Page 40 of The Way Home

Jamie floated around the space, taking in everything like it was the first time he’d been in their flat. Of course, his eyes instantly stuck to the bookshelf, and he floated on over to investigate, just like the first night they’d met.

Caleb’s stomach churned at the way Jamie looked so… lost. It was hard to watch.

Slipping away, Caleb grabbed Jamie’s bags and took them into the bedroom. Even with the car ride over, he was still running on the high of getting that phone call. After two weeks of littlecommunication, Jamie had actuallycalledhim. Asked him to come pick him up and bring him to London. Said he wanted to… try.

Whatever that meant.

Probablytryto feel normal, in the event that his memories came back? The doctor had told Caleb that there was about a fifty-fifty chance, but…

Caleb shook the thoughts away. Whatevertrymeant, Caleb would make damn sure this place felt good for Jamie. Familiar and wonderful and cozy. He’d make sure it was a place Jamie wanted to stay.

Returning to the kitchen, Caleb plopped the kettle onto the stovetop. He could feel Jamie watching him from behind.

“I know a lot of this is new to you,” Caleb said, clicking on the burner. “So don’t be afraid to ask questions. I’m an open book.”

“Thanks.” When Caleb turned back around, Jamie was inspecting the bookshelf closely. His eyebrows pinched tight in thought, and his arms were crossed, gaze lingering on Caleb’s Bluetooth record player shoved in the corner of the bottom shelf.

“That connects to your phone,” Caleb said, nodding to the device.

“Right.” Jamie continued to frown down at it, like it was the devil.

Looking closer, Caleb could already see the influence Maggie had on her son after just a few weeks of having him home. His curls had been trimmed short, and Caleb itched to run his hands through them like he used to. Watch his eyes flutter closed when he scratched his head. His eyes wandered lower, and Caleb’s brain practically short-circuited at the fit of those trousers. Goddam, his ass looked so fine in them—

“Are all of these mine?” Jamie asked, pointing to the books on the shelves.

“Half of them. The neat half.” Caleb smirked as he got the honey from the cabinet. “You were polite about it at first, but when we moved in, you insisted that the books needed to be more orderly.” He smiled fondly, wondering if it was too soon to mentionthat books were theonlything Jamie was orderly about. Everything else was pure clutter.

“Tea?” he asked instead.

“Oh. Yeah, thanks.” Jamie turned, his cheeks flushed, and it made his green eyes sparkle. His eyes raked down Caleb’s body and back up. It felt like their first few weeks together all over again, with Jamie not-so-subtly staring at Caleb’s body with absolutely no idea what to do or say.

The difference was that Caleb didn’t feel like it would be appropriate to make a move on him, like he had once. No matter how horny he was for his man. Not under the circumstances.

“Here you go.” Caleb slid Jamie’s tea to the edge of the marble counter. Jamie sat on one of the stools and took a sip.

“Wow, it’s perfect.”

“Well, I know how you like it. Milk, no sugar. Touch of honey.”

“Right.”

Jamie’s eyes flicked around the room curiously, lingering for a moment on the rubbish can. A “Garbage Can” label covered up a bigger “Rubbish” label.

“I guess that would be me?” He indicated the can and smiled. A dimple appeared in his right cheek, and Caleb felt like he deserved a fucking medal for earning it.

“Yeah. You love to make fun of my Americanisms.”

With a small chuckle, Jamie’s eyes continued their exploration. His gaze landed on the fridge. “Oh, shit. Your birthday…”

Goddamn it. The fridge calendar. Caleb hadn’t bothered to change it to February, with all the chaos of the accident, and it still had a big circle on it with hearts and balloons and screamedCaleb’s birthday!

Caleb shuffled in front of the fridge to block it. “Oh, it’s fine. Sorry, I tried to clean up before you got here.” He winced, thinking about having to toss away all of the birthday decorations that Jamie bought for his surprise party. Or all those cupcakes that he didn’t have the appetite to enjoy. The risotto ingredients…

“I’m sorry,” Jamie said quietly. “I’ll get you something for your birthday, I promise.”

“You actually already did.” Caleb turned and opened the door to the hall closet. He pulled out the brand new, way-too-expensive athletic bag that Jamie had presented to him a few days before his birthday, too impatient to wait.

“Oh.” Jamie’s eyes locked on the bag. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. With a sniff, he said. “Right.”