“It almost feels like it didn’t, right?” Jude said. He then grabbed Nally’s hand and squeezed it and whispered, “But it did.”
His breath tickled against Nally’s ear, and his dick had the audacity to perk up just as they turned the corner to enter the flat.
“Mum said you two were back,” Ryan greeted them from the table where he and Nally’s dad sat.
“The food is in here,” Janice called from the kitchen.
Normal. Completely and utterly normal. So much that it made the hair stand up on the back of Nally’s neck as he and Jude headed into the kitchen to grab plates.
“Oh, Nally, dear,” Janice said as she helped them serve themselves, “I need your final answer on whether you’ll be able to teach your composition class this winter. You’ve got a list the size of the English Channel of people who’ve joined the waitlist, and I’m going to have to tell them something sooner or later.”
“Um, I…I don’t know,” Nally said, carrying his plate back to the dining table. “I still haven’t worked out what sort of commitment Silver Productions wants from me, or if I’ll have the time.”
Just like that, normal blasted into a thousand pieces and the other shoe that Nally had been terrified of dropping dangled over him again. His anxiety before Scotland hadn’t just been about him and Jude, it had been about fame and change and the fact that his life wasn’t his own anymore.
“We need to finalize the winter schedule soon,” Robert said as Nally and Jude took seats side by side at the table. “If youcan’t teach composition, I’d like to see if cousin Brentford would be willing to give piano lessons.”
A whole other wave of guilt swelled up, ready to swallow Nally. “Does Brent want to teach piano?” he asked. Was he holding back one of his cousins from doing something he loved and maybe earning some money at the same time.
“He’s been whispering in my ear about it for a while, yes,” Robert said.
“Oh.” Nally stared at his full plate, his appetite suddenly gone.
Under the table, Jude reached for his hand. As soon as their skin touched, Nally gripped Jude’s hand tightly.
“Breathe, love,” Jude told him. “No one is asking you to give up your firstborn child. It’s just a class. It’s just your career.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Nally replied, managing a wry smile. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be managing my career.”
“So do you want me to make all the decisions for you?” Jude asked. “Because I’d tell you to sign Silver Productions’ contract, with a clause allowing you to work on your own compositions and perform them with major orchestras, and then I’d get us a lovely beach house in Barbados so we can deal with it all while lounging under the sun, sipping piña coladas.”
Nally laughed, immediately feeling better. He squeezed Jude’s hand, then let go and started in on his supper.
He paused when he realized the rest of the table was silent. Ryan and their dad stared at Nally and Jude with barely concealed grins. Janice leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen, arms crossed, a giddy smile lighting her face.
“What?” Nally asked, playing ignorant.
“Oh, nothing, nothing,” Robert said, waving a hand, then grabbing his plate and standing. “I’ve got more scheduling work to do.”
“I’m glad you’re finally getting on with things,” Janice said before pushing away from the doorframe and joining Robert in the kitchen.
“She wasn’t talking to Dad,” Ryan said, his grin even wider.
“Yes, I know,” Nally snapped, rolling his eyes at his brother, although the reaction in no way reflected his sudden, towering anxiety or the way his heart thumped hard against his ribs. He and Jude had been found out within seconds. That didn’t feel like a good sign.
“I should really be getting back to London,” Jude said a few minutes later, clearing his throat and standing. “Mum’s been texting, wondering where I am since Dad saw Nally’s post about us and thinks we should have made it home by now.”
“Your dad follows me on social media?” Nally asked as Jude stood with his plate.
“Of course he does,” Jude said. “He loves you.” He then kissed Nally’s cheek before striding off into the kitchen.
“He wasn’t talking about his Dad,” Ryan said, suppressing a laugh.
“Yes, I know,” Nally replied through gritted teeth.
Ryan laughed out loud, which had Nally’s face heating to epic proportions.
Jude swept back through the main room a moment later, saying his goodbyes to everyone and promising to call Nally, which would probably happen before he even reached home. Janice and Robert followed him out of the flat, talking about scheduling and staff meetings and a dozen workaday things they needed to do for the arts center.
