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“I like his dog,” Jude piped up. “Can we go and play frisbee with him again?”
“We’ll have to see, buddy. They may not be home a lot.” Jim sounded a note of caution.
“Then we could walk him,” Jake chimed in, makingJax laugh.
“We’ll still need their permission. How about I ask my friend the next time Isee him?”
He wouldn’t pass up any excuse to contact Noah again. In fact, this was the perfect opportunity to send that text he’d promised, and the reason would be legitimate. Silently thanking his godsons for the in, he got his phone out and started to compose the textmessage.
[Prof: Hey! The boys want to know when they can come back over to play with Klinger. And oh, they also want to walk him, if that’s okaywith you.]
He sat on it, not hitting send until he had changed into his sweats and was on his way out for his evening run. Half an hour of distance was as much as he could manage, and at least he didn’t look desperate for Noah’s attention, even if he was. Sliding the phone into the side pocket, he set off for the running path where he’d first bumped into Noah, wishing he could bump into him again.
A lot had happened since that fateful reunion. He’d had to come to terms with the truth of his feelings for the younger man. They hadn’t changed, dissipated, or lessened in any way. Noah still had his heart, even if Jax believed he had lost his chance. Anything to keep Noah in his life though, even if only as a friend, was enough to keep Jax trying to rebuild the bridges broken between them.
The phone vibrated against his thigh. Jax slowed to a stop, jogging in place off to the side of the path. There was a text message and a missed call. He stopped jogging so he could read the message first.
[Noah: Where are you? I tried calling but you didn’t pick up. I’m not a fan of texting if I have a choice,remember?]
Jax did remember. He’d been surprised at how impatient Noah had been with communicating with him in that way.What’s the point of a phone, he’d ask,if you’re not going to talk on it?He looked around and saw a convenient bench up from the beach but off the jogging path and sat so he couldcall him.
“Jax?”
“Yeah. Sorry for not answering before. I’m outon a run.”
Silences between them, no matter how small, were fraught with anxiety on Jax’s side. Patience was a strict schoolmaster, forcing him to wait until Noah decided how he wanted to respond.
“On the same path as before?”
Jax understood what he was asking. “Yes. I’m sitting on one of the benches right now, but I think there’s a little way left to go before the path ends.”
“Where are you exactly? Can you see street names or anylandmark?”
Jax looked around him. He could see the lighthouse from where he sat, and what, if he wasn’t misremembering, was the Harbor Lights Marina. And across the road from where he sat was what looked like an RV park. There were multiple campers lined up in their spots facing the street, their lights illuminatingthe park.
“Wait for me. I’ll meet you there.”
Noah hung up before he could reply. Jax put the phone away again and did some stretches before sitting again and checking his emails. There were a couple of messages that he would need to respond to as soon as he got back to the house. He dumped the junk mail, flagged the ones he needed to answer at once, and marked everything else as read. Footsteps approaching made him look up in time to see Noah headed his way, hoodie covering his head, his runner’s form lithe and supple.
Jax wanted to know how long Noah had been in the hospital after his accident, who had been with him while he recovered, and what he had decided to do going forward. He wanted to know what Noah had done to move on with his life after graduation. Had he become one of those twenty-somethings who sowed a lot of wild oats, hooking up with anyone who smiled at him? Had he been in a long-term relationship, or had Jax spoiled him for any other man with his actions?
“Hi. Thanks forwaiting.”
Noah sat down next to him on the bench, panting slightly. Jax let him breathe. Truth be told, he needed a moment to breathe himself, because Noah’s scent, which had apparently been imprinted on his brain never to be deleted, slammed into him again. His body remembered how Noah smelled after a run, after a shower, when he was dressed up for a concert, when he was dressed down for a slow weekend in his room. The memories that each of those scents evoked were some of the most endearing in Jax’s life.
“The boys can come over any time to play with Klinger. My dad usually only goes out in the evenings, except for the two days a week that he plays golf. I already asked him, and he’s fine with having them walk Klinger with him on his non-golf days.”
“Thanks, man. Annie and Jim will be glad for that, not to mention Judeand Jake.”
“Noproblem.”
Silence spread out between them again, separating rather than connecting them. What could he say to close the gap? Noah beathim to it.
“It was hard being without you those last two years of college. So hard. Everyone knew something was wrong, but there was no one I could talk to about it. That made me even angrier. You isolated me so that I didn’t have anyone I could confide in. After the first semester, I had my routine down pat, so people stopped noticing. But inside I was raw. Even with all the accolades I received for performances and the like, and with the establishment of the string quartet, I was so lonely.”
Jax saw Noah’s hands fisted in his lap as though he was stopping himself from punching him. Understandable, but still better than disciplinary action against one or both of them and a career perhaps in shambles before it had begun on Noah’s part.
“I’m so sorry, b…Noah.” He caught himself before the endearment clearedhis lips.
