Trying to ignore the press of his thigh against mine, I focus on one of the points we need to talk through. “I’m really sorry for just turning up like this.”
“No you’re not.” He snorts.
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m not. But I am sorry for talking about you to Lucas and Sam.” James places his hand on my knee and squeezes. Prior to this moment, I’d not realized there was nerve running directly from kneecap to dick, but hey, you learn something new everyday.
“I know you are. Forget about that now. Tell me what’s happening with the house.”
The load just being in James and Dylan’s presence had lifted, returns tenfold.
“When Mom, or Grandpa actually, first told us about the mortgage problem, Mom made it sound like it was a new thing. But it’s been dragging on for almost a year. Legal proceedings had already begun, and yeah. There’s nothing we can do. The house will be sold at auction in two weeks.”
“Two weeks? That’s it? You have to just pack up your life and be gone in two weeks.”
“No, the auction is in two weeks. We have to be out in nine days.”
James flops against the back of the sofa.
“That’s … shit Cub that sucks. I’m so sorry. What are you going to do?”
“Well that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. The plan was always for me to finish college and go straight into the NHL, but maybe they could play me in the AHL for a bit. I don’t really care, I just need money.”
“Cory. Please don’t tell me you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
“Are you thinking I was thinking of asking my agent to reach out to Montreal if they would be interested in calling me up now?”
“Yeah, nah, that’s not happening. No fucking way am I letting that happen.”
“You’re not letting that happen?” I’m feigning insult but, damn, possessive Jamie is hot.
“Damn straight I’m not. You can’t just leave. What about m … school? What about … School?”
He was totally going to saymethen, but I let it slide ‘cause his ‘stache is twitching so hard it may fall off.
“Fuck school. Mom has lost everything because of me and hockey. I have years to finish my degree once I retire, but Mom and Cherry and Billie need a roof over their heads now. If Montreal won’t take me, I’m quitting hockey and school and getting a job.”
James folds forward rubbing his hands over his face. “I get what you’re saying, but, wait.” In a flash he’s on his feet pacing the room before me. “It’s perfect. It’s just sitting there empty.”
“What’s empty?”
“My apartment, Cubby. That big fancy three bedder that I sucked you …” He blushes, “well, you know the one. It’s empty. You and your family can move into my apartment. You can stay as long as you need. You don’t have to leave me.”
A perfect solution, even if it’s temporary, is being handed to me on a silver platter. I should be calling Mom and Cherry, jumping for freaking joy. But I’m incapable of movement, my brain snagged on six words,you don’t have to leave me.
We’ve been sittingon the couch for potentially hours. Talking about nothing and everything, but especially comics, his ideas for the next chapter of Love Comes in Green. All in all, the last few hours have confirmed what I’ve long suspected.
I’m falling for him.
I’ve also been arguing with him. He won the battle over me calling off my agent, but this one I am determined to win.
“You can’t let us live in your apartment for nothing?”
“Why can’t I? It’s empty. May as well be … not empty.”
“It’s too generous. Mom will never go for it. We have to pay a fair rent and I think the only way for us to do that is for me to start playing in Canada or be working full time.”
Not for the first time, Jamie grumbles under his breath and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I never did tell you why I quit playing, did I?” That one sentence has his uncharacteristically relaxed body returning to its normally tense state.
“No, and you don’t have to, either, if it makes you uncomfortable.” I nod to his hands, both now clenching against his thighs.
