Chapter 20
April
“So, what’s the latest?” Dropping her bag on the floor, Sally plopped herself in the chair across from Caleb’s desk. Her red hair was damp from the rain.
Caleb glanced around the training room, wondering when they had started a conversation. “The latest…?”
Angie pranced into the room behind her and crossed her arms. “Jamie, of course. How are things at home?”
Caleb’s heart did a nervous little tumble. He was anxious as hell for things to go back to normal with Jamie, but they still felt…weird.
“That bad?” Angie frowned and pulled up a chair. “Tell us everything.”
“Oi!” Dillion jogged into the room, fresh from practice. “We talking about Jamie? He doing okay?” She perched herself on the corner of Caleb’s desk, and he leaned back.
Sally pulled out her phone. “He’s fine, I chatted with him this morning. It’s Caleb that’s not fine.”
“What?” Caleb leaned forward to snatch her phone. “You’re talking to Jamie?”
She held it out of reach. “Duh. We’re friends.”
“If Jamie’s fine,” Angie said, “then what’s wrong? You still have a dark cloud over your head, Caleb. I thought he was back home.”
Taking a deep breath, Caleb pressed both palms against his eyes. He wasn’t proud of it, but the week Jamie had been at Ellie’s, he was a mess. The girls noticed immediately and forced him to take some days off work.
“You guys are really nosy, you know that?”
Four pairs of eyes glared at him, waiting for him to share. He knew they wouldn’t let it go.
“Yes, Jamie is home. And things are fine. We are just… figuring out a new normal. I guess.”
“A new normal?” Sally asked. “What’s that mean?”
Never one to beat around the bush, Dillion asked, “You thinking about breaking up?”
Caleb’s head shot up. “No. We’re not breaking up.”
Sally slapped her teammate on the shoulder. “Dillion, seriously?”
“Then what’s weird?”
Caleb frowned. “It’s me… I’m being weird. Jamie’s really trying, but I can’t stop worrying that he’ll leave again.”
They all fell silent, sending glances to each other in their secret teammate code.
Sally cleared her throat. “Maybe… maybe you have to try, too.”
Another silence stretched.
Caleb sighed. She was right.
Dillion stood and stretched her arms. “Alright, we gotta go. Team meeting. Get out of here, Caleb. Go see your man.”
Angie and Sally hopped up, giving him fist bumps.
“You got this!”
“Don’t worry, Caleb!”
“He loves ya!”
Caleb packed up his things and headed home.
After an extremely wet drive home, Caleb bolted into the apartment building and shook his head like a wet dog, water droplets flying everywhere. He liked pretty much everything else about London and living abroad, but Christ—did it ever stop raining? It was April, for God’s sake.
At least the Chelsea raincoat was decent quality and kept him mostly dry.
Eager to get the hell out of his soggy shoes, Caleb unlocked the door and rushed inside, toeing off his trainers and shrugging out of the coat in one clumsy motion.
His shoulder protested, the quick tug sending a bolt of pain through it.
“Hey, J! I’m—” He froze as he straightened and noticed Jamie standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room.
“Holy shit,” Caleb said, striding forward in damp socks and glancing around. “You cleaned.”
“Oh.” Jamie startled and looked around, like he hadn’t tidied and organized the entire living room. “Oh. Yeah, I did.”
Jamie’s hair was styled neatly, the way he wore it to work, but he’d already changed into sweatpants that hugged his biker thighs perfectly and the faded Coca Cola T-shirt he’d stolen from Caleb’s drawer. It was too big for him and made his eyes look impossibly green.
Caleb loved him like this.
All soft and comfortable, with his glasses perched on his nose. His eyes were open and bright, tracking Caleb eagerly as he moved across the room.
“Thank you,” Caleb said, striding forward and stopping in front of him.
“No worries,” Jamie replied. “I know I produce a lot of clutter.”
It was true, Jamie produced a lot of clutter. Always leaving his wallet on one surface, his keys on another. Even though it was 2025, somehow he still carried around loose change. Caleb found it adorable and, weirdly, also relieving that he was treating the apartment like home again.
“Are you playing music, too?”
“Yeah!” Jamie smiled proudly, both dimples appearing. “I finally figured out how to use Bluetooth.”
Caleb’s gaze flicked to the record player on the bookshelf, recognizing the lo-fi channel. One of his favorite oldie mixes.
His eyes snapped back to Jamie’s. For a second, he wondered if he remembered this song from the first time he’d come over. The first time he’d ever laid hands on Jamie, or run his fingers through those gorgeous curls.
Soft green eyes met his, and a light blush crept into the tops of his cheekbones.
Jamie knew exactly what this song meant to him.
