Page 22 of The Way Home

When they finished their coffee, Caleb suggested a walk. It was still early enough that the heat hadn’t settled in yet, and Jamie didn’t want the date to end.

Because once it did, he’d have to decide what this was. And what it meant.

Jamie led them down the street towards Regent’s Canal.

“Do you have some time?” Jamie asked, glancing over as their hands brushed. “Ellie and I usually walk down to Graham Street Park and back. Takes about half an hour.”

Caleb reached for Jamie’s hand and laced their fingers together. Jamie’s heart skipped.

“I’ve got all day.”

They walked side by side, talking easily, Jamie doing his best not to notice the occasional glances or double takes from passersby. No one said anything, but he still felt…awareof their eyes. A few times, he braced himself for someone to say something.

Caleb didn’t seem to notice at all.

“Wow,” Caleb said, pulling Jamie’s attention back to him. They stopped near a bench overlooking the canal. “This is gorgeous.”

An enormous tree with bright orange leaves stretched overhead, catching the sunlight and scattering it across the path.

They sat together on the bench, the slight breeze sending a few leaves skittering along the path. After a few, peaceful minutes, Caleb pulled their joined hands into his lap. “Look, Jamie…” Caleb took a breath. His thumb brushed lightly over Jamie’s knuckles. “I really like you. And I’d like to do this again.”

Jamie’s heart thudded hard against his ribs. “I’d like that too.”

“Yeah?” Caleb smiled, and the warmth of it made guilt twist in Jamie’s chest.

“Yes. But, Caleb, I…” He gently pulled his hand back into his lap. “Dating me might be more complicated than you think.”

Caleb tilted his head and frowned. “How so?”

“I’m not exactly…outto everyone in my life,” Jamie admitted. “And I’m very close to my family, so if we did this, I’d need to take things slow. It’s not that I’m ashamed, and it’s not that I’m unsure—God knows I was in denial long enough about…” He flopped his hand stupidly between them. “I just… think I’m still a bit scared. To tell my family, that is.”

Jamie’s shoulders dipped as he stared down at his hands. There it was. The pathetic truth that, even in his mid-twenties, he still remained partially in the closet.

“Hey.” Two fingers nudged his chin upward. Caleb’s eyes were soft when Jamie looked up. “That’s okay, Jamie. We can go at whatever pace you need. I don’t think you realize how rare this is for me.” Caleb grinned, slightly embarrassed. “Hell, I’ve never beennervousfor a date before.”

Jamie blinked. “Really?”

“Really.” Caleb chuckled, reaching up to brush a curl out of Jamie’s face. It stubbornly bounced right back into his eyes. “I want to keep seeing you. And if you ever decide to come out to your family, I’ll be here. If you’ll have me.”

Jamie’s mind struggled to keep up with what was being offered to him. A kind of care and warmth—everything he’d wanted forsolong, and yet never really believed he could have.

Hope bloomed in his chest, only to be chased away by a hot kernel of doubt.

Whispering that it would eventually… end.

“We can take things as slow as you need,” Caleb said, as if he could hear Jamie’s fear out loud.

Jamie sat there frozen as Caleb’s thumb gently caressed his cheek.

He wanted to bebrave. To tell that kernel of doubt to sod off. To reach for something he really wanted, for once in his bloody life.

Shoving away thoughts of coming out, he let gravity pull him toward Caleb.

Caleb leaned in too, pausing slightly.

Like he was offering Jamie the opportunity to pull away.

Fuck it.