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 Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 9:18 pm
Oliver smiled at the question and even if it had been an important name he could somehow lay claim to, he couldn’t imagine saying no to Chad. “It’s a good name, it should be on everyone’s list. Well, not everyone’s. But yours, yes. If you like any of the names we like, it just reaffirms that Asher and I have good taste.”
Elliot was still smiling and didn’t seem to want to get up, even though he’d left Asher alone in the kitchen to work on making dinner. He was supposed to be helping to give Chad and Oliver some time to work on reading things, because everyone in the house knew that Elliot was just going to be a distraction if he hung around Chad.
He seemed to know that his time was running short though, so he said, “I hope you guys are hungry, it’s going to be really good tonight. You might have time to finish a chapter before we have to eat, though. Or we could just put on the movie and eat dinner in the living room tonight.”
Which was mostly his excuse to getting to sit extra close to Chad.
Maybe Oliver picked up on that, maybe he didn’t. “Oh, we could do that. Well–what do you think, Chad? Do you want to start reading a chapter now? Or just put on the movie and start reading tomorrow?”
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 2:39 pm
Chad was already missing Elliot, but knew he had to get some more work done before dinner. He wanted to use every moment of time they had together, but knew he was probably being a bit dramatic about it.
He reluctantly sat back up so he wasn’t leaning so heavily against Elliot, and looked back up at Oliver instead. At least he seemed okay with the idea of Chad putting the name on his list. He still wasn’t sure if it was right for him, if only because it sounded like it belonged to someone more… noble than himself.
But he also happened to like how it sounded when Elliot said it.
“Would it be okay to do both?” he wondered, because he did want to read the book, but the temptation to sit close to Elliot was very strong. But this way he could start getting used to how the book was written. He didn’t want to start asking for too much, but the Reids had been so generous to him already.
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 2:51 pm
“Of course,” Oliver smiled. “We can make it through the first chapter. It’s about twelve pages, I think we can do that before dinner. Do you want to read along with me while I read it out loud or do you want to read by yourself?”
He seemed like he’d have been happy with either option and was moving the rest of the books off to the corner of the table to make room.
Elliot had to push himself up but he gave Chad one more quick squeeze before he did so. He didn’t want to interrupt the conversation, so he just smiled and waved before he trotted back into the kitchen. There was the soft sound of voices from the kitchen; they weren’t trying to keep secrets or whisper but it seemed like they were taking ‘study time in the living room’ and ‘don’t be distracting’ seriously.
Although, the smell of dinner had just begun to waft through the air and that was plenty distracting on its own already.
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Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2022 3:06 pm
Chad smiled in return as he watched Elliot make his way back into the kitchen. He really was a good friend, and Chad appreciated him greatly. He wanted to be better… for Elliot, if not for himself.
Which was why, after taking a steadying breath and turning back to look at the book Oliver was holding, Chad held out his hands to take it from him. “I can try reading it out loud,” he offered, because he knew that Oliver wouldn’t judge him. And if he needed help with words, he would be right there.
“Thank you,” he said, because he really couldn’t say it enough, and leaned a little closer against Oliver’s side so he could get more comfortable as he opened the book to the first page.
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