Gravity (Greenford #2) - Romeo Alexander Page 0,42

it’s bound to at least be decent advice. Only way you’re going to know if it’s good advice or not is if you take it and see how it works out for you.”

“Now you’re starting to sound like me when we first started dating.”

“How’s that?”

“Listen to me. I know what’s best.”

Samuel tipped his head back and laughed. There was no denying that was exactly how Caleb could be back when they’d both been going to Greenford. For someone like Samuel, who preferred to do things their own way, in their own time, and only accepted being told what to do in a professional environment, it had been a source of great frustration.

“God, that used to piss me off so much,” Samuel cackled.

Caleb cracked a smile. “I know. I always thought you were ridiculous for getting so mad. I was just giving good advice.”

“No, you were trying to tell me what to do,” Samuel chuckled.

Caleb nodded. “I was. I just didn’t see it then.”

“You got better about it, though,” Samuel admitted. “When we were both living in Portland. You didn’t do it quite as much, though sometimes I’d swear I would see in your eyes that you wanted to say something.”

“Probably because I did,” Caleb snorted. “But by then, I’d had enough time to think and realize that it didn’t matter what the hell I said or did, you were going to do what you were going to do.”

“God, younger me would have loved to hear that. Now it makes me feel like I was a bit of an asshole.”

“Right, and being bossy and knowing what’s best for everyone else? Totally not an asshole move.”

“I think the moral of the story is that everyone can be a bit of an asshole when they’re young,” Samuel chuckled.

Caleb watched him for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek. “Would you hold it against me if I said I’m glad we got to go through that and everything else together? It’s been nice, seeing how much you’ve changed and learning how much I have too.”

“Well, if it’s for the better, then I have nothing to hold against you.”

“I’d say it’s for the better.”

Samuel nodded his agreement, reaching out to pat Caleb’s knee. There wasn’t much he could say to that, considering it was more or less what he’d been thinking on his own as it was. They had changed, maybe in ways they hadn’t completely noticed or would spot right away, but the signs were there. At the very least, they were calmer, less prone to knee-jerk assumptions, and were far better at curbing their reactions.

“And,” Samuel said, grinning as he gave Caleb’s leg a squeeze. “We’ve definitely gotten better looking with age too, which is just...fantastic.”

Caleb’s eyes widened, and the last of the shadows on his face disappeared as he gave a sharp laugh. He reached down, gripping Samuel’s wrist. His hold lingered for a moment before he pushed Samuel’s hand away, still chuckling.

“You’re ridiculous,” Caleb told him, eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Ridiculously good looking,” Samuel said, leaning back as Caleb stood up.

“Not the point,” Caleb said as he strolled into the kitchen. “Now, are you going to sit around fawning over both of us, or are you here to help?”

“I can do both, you know. I’m a multitasker,” Samuel said, pushing himself to his feet.

“Multitask your way into the box labeled breakables,” Caleb called out to him.

“Slave driver,” Samuel muttered, dragging the labeled box toward him and pulling at the tape.

Caleb

When he’d first come back to Greenford, Caleb had thought it would take him at least a few months to get through all the boxes he’d stacked in his apartment. Doing it on his own had definitely only added to that theory and made him wonder whether it would take even longer than that to get everything sorted and put away.

Yet that first evening with Samuel’s help had proven to be exactly the sort of fix he needed to expedite the process. Rather than it being a fluke, when Samuel came over the following Saturday to help for the entire day, Caleb watched the boxes dwindle from his apartment at a rapid rate.

Both days had provided an excellent way for them to spend time with one another without feeling any sort of pressure. Oh, Caleb could definitely feel the occasional pull of that strange gravity between them, but it never really interfered or interrupted when they were working.

A hand might brush over another as they handed an object off. Caleb occasionally caught