Page 88 of Worth the Wait

He looked over his shoulder, unable to make out Verity’s form in the shadows around the bar so he pushed the door open and locked it on his way out.

At three-thirty in the morning, the drive to Silverlake wasn’t awful, but it was farther than he was used to. By the time he made it back to the house, he was dead on his feet, kicking his shoes off just inside the front door. He dropped his pants in the hallway, crawling into bed wearing his t-shirt and briefs.

Jack was asleep, but mumbled something and lifted the comforter up to make room for him. Callum backed his way into the sheets and pressed his back against Jack’s chest. Arms wrapped around him and Jack’s hot breath landed against his ear, quickly falling into the rhythm of sleep.

Callum closed his eyes and covered Jack’s hands with his own, Verity’s words echoing through his head as he tumbled into a dream.

It’s the right thing.

24

Jack

“Landon said Gregory barbeques a lot,”Jack said, ringing the doorbell at Gregory’s house. Callum was pressed against his side, practically vibrating with tension because Jack still hadn’t allowed him to come.

He hadn’t been joking when he told Callum he didn’t do pain, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t come up with new and creative ways to torture him.

“Cool,” was the only reply Callum could manage.

Landon answered the door, smiling broadly with a half-empty beer in his hand.

“Hey!” he greeted, waving to Callum specifically.

“Hey, Landon,” he replied.

Landon tilted his head and gave Callum a knowing look. “Don’t let this be weird, okay? I thought it would be at first when I met Gregory’s friends, but it was fine. And it’ll be fine for you too. I’m not your boss here, okay?”

“Sure,” Callum answered, a little stiff.

Jack laughed, knowing the majority of Callum’s awkwardness was a result of his horniness, not his discomfort at fraternizing with his boss.

“Get your bartender a drink, Landon,” he said, pushing Callum in through the doorway.

Landon glared at Jack then rolled his eyes, tipping his head toward the backyard which was visible through the house.

“There’s a fridge on the deck. Everyone is out back.”

Jack took Callum’s hand and led him to the sliding glass door in the back of the house. There were a handful of people there that he recognized. Landon of course, and Gregory, Justin and Micah, Verity, and not surprisingly, Aaron.

Justin saw them first and waved, coming over and embracing them both into a hug.

“Are you excited for your first day of work on Monday?” Justin asked.

“It’s been nice having some time off, but I’m definitely ready to get back to work.” Jack cracked his knuckles.

“Are you ready for him to go to work?” Justin asked Callum with a knowing laugh.

“I feel like he just got here. It’ll be hard to see him with our schedules, I think. We’ll see.” Callum shrugged.

“Sometimes it’s nice to have alone time,” Micah shared, joining the group and passing beers to him and Callum.

“You’re on thin ice, boy,” Justin snapped.

Micah chewed his lip between his teeth and said nothing.

“I’m sorry,” Callum blurted, “but what’s going on with you two? You’ve been the steadiest couple I’ve seen at Rapture for years now and then that curly-haired friend of yours vanished and it’s like you can’t stand to be in the same room. It sort of breaks my heart.”

Callum pressed his body against Jack’s, wrapped his arms around his waist, and held him. Tight. Secure. Steady. Jack patted Callum’s hands and kissed his forehead softly.