Chapter 4 Playing House #3
Alex laughed softly.
"You always make everything sound simple."
"It's usually not simple."
Jamie continued the gentle massage.
"But people deserve someone reminding them to slow down."
The room gradually grew quieter.
Marcus and Daniel moved onto the porch to watch the sunset.
Emma curled up with a novel beside the window.
The fire crackled softly while warm light filled the cabin.
Jamie continued working patiently.
Alex's shoulders slowly loosened beneath his hands.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes.
The silence felt comfortable.
Peaceful.
Eventually Alex smiled without opening his eyes.
"You know..."
"Hm?"
"I could get used to this."
Jamie laughed quietly.
"I had a feeling."
"I should hire you."
"As your massage therapist?"
Alex smiled.
"No."
Jamie waited.
"My personal assistant."
Jamie chuckled.
"I think I'd be terrible at construction."
"You'd keep me alive."
Jamie gently shook his head.
"I already try."
Alex opened one eye just enough to glance back at him.
"I know."
His voice carried an unusual warmth.
"I've been thinking about something."
"What?"
"You take care of everyone."
Jamie shrugged.
"I like helping."
"You feed people."
Jamie smiled.
"I do."
"You remember everything."
"I try."
"You somehow know when I'm stressed before I say anything."
Jamie looked thoughtful.
"You get this little line right here."
He gently tapped the space between Alex's eyebrows.
"It only appears when you're worrying."
Alex laughed.
"I didn't know that."
"I notice things."
"You definitely do."
Jamie smiled.
"It's part of my job."
"No."
Alex shook his head.
"It's part of who you are."
Jamie's hands slowed.
No one had ever described him that way before.
Alex looked toward the dancing flames in the fireplace.
"You know what the funny part is?"
"What?"
"I spent years thinking I didn't need anyone."
Jamie stayed quiet.
"I thought independence meant doing everything alone."
He smiled to himself.
"Turns out..."
Jamie waited.
"...I was completely wrong."
The words settled softly between them.
Jamie felt something warm spread through his chest.
Alex suddenly laughed under his breath.
"What?"
He opened his eyes fully and looked up at Jamie.
"I was just thinking..."
Jamie smiled.
"Dangerous."
"Very."
Alex stretched his shoulders experimentally.
"They already feel better."
"I'm glad."
He smiled lazily.
"I swear..."
Jamie tilted his head.
"...you're the wife I never knew I needed."
For a heartbeat the world seemed to stop.
The fire crackled.
Wind brushed gently against the cabin windows.
Somewhere outside, Marcus laughed at something Daniel had said.
Jamie stared at Alex.
Then, remembering every joke over the past few weeks, he burst into laughter.
"I think Emma's been influencing you."
Alex laughed too.
"Probably."
"You realize she's never letting you forget you said that."
"I know."
Jamie shook his head with exaggerated disappointment.
"I should've charged you for this massage."
Alex grinned.
"Too late."
"Next time it'll cost extra."
"I'll risk it."
The conversation drifted naturally toward lighter topics.
They teased Marcus about his snack collection.
Daniel challenged Alex to another card game.
Emma insisted everyone watch the stars before bed.
As the evening wore on, the cabin grew quieter.
One by one, everyone excused themselves for the night.
Jamie remained downstairs to tidy the living room.
He gathered empty mugs, folded blankets, and added another log to the dying fire.
When he turned around, he found Alex asleep in the armchair.
His head rested against the cushion, one hand still lying where Jamie had finished massaging his shoulder.
The stress lines had disappeared from his face.
For once, he looked completely peaceful.
Jamie smiled softly.
He quietly picked up the blanket draped over the sofa and gently tucked it around Alex's shoulders, careful not to wake him.
Alex stirred only slightly before settling again.
Jamie stood there for a long moment.
The cabin was silent except for the soft crackle of burning wood.
His eyes lingered on Alex's relaxed face.
He thought about the joke.
"You're the wife I never knew I needed."
Everyone laughed whenever people called him Alex's wife.
He laughed too.
It was easier that way.
Safer.
Because if he admitted how much those jokes secretly meant to him, everything between them could change.
Jamie reached out and lightly brushed a strand of hair away from Alex's forehead before quickly pulling his hand back.
He shouldn't want this.
He shouldn't want someone who still believed they were simply best friends.
Yet his heart refused to listen.
Looking at Alex sleeping peacefully beside the fire, Jamie let himself whisper the truth he would never dare say aloud.
"I wish that joke were real."
The words disappeared into the quiet cabin, carried away by the warmth of the fire before anyone else could hear them.
Jamie smiled sadly to himself, turned off the last lamp, and quietly made his way upstairs, leaving his heart behind in the room with the man who had unknowingly become the center of it.
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