“Of course. Do you think I don’t know you by now?”
The question was rhetorical, and Jonah was up and out of the room before Sacha could respond, but it stuck in his mind all the same.“Do you think I don’t know you by now?”
It was a stupid question. Jonah didn’t know Sacha any better than Sacha knew him. A few weeks of casual sex, brief workplace encounters, and twelve text messages didn’t tell you who a man was and what had made him that way. It was superficial. Meaningless.
Easy to walk away from.
Sacha sat up to track down his actual clothes. His feet hit the floor, but he didn’t go anywhere. A conflict he didn’t understand raged beneath his skin. The instincts that kept him happily lonely were loud and strong, and telling him to get dressed, go home, and get back to work, but as much as he heard them, he couldn’t make himself move.
Jonah was upset last night.Stay a while longer. Make sure he’s okay.
“Are you okay?”
The echo in Sacha’s head made him jump. He swung his gaze up from the floor to find Jonah in front of him, clutching a paper bag from Sacha’s favourite Russian-owned bakery. The scent ofkolbasareached him. “You bought a Russian breakfast?”
Jonah smiled, though concern still coloured his bright gaze. “For you. I didn’t know what any of it was, so I got eggs and bacon on mine.”
“Show me.”
“Move over then, unless you’re going somewhere?”
“I am not.”
A pause stretched out while Jonah waited. Sacha blinked and collected himself, and somehow sliding back into Jonah’s bed was easier than it had been in his head.
Jonah emptied the bag. He’d ordered open sandwiches with sliced egg andkolbasasausage for Sacha, and eggs and bacon for himself, topped with tomato and dill. Bastardised for Englishmen, it wasn’t an exact translation of the simplezavtrakhe’d once eaten back home, but it was close enough that his heart suffered another gentle contraction. “What made you choose Karaway for your breakfast, Jonah Gray?”
“Is that what it’s called?” Jonah claimed his sandwich and set it on his lap. “I just googled Russian breakfast places that delivered. I don’t even know where it came from, though it didn’t take long, so it can’t be far.”
“It is ten minutes from here,” Sacha said. “Walk south and turn right.”
Jonah side-eyed him. “Do you live nearby?”
“To what? You, or the bakery?”
“Both.”
“Yes, that is my answer.”
“You don’t want me to know where you live?”
“That is not what I said. I gave you the answer to your question.”
“I know. But it sounds like you’re being mysterious on purpose.”
Sacha unwrapped his sandwich, biting his lip to contain his grin. Jonah likely didn’t know it, but he was just like his mother. A people person. “I am not being mysterious. It is very clear. Walk south from here and turn right, and you will find my home.”
“Do you live alone?”
“Of course. Do I strike you as someone who would share his space?”
Jonah didn’t answer for a moment. He bit into his breakfast and chewed thoughtfully. “Honestly? When I see you scowling around the office,no, I can’t imagine you living with anyone. But you’re not always like that. You seem happy enough when you’re here.”
“That is withyou,” Sacha retorted without thought. “I do not spend this time with anyone else.”
“Why me?”
Sacha shrugged, reaching for a nonchalance that didn’t exist. “Why not?”