“I called John,” Ollie said, and when Sam looked up again, he realized Ollie had turned to face him, his arms crossed lightly over his chest as he half-sat on the desk.
“Oh?”
Ollie nodded and then straightened up, pushing himself away from the desk. “He’s going to send me some of the data files I need so I can finish working on my presentation. It’s... It has to be finished early so it can be approved by our legal team.”
“Legal team?” Sam asked, and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he took a couple of careful steps toward Ollie.
“Yeah. I guess they need at least three weeks. The whole presentation plus my notes on what I plan to say will have to be reviewed by Dr. Camden himself and the legal team and the medical writing team,” Ollie explained. “Most of the talk has already gone through review at least once, but there’s new data and conclusions that need to be reviewed, and that’ll take time.”
Sam nodded, trying to push away the guilt he felt for forcing Ollie to leave work at such an important time. Yet another thing.
He hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes until he felt Ollie’s hands settle low on his chest.
“Dinner should be delivered in just a few minutes,” Ollie said quietly. “I’m gonna take a quick shower.”
Sam nodded and opened his eyes, swallowing back his guilt. He carefully lifted up both hands and set them on Ollie’s upper arms, and he tried to hide the huge wave of relief he felt when Ollie didn’t flinch away.
“Yeah, okay, um...” His brain didn’t seem to want to work, but he shook off the feeling of sluggishness and let out a short breath to reset himself. “Yeah, you take a shower, and when dinner gets here, I’ll get it all set up and...”
With a gentle smile, Ollie nodded and then tentatively stretched up and kissed Sam on the lips. It was short and sweet and tender—a far cry from the passionate kisses they’d shared earlier. Yet Sam thought maybe it was the best kiss they’d had all day long. When Ollie pulled away, Sam saw a hint of a blush,and he reached up slowly and cupped Ollie’s cheek. Ollie covered Sam’s hand with his own, then turned to kiss Sam’s palm.
“We’re okay,” Ollie said quietly. “I’m... I’m okay, Sam.”
Just hearing his boyfriend’s words made Sam feel another rush of relief, and he smiled weakly and then dipped down to kiss Ollie again—another of those same light, gentle kisses. “I love you so much, Ollie. I—” He shook his head to stop himself from apologizing, and when Ollie’s hands came back to rest on his chest, Sam pulled Ollie into another careful embrace. “I love you so much,” he repeated, his voice almost a whisper. He kissed Ollie’s cheek one more time before Ollie straightened up again and then tilted his head toward the bathroom.
“I’m gonna hop in the shower now.”
Sam just nodded, and Ollie smiled and then turned to grab some clean clothes from the duffle bag—or rather from the bed, since the contents of the duffle bag were strewn all over, thanks to whatever had been going through Sam’s head earlier. Some frantic, exhaustion-charged worry about only having a few changes of clean clothes, which definitely wouldn’t be enough to get him through the week, much less the... weeks. He really hadn’t been thinking straight. At all.
With another small smile, Ollie disappeared into the bathroom, and a few moments later, Sam heard the shower turn on. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, trying again to banish that heavy feeling of guilt that wanted to settle over him, and he set to work straightening up the room. He moved their clothes into the dresser, plugged in their cell phone chargers, and pulled the foot rest away from the loveseat so they’d have a place to sit together to eat dinner.
Then, for the first time in several hours, he sat down and pulled out his cell phone. His notifications showed three text messages—two from Katherine and one from Eduardo—as well as one voicemail, which looked to be from his boss, Mike.Although he really needed to talk with Mike about the fact that he wouldn’t be back in Seattle right away, he knew Mike would be out of the office by now. So instead, he clicked on Eduardo’s text message. It was just a short, simple note, but Sam couldn’t help smiling with gratitude as he read it.
Eduardo Romero (5:06 p.m.):Hey man, hope all’s going well there. We’re all rooting for your uncle to get well soon. Mike might call you—Byrne loved the final designs and is ready to move forward. Good work, man. ttyl
He typed out a quick message thanking Eduardo and then tapped on Katherine’s messages, both of which were quite a bit longer. And one of which featured one of the most adorable photos of JoJo Sam had ever seen.
Katherine (6:12 p.m.):Thanks for the updates! :) I’m sooooo happy to hear the surgery was successful and that Barry’s doing well. As you can see, JoJo is quite happy too. ;) I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on, and I bet of a lot of it is overwhelming, but I just wanted to make sure you remember this, Sam (and so I’ll remind you because that’s what someone who loves you should do, especially since I can’t be there to just give you a big hug!): you are a strong, kind, caring man, and you are loved. SO much. And you deserve ALL that love, Sam. All of it. :) Love you both! XOXOXO
Katherine (6:28 p.m.):Oh! I just remembered you’d said the print you purchased for Ollie’s birthday is supposed to be delivered this week. Thursday, I think? Will you be home by then? If not, I’m happy to meet them at Ollie’s apartment. Just let me know. I don’t have much going on this week, and my work schedule is plenty flexible. Love you! XOXOXO
He tapped on the picture of JoJo, and for some reason, seeing the silly pup, with her characteristic grin, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth and her tail obviously wagging, Sam felt a wave of homesickness and the tickle of tears in his eyes. He shook his head and smiled, then quickly typed several messages in response.
Sam (7:49 p.m.):You’re the best Mrs. E. Seriously. I don’t know if I tell you that enough.
Sam (7:50 p.m.):It hasn’t been the easiest day, but getting your messages just now means a lot to me. I love you too, and I appreciate your support more than you know.
Sam (7:51 p.m.):And yes! I’d forgotten about the delivery. It’s supposed to be Thursday at 10. Ollie wanted it hung in the living room on the wall behind the couch. Let me know if that’s a problem, and I’ll call them to reschedule.
Sam (7:52 p.m.):I really appreciate it. Love you. <3
Dinner arrived not long after he finished sending his last message, and by the time Ollie exited the bathroom—looking refreshed and clean-shaven and quite comfortable in his pajama pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt—Sam had gotten everything arranged. There was a small but functional side table that he’d been able to move to just in front of the loveseat, and he’d put both of their dinner plates and their drinks on it, although...
“So... which one’s mine?” he asked, grinning as Ollie crossed the room toward him.
Ollie blinked, a momentary look of confusion crossing his face, and then looked down at the plates. “Oh, right.” He smiled and glanced back up at Sam. “The BLT’s yours. The salad’s mine.”
“Ahh, perfect. I mean, the salad looks great too, but—”
