There was something in his voice. A longing maybe, but I couldn’t quite place it. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
He sighed. “I don’t know. I’m tired, CJ. Running around the world chasing my next shot is exhausting. I still love photography, but traveling… it’s just not what I expected, as I said earlier.”
“Don’t I know it,” I said, remembering all the traveling our team had to do.
“All I’m saying is, you’re not going to be worth less, as a person, if you aren’t on a team.”
“I know.”
“Do you? Because if you don’t really believe that, neither will your kids.”
With a start, I realized he was right. If I didn’t feel valued and proud of my work, it would reflect on how each of my studentsfelt about themselves. Tim, Jordan, and Harrison’s faces filled my mind, how they seemed to light up the world each time they learned something new, and I had no doubt theydidbelieve in themselves, which meant I was doing something right, at least.
“I’ll talk to Rome, but he’s already hinted he wants me full time.”
“Okay. Good. Those kids will be lucky to have you.”
“Yeah.”They just might not be the only reason I want to stay.I bit my tongue before spilling that piece of information. For some reason, I wasn’t ready to tell Max about Jake. Not yet.
A beep alerted me to another call, and I glanced at the screen, smiling when I saw Jake’s name.
“Hey Max, I gotta go. I have another call.”
“Sure.” He yawned. “It’s late here anyway.”
“Tell Mia to get off my back.”
Max laughed. “I will. Talk to you soon,primo.”
“See ya.” I switched over to Jake. “Hey.”
“Hey Rey,” he said.
I shifted to lie on the couch, crossing my feet at the ankles over the armrest. “Staying dry out there? It’s a monsoon.”
“Yeah. It’s been pretty quiet, thanks to the storm.”
“Are you saying you only called me because you’re bored?”
I didn’t know it was possible to hear someone smile, but I heard Jake’s loud and clear. “I called you because I like talking to you, you know that. What’s up? You sound off.”
“Just thinking.”
“About? And don’t say me without clothes, because you sound way too sad for that. Plus, I can’t get a boner on the job.”
“Thinking about yourself without clothes on makes you horny?” I quipped. “That’s taking self-love to a whole new level, Jake.”
He snorted. “Smartass. Thinking aboutyouthinking aboutmenaked gets me horny because it means you’re probably naked, or at least partially.”
I grinned. “You wish. I’m in sweats. But… Iamwearing the green boxers you left here the other day.”
He groaned. “Fuck, Rey! Don’t make me think about that.”
“You started it.”
“Tell me what you were really thinking about if it wasn’t me.”
“My job,” I answered honestly.
