Page 38 of Your Pace or Mine
He was, obviously.
Darius was gorgeous with his long, lean muscles, impeccable posture and rich brown skin. It was more than that, though. It was how utterly normal he seemed, how much more approachable now that they’d spent so much time just talking to each other, that had Jamie a bit lost for words.
Aware that he was making things weird, Jamie spoke. “Nice mansion.”
Darius rolled his eyes, and just like that, the strange tension that had grown between them dissipated. “It’s a townhouse.”
Darius led Jamie into the house. “You can go first,” he said. “My physio, Sebastien, is just setting up in the sitting room. Sorry, I’m a bit behind schedule this morning. I was having a good run and snuck in a couple of extra miles,” Darius explained.
Jamie’s eyes were nearly spinning in his sockets, unable to decide where to look, the curve of Darius’s arse as he walked ahead of him or the opulent surroundings. He focused on the surroundings as best he could. His cock was stirring from the view in front of him, and he wanted to spare everyone the awkwardness of showing up to physio hard.
Original artwork hung on the walls, a surprisingly eclectic mix of landscapes and abstracts. They passed a front room with a baby grand piano and massive crystal chandelier as they made their way down the corridor, which opened into a modern kitchen and living space. There, a man who looked to be roughly their age, with brown curly hair and green eyes behind large, round glasses, was setting up a massage table.
“You must be Jamie,” he said as he straightened, offering a hand for Jamie to shake. “Great to meet you. I’m Sebastien.”
“Good to meet you, too,” Jamie replied. Sebastien’s grip was firm, and he shook Jamie’s hand enthusiastically before turning his attention back to the massage table.
“Seb’s the best physio in London,” Darius announced.
“I don’t know about that, but I’m definitely the only one who’ll put up with this idiot’s inability to follow a recovery plan. You’d think a rest day would kill you with the way he carries on.”
Jamie rounded on Darius. “You’ve given me so much shit about not resting.”
Darius shrugged. “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Sebastien laughed and beckoned Jamie over. “Hop up and I’ll take a look.”
Jamie clambered up onto the table in a manner that was embarrassingly lacking in grace, but hopping up wasn’t quite an option given how his knee was feeling.
“I think it’s his IT band,” Darius started. “He had pain in his hip as well as his knee, and—“
“Darius, maybe put some clothes on and then go make us a cuppa?” Sebastien asked pointedly.
Darius nodded tightly, likely recognising the dismissal for what it was and dashed off.
Once they were alone, Sebastien turned to Jamie. “He told me about the ridiculous plan you two have concocted. It’s interesting, though,” Sebastien mused. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen Darius like this.”
“Like what?”
“Flustered, happy.Interested.”
Jamie rolled his eyes. God, he was picking that trait up from Darius, wasn’t he? “He’s not interested in me. Why would he be interested in me? It’s just pretend.”
Sebastien arched a brow at him. Maybe Jamie was being overly critical of himself; he knew he was nice to look at. He just didn’t think he had much more to offer. People being attracted to him wasn’t exactly a new experience, but Darius hadeverythinggoing for him. He could have anyone he wanted. Why would he bother going for a washed-up dancer with an argumentative streak, questionable ethics and the attention span of a particularly skittish puppy?
“Let’s take a look at what’s going on with your knee.”
Jamie willed himself to stop thinking of Darius and any potential interest he may or may not have. A difficult feat when sitting in his townhouse, with the man himself just a few metresaway, taking an absurdly long time to get dressed and make a few cups of tea.
Sebastien had Jamie flex and bend his knee, then pressed on a couple of spots and asked him to rate the pain.
“I hate to say it, but it looks like Darius was right,” he said after checking Jamie’s hip. “It’s IT band stress, but nothing too serious. We’ll do a bit of massage today if you’re comfortable with that. Your calves and shins have been compensating for your knees and are really tight.”
Jamie nodded, and Sebastien continued. “I’m happy for you to get back to light training, but you should focus on maintaining good form. I can show you how to tape your knee to support it as well. But no hill runs and no acrobatics.”
“Hear that, Darius?” Jamie shouted. “No hill runs.”
Darius’s laugh echoed from the kitchen. He seemed to take that as his cue to carry their cups of tea over to a side table near Jamie and Sebastien, before jogging back to fetch his own.
