AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And it was that thought that made him pick up.
“Hey,” George said.
“Hi,” Joq replied.
“How’s it going?” George asked; his breathing was shallow, his smile too big.
“Good,” Joq answered slowly. “You? Good game.”
That got a snort from George. “You gettin’ a funny sense of humour on me this season, Joaquin?”
All the hairs on Joq’s body stood up. Not ‘babe.’ Not even ‘Joq.’ ‘Joaquin.’
But the thing about a long-term relationship was all the words were set down. It was like a speech given a thousand times; it came even through the nerves.
“Sorry, another loss?”
“You didn’t see?”
“No. Well, not all of it, had some shit to do.”
“Ahh,” George gave him a knowing look. “We lost.”
“I had to help my parents move some furniture,” Joq heard how defensive he sounded.
George could too judging by the way he sat back, glanced away from the camera.
“Nothing doing after?” George looked back and smiled.
It was wrong, an imitation of their usual conversations.
“When?” Joq asked. He shook his head. “So, loss?”
George sighed and told him about the game. It felt almost normal by the time George finished.
“Sucks, babe,” Joq said.
George glanced away from the camera again. “I better go.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Gotta eat. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, text me the time.”
“Yeah, okay. Night,” and then he was gone.
Joq leaned back on his pillow. He stared at his screensaver—another photo of George, only Joq was in this one as well, a selfie taken on the beach in Koh Samui their first summer after Joq moved in. Joq loved that photo—they were so young, everything felt simple and clean, their beaming faces encapsulating the joy at having found each other.
“He gone?” Joq heard from the laptop. It was in the background, but it was Finn. Clear as a bell.
“Yeah,” he heard George breath out.
George must’ve minimised the chat window but left the laptop open. He did that, he said, so he could just open it and call again before he left the room.
“C’mere,” George’s voice was low. He was nervous.
Joq flushed, his skin prickling with the situation. He should shut his laptop. He should walk away. He didn’t need to hear this.
