Gravity (Greenford #2) - Romeo Alexander Page 0,14

didn’t want to call Caleb his ex either, even if it would have been more accurate. There was a weight to that, especially because he could feel the tension between them that wasn’t just because of awkwardly running into one another either.

Why was Caleb back in Greenford?

Caleb spared him, however, holding his hand out to Lucas. “I’m Caleb.”

Lucas took the offered hand. “Hello Caleb, I’m Lucas, a friend of Samuel’s.”

It was subtle, but Samuel caught the flicker of movement in Caleb’s eyes. It was a gesture he remembered all too well. He wanted to glance at Samuel to briefly broadcast his question but didn’t want to be obvious about it. So instead, his eyes would make half a twitch before returning to where they’d originally been. Samuel wasn’t sure if it was funny or sad that he still remembered.

Lucas cocked his head. “Not to be rude, but I need to use the restroom, and while I’m there, I might as well get us a refill.”

“That sounds great,” Samuel muttered, wondering how he could order a double without being obvious.

Lucas smiled, standing up once he slipped out from the booth and walked back into the main building. Samuel and Caleb both watched him go, and even after Lucas was out of sight, they continued to stare at the double doors instead of one another.

“When did you get back into town?” Samuel finally asked.

Caleb cleared his throat. “The other day, well, I guess it was about four days ago. I’d have to think about it.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that Caleb had been in Greenford for days and had never said a word. “And what brings you back to us?”

There again, an almost dart of the eyes and Samuel bit back a sigh. Caleb was probably evaluating his words and trying to sniff out any attitude or annoyance on Samuel’s part. It was something he had taken to doing the second time they’d attempted a relationship, and Samuel still found it irritating.

“Work,” Caleb said simply after a pause.

Samuel let that process through his thoughts before letting himself speak. “Really? So you’ve...moved back then?”

An emotion, too quick to read, flashed across Caleb’s eyes before disappearing from sight. “I have. I found an apartment in town, and on Monday, I start at the university.”

Back in town for days without a word and sharing a workspace? Well, that wasn’t the revelation Samuel thought he was going to get during his friendly dinner with drinks. Personally, he thought it was a miracle that he managed to keep his features perfectly polite.

“Well,” Samuel said with a little laugh. “So much for not wanting to ever come back here.”

There, annoyance, flashing in Caleb’s eyes and then pushed away again. Once again, Samuel had to fight the urge to sigh. If they were around one another, they could never avoid each other and always felt drawn to one another. Yet that was never enough for them to avoid grinding on the other’s nerves, all without either of them trying.

“Life changes things,” Caleb said, looking down at the table.

Samuel snorted softly. “I suppose it does.”

“It’s nice to see you’re doing good, though,” Caleb said, finally looking up.

Samuel cocked his head. “Am I?”

“You look like you are.”

“I feel like there’s a compliment in there.”

“It was a compliment, Sam. The whole thing.”

Which Samuel understood, but he was reluctant to explain himself. Especially because his own comment had come out of his mouth before he’d realized where it had been born from, a sudden desire to know if Caleb still found him attractive. Even in his head, the urge sounded needy, and quite frankly, would have called back to a time that both of them had left behind them.

Plus, if he was still attractive to Caleb, that could mean there was something. Only a flicker of that something maybe, with barely enough strength to keep itself burning, but something all the same. And that was a dangerous road to track back down, so Samuel pulled his thoughts away from it.

“But I should probably let you get back to your meal with your friend,” Caleb said, with just the barest hesitation before the word ‘friend.’

Which was the point when Lucas showed up, pushing through the double doors, a drink in each hand. Samuel could have corrected him, but he could feel Caleb was desperate to get away from the conversation. It shouldn’t have hurt to know that, but there was still a lingering sting as he nodded in understanding.

“Maybe