my feet in a second. I hurried out to the entrance and opened the door just as Matt knocked, and the sight of his smiling face was enough to make my breath catch. I still found it hard to believe that I was dating my best friend. Like, I’d never thought that happened outside of the Hallmark movies Mom swore she didn’t watch, but here we were.

“Hey,” he said, holding up a grocery store bag. “I got snacks for the drive.”

“I haven’t seen you in weeks, you asshole. Get over here.”

He laughed and stepped into the doorway, dropping the bag. I grabbed his face and kissed him, and he threw his arms around my neck and kissed me right back. Like always, he tasted of sun and salt and home.

I could have stayed wrapped up in him all day but we had a schedule, so I reluctantly pulled back. Matt pressed up on his tiptoes and stole one more kiss, then let me go. He picked up the bag. “So, you ready?”

“I would have been ready yesterday except you had your last exam. How’d that go?”

“Aced it,” he said with a grin.

I looked over his shoulder. “And Dad was so impressed he let you borrow the RAV4?”

“He was always going to let me,” Matt said. “I’m his favorite.”

Hearing him say that so casually made me smile. It was a joke, but it was one he never would have made last year. At least I hoped it was a joke and Dad wasn’t planning on writing Luke and me out of his will or anything.

“Get your stuff,” he said. “It’s six hours to Hungry Mother.”

We’d reserved a campsite for the week at Hungry Mother State Park. We still had our trusty Walmart tent but we’d traded in theyoga mats for a real camping mattress because we were fancy now or something. I couldn’t wait.

I headed back into the house to grab my stuff with Matt beside me. “Oh hey, I saw Layla this morning,” he said. “She must be back in town for spring break.”

“Yeah? How is she?” I asked. I still felt kind of bad that I’d been a shitty boyfriend, even though it hadn’t been deliberate. I just hadn’t been able to give her the affection she deserved because it turned out I was already committed to Matt—I just hadn’t known it yet.

Matt threw me a wry look. “She’s seen us on your Insta. She said her parents found out about us, and they think we’re horrible and sinful, but they also think that because you have a boyfriend now you couldn’t have slept with her in high school, and that means she must still be a virgin. She said, and I quote, ‘Tell Jacob thanks for that.’”

I snorted.

“Also, there was some super hot blond guy with her, so she totally has a type, and her type had condoms in his basket. So good for them.”

“Speaking of condoms…”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like I’m bringing snacks but forgetting condoms and lube. What do you take me for?”

“Just checking.”

“Well, I already checked. A dozen times.”

I laughed. I’d never really been that into sex when I was with Layla, but with Matt it was a whole different ball game. I still didn’t know if the difference was because he was a guy and my attraction to guys was weighted a little heavier than it was to girls, or if it was because it was Matt. But whatever it was, the sex was incredible.

Mattwas incredible.

“Like, dude, what do you do?” Dale had asked me earnestly one night. “Do you toss a coin to see who goes on top, or do you take turns?”

I think throwing my pillow in his face had let him know it was none of his business because he hadn’t asked again. And for the record Matty mostly got to pick what we did because he was bossy as shit, and it turned out I liked that. I liked it alot.

“Did you pack your sketchbook?” I asked him.

“Yup. Sketchbook, snacks, condoms, and boyfriend. That’s everything I need. Plus a cooler full of Mountain Dew.”

“A whole cooler?”

“Well, it’s half Mountain Dew, half Coke. Your mom sent the Coke because, and this is another quote, ‘He’s an asshole when he’s uncaffeinated.’”

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