Page 314 of A Matter of Time

“Jory!”

“Sorry, Ev.” I smiled into the phone.

“He’s moving in?”

I chuckled.

“Jory, catch me up.”

“It’s too early for this.” I laughed, because he was starting to hyperventilate. “Sam Kage is back, and I’m gonna live with him since I love him. So you don’t hafta worry about me anymore, you don’t hafta set me up on blind dates anymore. Call me when Loudon’s mother leaves and we’ll all have dinner, okay? Okay. Bye.” I hung up.

It took him all of twenty-three seconds to call back.

“What?”

“What? Are you kidding?” He was yelling. “Are you kidding?”

“Evan, don’t have a⁠—”

“Sam Kage? Are you kidding?”

“You’re repeating yourself.”

“Sam Kage?” He wheezed. “Ohmygod… Sam Kage?”

“Evan, you know I love him.”

“He nearly killed you last time, and I mean literally almost killed you! It was his fault you were shot and kidnapped and⁠—”

“Evan, you⁠—”

“Ohmygod, are you serious? Sam Kage!”

It took me half an hour to get him not to pass out, and then the phone was finally taken away and I was talking to his boyfriend, Loudon, who had to have me explain the whole story to him before he could offer his partner any solace.

It was hard to try and explain to anyone else how I could still love Sam Kage after all we had been through, but I tried to make Loudon understand over the phone. If I could get through to him, he would in turn get through to Evan. As usual, in direct contrast to Evan’s the-sky-is-falling mentality, Loudon was his logical, thoughtful self. He would reserve judgment until he met Sam. As soon as his mother left, they would have us over for dinner, as inquisitions needed to be performed in private. In the meantime, there would be a moratorium called on blind dates for me. When he hung up the phone, even after all the talking, I was still able to roll back over and go to sleep. It was a gift.

I had gone home to shower and change and was getting ready to leave my apartment when I heard Sam come through the front door. I had given him a set of keys the day before.

“Hey,” I called out from the bedroom as I straightened my tie and buttoned up my suit jacket. “I thought I wasn’t gonna see you until tonight

He appeared in the doorway. I saw him in the mirror, but he didn’t say a word. He just stood and stared at me. After a minute I smiled as I turned to face him.

“What are you doing here?”

He looked me up and down, absorbing me, his eyes pained, his jaw clenched.

“Sam? What’s wrong?”

He moved suddenly, really fast, and as soon as he could reach me, yanked me forward into his arms and clutched me so tight he squeezed the breath right out of me.

“Sam, you’re scaring me.”

He held on, pressing me close, his face buried in my hair.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” I soothed him, laying my head on his chest. “Please tell me.”

He shoved me out to arm’s length, his fingers digging into my biceps. He was tense and worried and his breathing was shaky.