Page 50 of Poles Apart
“What’s wrong? That wasn’t a normal squeeze of the hand.” Dom looked up into his eyes, and he almost looked away.
“Nothing, just thinking of something that happened on Friday at school, but I’m not going into it now. Another time maybe.” He carried on walking, Dom following.
“Are you sure? Is it to do with that kid’s dad?”
“Yeah, but as I said, we can talk about it later.” He did not want to talk about Dickhead Wilkins today and fought to put him out of his mind. “I meant to mention, though, I’ll be away for a school trip this weekend. We’re off to an outward-bound centre on Friday morning and won’t be back until Sunday afternoon. Means I don’t get to see you.” He brought Dom’s hand up to his lips and kissed it. “I’ll still see you in the week, though, at Abby’s lessons, and maybe we could go on another date before the weekend?”
“I’d like that, but I might be meeting up with Seb and Natalia to talk about teaching at Nava Dance. Natalia and Louis, her boyfriend, have got a part in some dance show, so they will be moving to London. If I say yes, we could move Abby’s lessons there. They have a much better studio, and she could join some group classes too. What do you think?”
“Sounds perfect. I know Abby would love to dance with a group, and it would help her make some new friends. She doesn’t have many. At school, they still see her as the little orphan who lost her parents. The one that’s looked after by her brother.”
“That’s sad, Jacob. I don’t want to pry, but how did you get on after your parents died? Why did you come back?”
Jacob couldn’t remember how much he’d told Dom about his parents. He knew he’d told them his father had killed his mother but not the rest. “I told you how they died and that I came back so Abby didn’t have to move schools. I hated what I was doing and decided to help out at the school she was at, and it went from there. I took my exams and qualified as a teacher.
“We’ve lived here ever since. Not much help around, so I raised Abby myself. I met Colin and Lindsay, and they’ve been a godsend, Lindsay especially. They’ve been good friends to me, and with Lindsay working with kids, she’s been great.”
Jacob turned to Dom as they walked towards a gazebo and sat. “What did you do? I know you said you went to Uni, but then what?” Jacob put his arm along the back of the bench, and Dom leaned into his side.
“I travelled around, dancing in clubs, learning how to pole dance, and entered loads of competitions.” Jacob laughed as Dom rolled his eyes. “Just a lot of dancing, a lot of bitching and too much fucking travelling. But since I’ve been back here in Chester, I’ve been looking after Jordan. And now he has Charlie, his girlfriend.”
“You don’t sound happy about that. Don’t you like her?”
“I’ve only met her a couple of times, and she seems lovely. It’s… I don’t know. Jordan didn’t tell me, and I thought we told each other everything, you know? Then Saturday, he springs it on me that he’s invited her around and wants me to meet her. I suppose I feel a little left out, like he’s not going to need me anymore.”
“Pretty sure that’s not true, but surely this gives you a chance to have some time to yourself, some time for us, maybe?” Jacob looked at Dom again and could see the worry on his face.
“Yeah, you’re right, and it will give me time to maybe start up my teaching again with Seb and Nat. And maybe, we can see where this leads us.” Dom leaned up, kissing his cheek. “Come on, let’s go get some ice cream.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dom
His afternoon out with Jacob had been eventful, to say the least. He certainly hadn’t been expecting a blow job in the park, but he wasn’t complaining. After talking to Jacob a little about how he felt about Jordan and Charlie, he realised that this could be a good thing for both of them.
If, and this was a big if, his brother did hit it off with Charlie, he could be free to do more for himself, start filling up some of that spare time he had. He was admittedly getting bored now.
With a bit of luck, though, the teaching gig with Seb and Nat would be there; he could start to do more. Add in some more dancing in clubs, and he’d be back to earning money again and stop eating into his savings.
When he got home early evening, Jordan was on his own as Charlie had gone to work.
“How was your afternoon?” Dom asked as he walked into the lounge.
“Great. How was yours? I thought you’d sworn off a boyfriend?”
“After Friday, I had, but I re-evaluated after you dropped your bombshell about having a girlfriend.” He was still pissed off, and as much as he didn’t want to upset his brother, he felt he needed him to know how much it had hurt to find out about her like that.
“So, how long have you been talking with her? I’ve got to admit I was surprised. You’ve said nothing, not even a hint.” He had to say he was stunned at his own attitude and could tell his brother was too by the irritated look on his face.
“What, I can’t have a relationship because I’m like this?”
“That’s not what I said at all. Stop putting words in my fucking mouth, Jordan.”
“Yeah, like you were forthcoming about Jacob, and how long ago did that go on?”
“Jacob has nothing to do with this, and what happened between us was years ago. This is new, recent, and now you decide to tell me?”
“Well, maybe I don’t need you hanging around so much these days.” Dom couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