His hands found Caleb’s wrists and gently tugged him closer. “Come here.” The contact sent a stutter through Caleb’s chest. Uncharacteristically confident fingers walked up Caleb’s arms, tracing the lines of muscle, and settled on his biceps.
They were close enough now that Caleb could smell the coffee and paper on Jamie. Work Jamie, he called him in his head. The sweet, brilliant library version he’d fallen in love with years ago.
“So.” Jamie’s eyes traced Caleb’s face. “I have a question for you.”
“Okay,” Caleb said, trying to steady the rush in his chest. He could tell Jamie was nervous, but in that determined way he got when he was ready to conquer his fear.
“Would you, erm—” Jamie chewed on his bottom lip. “Do you have Saturday off still?”
“I have a session with Angie in the morning, but the rest of the day I’m free.”
“Oh.” His frown deepened, and Caleb wanted nothing more than to make his dimples appear again. “What about in the evening?”
Caleb flashed an encouraging smile. “I’m free in the evening.”
The blush coloring his cheeks deepened. “Would you want to go on a date? With me?”
Caleb’s heart skipped. “A date?”
“Yeah. Like, a proper date.” His British accent lifted ever so slightly on the word proper, and it was so fucking cute. “We haven’t been on one since February, and… I have some ideas.”
Fear and doubt flooded his system, but he did his best to shake them away. Sally’s voice echoed in his head.
Maybe you have to try, too.
Reaching forward, Caleb settled his hands on Jamie’s hips and gave a light squeeze. He slid his hands beneath the hem of the old Coca-Cola shirt, making Jamie shiver. He would not let his fears keep him from this man.
“Hmm… do I want to go on a date with you?” he mused, palms splayed across Jamie’s lower back. His skin was delightfully warm. “I’ll have to check my schedule…”
Jamie rolled his eyes. “I can find someone else if you’re busy.”
Caleb tugged him forward, drawing out a surprised gasp. Leaning into the soft skin of Jamie’s neck, he dropped his voice low. “Don’t you dare.”
His hands journeyed up Jamie’s spine to his shoulders, enjoying the way he arched into the touch, and his mouth fell open on a soft sigh. This was all it took to make them feral for each other. Small touches and light caresses. The air in the room shifted from thick to fucking sweltering.
They were both hard, that much was painfully obvious, judging by the bulges in their pants, and it took every ounce of Caleb’s self-control not to carry Jamie straight to the bedroom and do unholy things to him.
“Where are you taking me on this date?” Caleb murmured against his throat.
Jamie’s grip tightened on Caleb’s biceps like he was holding on for dear life.
“It’s, uh… a surprise.”
Caleb smiled, placing a gentle kiss just below his ear.
“A surprise?” God, it was pathetic how giddy this made him. “So you have a plan, then?”
He felt Jamie’s smile before he saw it, and when he glanced to his left, pride swelled in his chest.
There’s that dimple.
“Of course I do.”
“I can’t wait,” he said softly, nuzzling into Jamie’s hair. Jamie’s hands slid higher, wrapping around his shoulders in a full hug.
They stood like that for a while, their chests rising and falling in sync. Even this—just hugging—felt like a delicacy to Caleb.
Maybe it was the nostalgia of the music, or the feeling of Jamie in his arms, but Caleb was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to cry.
For many reasons, probably, but right now, he just felt consumed with love for this man.
And even though he couldn’t say it, he took a rare moment to let it engulf him.
It was such a specific kind of love, one he felt only for Jamie. And he remembered feeling it just as potently the night he proposed.
He thought of the Jenga tower, and Ellie’s words—that Jamie would fall in love with him again. Caleb couldn’t help but feel like this was, at the very least, a step in the right direction.
A new tile on their Jenga tower.
By sheer stubbornness, Jamie willed Saturday into arriving faster. The work week flew by, with JB helping him iron out all the details of the date.
Their apartment buzzed with anticipation, effectively knocking down the wall of awkwardness that had been there the first few days Jamie was home.
When Saturday night rolled around, it somehow wasn’t raining.
A miracle during springtime in London, and ideal considering everything Jamie had planned was within walking distance of their flat.
He thought a nice stroll would be more romantic than taking the Tube.
“You look nice,” Caleb said, bouncing out of the bedroom with the energy of a small puppy and pecking him on the cheek.
It was nice, seeing him so giddy. Ever since Jamie had asked him on the date, it seemed he was a little more at ease around their home. He still fussed over Jamie, checked up on his health every two seconds, but he wasn’t being quite so… careful.
Which was exactly what Jamie wanted. Tonight, Jamie wanted him to feel relaxed. For once, Jamie wanted to do the spoiling.