Page 33 of Your Pace or Mine
“Of course,” he lied.
His mother sighed, as if she could see all his tells even through the phone. “And call your dad, he’s driving me mad asking about your marathon.”
Jamie laughed. “I will.” At least that wasn’t a lie.
“Good night, love.”
“Night, Ma.”
Jamie disconnected the call and flopped down on his bed, staring up at the cracks in the ceiling. He could hear his flatmates bickering through the thin walls and knew he was in for a restless night. With a sigh, he curled onto his side, picking up his phone again and flicking to Instagram. He had a few new notifications, but only one of them caught his eye. Alike, from Darius Hewitt.
It was surprising because Jamie knew he had been a bit of a dick to him the day before. Jamie had always considered himself more of a lover than a fighter, but something about Darius made him just want to push. To see how much it would take to crack that calm exterior. He’d known he’d gone too far the secondhe’d seen the way Darius’s expression shuttered. He’d touched a nerve.
There was no going back, though, and if Darius was liking photos on his profile from eight bloody months ago, then he couldn’t have been too broken up about it. He thought about the situation for all of thirty seconds before he flicked open his texts.
Jamie
Stalker.
He didn’t expect a reply. It was pushing midnight, and Darius seemed like one of thoseearly to bed, early to risetypes, so Jamie was surprised to see dots appear and then disappear on the screen. When no message came, he let out a disappointed sigh and tossed his phone down on the bed next to him.
It buzzed almost immediately.
Darius
How’s your knee?
Jamie
Just going to ignore your stalking tendencies then?
Darius
Yes.
Despite himself, Jamie found he was smiling down at his phone. It was just such a Darius response.
Darius
Have you booked physio yet?
Jamie
No, I will.
Darius
Ok, take it easy, though. Rest is important.
Jamie
Yes, Mum.
It felt like a natural end to the conversation, but Jamie was feeling restless, somehow unsatisfied by the exchange. Impulsively, he hit the video call button and was rewarded by Darius’s handsome face filling his screen.
It was an objective observation; the man was good-looking. Anyone could see that.
“Hey,” Jamie said softly, suddenly conscious that his flatmates’ argument had ended, and the flat was silent, barring the street noise filtering in from the single pane windows.
