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explained, and Devon smiled widely,
    letting a chuckle slip through. He could definitely see Riley
    as a doctor.
    “Fitting. God, I made friends with a bunch of
    overachievers! What’s wrong with me?” Devon said, with
    theatrics hearing Riley chuckle huskily and watching him
    shake his head a little. “Seriously, I’m a slacker.”
    “It’s not good to be a slacker at this school,” Ethan said in
    his quiet way, and Devon smiled a bit, shaking his head and
    playing with one of the napkins in front of him, shredding it
    idly.
    “Nah, I know. I’m trying to be more focused. After high
    school they kinda figured out I had ADD, so it was really
    hard to concentrate on things. I’m doing better now with
    meds,” he explained, and Blake gave a tiny sort of smile that
    he half-hid. “What?”
    Blake looked back up with wide eyes and raised his
    brows. “What?” he asked, running his hand through his
    hair. Devon was starting to notice that was a tic of his when
    he got nervous.
    “Nothing, you just smiled when I mentioned the
    medication,” Devon said with a shrug, relaxing back into the
    booth.
    “Oh. It’s nothing, really,” he said with a nervous, quiet
    sort of chuckle. “Just that I was depressed for a long time in
    high school, and medication helped me get through school.
    Well, that and my friends.” He shot a grateful, loving smile
    to Ethan.
    “Yeah, I don’t think I would’ve gotten through high
    school if it hadn’t been for my best friend Andy back home,”
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    Joey James Hook

    Devon said with a fond smile. “I’m trying to get him to at
    least move here or go to the school or something, but he says
    he’s not fit for college and that he’s still got a six-month lease
    on his apartment.”
    “Aw,” Blake said with a small, empathetic sort of smile on
    his face. Devon just shrugged a little and let his head roll
    back on his neck.
    “It’s fine, I talk to him pretty much every day anyway so
    it’s no big,” he said with a grin. “He’s pretty much the only
    one who brightens my day sometimes.”
    Riley chuckled and shook his head. “Get all sappy on us,
    why don’t you,” he teased, and Devon looked at him with
    his face all scrunched up.
    “Well, you told us to get to know each other, so eh,” he
    said, and Riley just hit him on the back with his big palm,
    almost knocking him all the way across the table only not
    really. “Oof, you are a fucking oaf.”
    “Yeah, he’s a big oaf,” Blake laughed, glancing at Ethan
    probably to make sure he was okay. That brought Devon’s
    attention to the other man, and he’d realized that he hadn’t
    said a damn word since they’d sat down.
    “So hmm, what’re you studying here, Ethan?” Devon
    asked him, and he watched the way his cheeks colored a
    little at the sudden shift of attention onto him.
    “Uh. Veterinary medicine,” Ethan said with a sheepish
    smile. Devon’s brows rose in surprise and excitement. He
    loved animals.
    “Ooh, that sounds fascinating. What kinda classes do you
    have to take?” he asked, and Ethan looked pleasantly
    surprised that he was so interested in it.
    “Well uhm, like your typical core classes mostly for the
    first year and then you have to take a bunch of classes
    like…” Ethan paused thoughtfully and then began to list off
    all the different classes, “Pharmacology, general pathology,
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    Phoenix

    Histology, gross anatomy, large animal surgery, small
    animal medicine, animal behavior, and like bovine
    procedures. I’m kinda nervous about that last one. Cows
    freak me out.” He let out a hesitant sort of giggle and looked
    away.
    “Wow…that’s really cool,” Devon said with a wide grin
    after stopping to consider it for a few moments. “I think I
    may have just found my major, dude, thanks!”
    Ethan looked up with a wide smile, unhindered by his
    teeth in any way. It was probably the first actually genuine
    expression he’d seen unfettered by nerves, and it was a
    really nice