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He was in the middle of getting out all his rope and leather restraints to make sure they were all in good shape when his phone rang. The sound sent a zip of excitement through him that had him leaping up from his bed and the array of ropes and toys around him to race into the other room, where he’d apparently left his phone while taking his toys out of the closet.
His excitement dropped like a rock into anger when he saw Ronny’s name on his mobile screen and not Aled’s. At first, he put his phone down again and started to turn away, not wanting whatever Ronny had to say to interrupt his much-needed change of mindset.
But he turned back and picked up his phone when he realized that if he didn’t answer to see what Ronny wanted, he’d spend the entire weekend thinking about it and wondering, which would defeat the purpose of his break entirely. And Ronny would probably call repeatedly until Jamie answered.
“What do you want?” he answered the call, not even a little sorry for being so rude.
Right away, Ronny tutted. “That’s no way to talk to me, boy.”
Jamie sighed and walked into his kitchen. He was going to need a glass of cool water to keep himself from boiling over.
“I’m not your boy,” he said, opening the fridge. “We’re not together. I will not be coming back to you, not now nor ever. You need to move on. Now, is there anything else you want to say or did I cover all the responses to whatever rubbish you were planning to spew at me?”
Ronny made a sound that was something between annoyance and a laugh, then sighed. “Oh, Jamie. You think you’re standing your ground and being proud or something, but with every outburst like that, you just make me want to come over there to take care of you even more.”
Jamie clenched his jaw as he poured water from the pitcher he kept in the fridge into a glass. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”
“Sonowyou’ve got too much dignity to strop at me? After that little rant you started with?” Ronny asked, chuckling.
Less than a minute, and already the conversation with Ronny was giving him a headache. Jamie finished pouring his water, set the pitcher aside, and leaned against the counter without picking up the cup. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose, then crossed his arms tightly instead.
“I’m with Aled now. End of story,” he said. “Whatever misplaced sense that I belong to you that you somehow still have needs to end.”
“I ran into your little friend on campus the other day,” Ronny said in a particularly ominous voice.
Jamie swallowed, starting to go numb. “What did you say to him?” he asked, already sensing where Ronny was going with things.
He quickly ran through the text conversations he and Aled had had in the last couple of days. They’d texted a bit, but mostly about practical things having to do with the weekend, along with the usual “good night” and “good morning” that they’d gotten into the habit of sending each other, along with one or two inappropriate selfies. Those would need to be deleted, if he was smart.
They hadn’t actually spoken much, though. Not like they had the week before. Now Jamie wondered if that was because Ronny had somehow gotten to Aled.
“I only spoke the truth,” Ronny said, which did not make Jamie feel at all better. “I told him that we’ve known each other since we were boys, that I was there for you when you needed someone the most, and that you are mine.”
“I’m not yours,” Jamie sighed, rubbing his temple with his free hand and knocking his glasses askew. “Yes, you helped me through a rough time, but you went too far.”
“I don’t want you hurting yourself again or getting hurt,” Ronny said with uncharacteristic seriousness.
“That’s not really up for discussion,” Jamie said. “We’re done. We’ve been done for a while.”
“Are you aware that there was some suspicion that Aled had a hand in his parents’ death?” Ronny asked.
It felt like a punch to Jamie’s gut.
Before he could say anything, Ronny continued. “It seems as though Aled’s name had just been put on a rather large insurance policy a few months before the parents’ unfortunate demise. And he was named the sole trustee of the trust that inherited the bulk of his parents’ estate.”
Jamie scowled at nothing in front of him. “His father had a terminal illness and his siblings were minors at the time. There’s nothing untoward in creating a financial arrangement like that.”
“Did you know he was the first at the scene of the crime?” Ronny asked. “Or that the police weren’t called until hours after the murders took place?”
“Yes, actually, I did,” Jamie said, feeling sordid and dirty for even talking about Aled’s family’s tragedy the way Ronny was. “Because all of the children, including Aled, had been at school. Aled was the first of his siblings to arrive home.”
Ronny made a sound as if he wasn’t convinced. “That’s not the version of the story I was able to find after a short internet search.”
Jamie frowned. He seemed to recall either Aled or Dawn hinting at something about the press being a nuisance at the time of what the family called “the trauma”. If it was true that some reporter out there had tried to spin a family tragedy into something that would sell newspapers, so to speak, then shame on them.
“Aled and his entire family experienced a horrific tragedy,” he said firmly. “It’s disgusting for you or anyone else to twist it into something it wasn’t.”
“I don’t care what some baby dom went through years ago,” Ronny fired back. “I only care about you. And I do care about you, Jamie. I care about your wellbeing, and cavorting with a possible murderer isn’t safe.”
