Chapter Thirteen
Blake tucked his hands into his pockets as he stepped out onto the street, enjoying the way the rare winter sun warmed his back. He felt better this morning than he had done in a while. The world seemed brighter, the air smelled sweeter.
He’d needed to have that talk with Rusty. They knew where they stood now.
“Is that my jumper?” Rusty asked as he followed Blake out, falling into step beside him.
“It’s a sweater,” Blake corrected. “And it’smine. You just stole it.”
“Borrowed,” Rusty said. “I gave it back.”
“Three years later.” Blake was trying to sound annoyed, but the thought made him smile. Rusty had remembered the sweater, and it had obviously been well-loved in the meantime. It had been stretched out to fit Rusty’s broader shoulders, but that only made it more comfy.
“It’s a nice jumper. The color suits me.”
Blake laughed at that. It had been a deep cobalt blue once upon a time, but it’d faded to a lighter blue with hints of purple that suggested Rusty had washed it with something red.
It didn’t matter. If anything, that made it even better.
At least Rusty was wearing an appropriate number of layers today. Blake could see that his jacket was stretched tight over them, but at least he wouldn’t be cold.
“The color does suit you,” Blake agreed. “If you behave, I’ll give it back to you before you leave.”
He’d probably get more use out of it than Blake would, even if it wasreallycomfy. It smelled of Rusty, too, warm and resiny with a citrus top note.
Rusty cleared his throat. “So, uh… where are you leading me?”
“To real coffee,” Blake said. “You were whining on Sunday about drip coffee. There’s a bakery with an espresso machine in town.”
Rusty’s eyes lit up. “Youdolove me,” he enthused, grinning broadly.
“You made me breakfast. I’m providing coffee. Gotta keep us even.”
Rusty chuckled, changing his position to walk just a little closer to Blake’s shoulder.
For warmth, probably. That’d be it. Rusty had made it clear that he wasn’t interested anymore.
Which was fine. They’d both moved on, and it’d only been a vacation thing to start with.
It was nice to be close to him, though. Blake didn’t have to pretend to himself that he wasn’t enjoying it.
As they rounded the corner to the street the bakery was on, Jude came into view in front of them. Blake smiled broadly at him, excited to get the chance to introduce him to Rusty.
Kayla even waved at him this time. Blake’s heart soared as he waved back, unable to stop himself from grinning at her.
“This has to be Rusty,” Jude said as he approached. “He’s everything you said he was and more.”
Rusty offered Jude his hand, smiling a bright, warm smile at him. One hundred percent charm, like he always was when he met someone new.
A tiny part of Blake was proud to be seen with him. Even if everyone present knew he wasn’treallywith him.
Jude shook his hand, the faintest hint of pink coloring his cheeks. Rusty had that effect on a lot of people. “Nice to meet you,” he said, and then crouched down to meet Kayla’s eyes. “And who are you?”
“That’s-” Jude began, only to be cut off by Kayla squeezing his hand.
“Kayla,” she said, smiling at Rusty.
Something inside Blake pulled tight, his heart suddenly too big for his chest.
