“I despise you.”
“You love me.”
“I do. I love you so much that I’ve decided to start the day with a nice eight-mile tempo session. So get moving, Jennings.”
It was a short drive to the track Jackson had basically grown up on. Unlocking the gate felt weirdly nostalgic, and sharing it felt strangely like baring a tiny piece of his soul to Elliot.
He was into it.
He snuck a look over at Elliot. The dawn light made his pale skin glow a soft pink, and Jackson couldn’t resist the urge to press a kiss to his lips. Now that his family knew about them, it was like a massive weight had been lifted that he hadn’t realised he’d been carrying. The rest of the world didn’t need to know. Maybe after the Olympics, or in a few years. It didn’t matter.
“Stop stalling and get out there.” Elliot interrupted his thoughts.
“Aren’t you joining me?” he asked.
Elliot grimaced. “Not today. Felt a twinge in my calf this morning—probably went a little too hard in the trial after all, and with everything…well, I don’t want to risk it.”
Jackson nodded, and this time, when Elliot gestured towards the track, he listened. He did want to get back to the hospital as soon as visiting hours started, anyway. He hit the track, doing a slow warm-up lap before running through a set of stretches.Elliot watched, and Jackson could feel his eyes burning into him and his body starting to respond. That was something he was going to need to get under control, or he’d never be able to race against Elliot again.
He got moving, willing his body to cooperate by thinking of the most unsexy things he could: Coach Anders shouting at him, burpees, barbecue sauce on pizza, race day nutrition errors.
Every time he passed by where Elliot was standing, he shot him a wink, which made his boyfriend roll his eyes at him, but Jackson could spot the pleased little grin on his face from miles away.
With only a brief pause to switch directions on the track, the workout flew by. Jackson knew he was pushing above his usual tempo pace, but the mix of having all of Elliot’s attention on him and really wanting to get over to see his dad was driving him forward.
After a quick cool-down, Elliot bundled him into the car, and they drove back to the house. Elliot handed him a protein bar to refuel as he drove. “How did that feel?”
Jackson replied between bites. “Good. Think my pace was a bit fast.”
“You looked good. Relaxed.”
“And the heel flick?”
“Still a little high,” Elliot replied with a wry grin.
They parked in the drive and exited the car. Jackson linked his fingers through Elliot’s as they walked inside.
By the time Jackson had showered and changed into street clothes, the rest of the house had awoken. Katie had arrived in the wee hours of the morning as well. Jackson had about thirty seconds of calm to introduce her to Elliot before Noah ran into the kitchen, and chaos descended as the toddler demanded everyone’s full attention. He was a fairly easy kid most of the time, but when he decided he wasn’t doing something, he reallydug his heels in. That morning, he had decided he was absolutely not going to the hospital.
Anna looked like she was near tears, and every tactic in the book had failed. Jackson could tell Anna wanted to visit Dad just as much as he did, but there was no way she’d be able to bring Noah if he was like this.
“I could watch him for you,” Elliot offered quietly. “If you want, I mean. I could stay here with him while you go up to visit.”
Elliot’s voice was shaking, and Jackson reached over to squeeze his hand.
Anna levelled him with an assessing look. “Have you ever babysat a toddler before?”
Elliot shook his head, blushing.
“Dear, it will only be a couple of hours. They could go to the park. Or stay in and watch telly.” Jackson’s mum was already pulling her jacket on, anxious to get going.
Anna let out a resigned sigh as Noah stamped his feet again and reminded them all that he was absolutely not going. “No more than thirty minutes of screen time, and his snacks are in the bottom cupboard,” she told Elliot as she was being ushered out the door. “Make sure you remind him to drink water and to use the potty.”
Jackson snuck in a quick kiss with Elliot before he, too, was being rushed into the car for the drive up to the hospital.
The sterile hospital smell was possibly Jackson’s least favourite thing in the entire world. Between that and the sombre air that always seemed to permeate the whole building, he felt on edge from the second they stepped through the doors.
The whole group of them piled into the room his dad was sharing with three other people, two of whom were still asleep. Jackson made a mental note not to be too loud.
