Page 51 of Your Pace or Mine
There was a shift in Jamie’s posture, as though he was uncomfortable with the turn their conversation had taken. Darius hadn’t meant to bring down the mood, but thinking about Anders and his Olympic chances always did that for him lately.
Jamie rallied and fixed Darius with a teasing grin as he took another bite of cake. “Okay, serious talk,” Jamie said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “What was the most embarrassing moment you’ve had during a competition?” he asked.
Darius groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “You’re relentless.”
“Come on,” Jamie urged, leaning forward. “It can’t be worse than spinning the wrong direction at press night and knocking down three fake trees, you should’ve seen the reviews—Timber! A Spin-tacular Fiasco comes to the West End.”
Darius laughed, shaking his head. “You’re having me on!”
“No, I swear, I cut out the headline and stuck it on my wall with blue tack,” Jamie laughed easily in reply.
Darius’s laughter turned unmistakably fond. “Of course you did,” he conceded. “Fine. Nationals, a couple of years ago. I was warming up, and my shorts split right down the middle. Didn’t notice until I was halfway through stretching. The entire team saw, probably most of the spectators as well.”
Jamie laughed. “That’s amazing. Please tell me there’s photographic evidence.”
“There isn’t,” Darius said, his mock-serious tone earning another bout of laughter from Jamie. “And if there were, I’d burn it.”
From there, conversation naturally stuck to lighter topics, though Darius couldn’t help but notice the light hadn’t completely returned to Jamie’s eyes.
Darius’s phone started to buzz on the table. He ignored it the first time, but it was incessant.
Jamie glared at it. “Someone’s popular,” he groused.
“I should…” Darius started.
Jamie nodded tightly. “Yeah, don’t keep them waiting.”
He shot an apologetic look at Jamie and slid out of the booth to take the call outside. It was his father. Again.
“Darius, I have been trying to get hold of you all day,” his father said as soon as he answered.
Darius swallowed. “Apologies, Father. I’ve been training.”
“You’ve been up to plenty other than training. I’ve seen the articles, Darius. A warning would have been appreciated; I could have put my press team on this.”
Darius tried to get a word in, but his father was nowhere near done.
“And what do you even know about this man? Where is he from? Who are his parents? Have you made sure…”
“Father, Stop. Please,” Darius interrupted. “Jamie is one of the best people I’ve ever met. I understand that you’re concerned, and I’m sorry about the papers, but it was unavoidable.”
“What if this affects your chances for the Olympics?”
“I don’t think my chances could get much worse at this point.”
“You need to run London, Darius. A strong win is the only thing that will sway the committee now.”
“I don’t think that’s true. I know what I’m doing, we have a plan.”
“Darius, please take this seriously.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Darius saw Jamie exit the tea shop and peer over at him, eyebrow arched in askance.
Darius sighed. “I have to go. I am taking this seriously. I’m serious about him, and there’s no taking this back, anyway.”
He hung up and sagged against the wall. Jamie was over in a flash. “Are you okay? I’m sorry, I thought… Well, it doesn’t matter, but… God, I haven’t even checked if you’re feeling okay after the articles. I’m the worst fake boyfriend ever.”
“I’m fine, Jamie. Just, my father is worried about me. Or at least, he’s worried about my career.”
