They decided on splitting some bread sticks. Caleb got an Italian sub with all the trimmings while Hawk ordered a medium pepperoni and mushroom.
Once his phone was tucked away, Caleb looked around curiously, really studying his condo. “This is way… homier than my place. Warmer.”
“A lot of that has to do with the designer who did it before I moved in, you know?” Hawk chuckled, shaking his head, because honestly he wasn’t into matching furniture or picking out curtains. This loft just had great bones to it.
“Yeah, but I can tell you live here; you’re not on the road near as much as I am now. Like you were, I know, when you were playing, but?—”
“Sure, totally, and I travel to some games, but most of the time I just do home games. The podcasting stuff is working out really well for me.” He was still sucky at certain social situations, and he sometimes faltered when it came to broadcasting, having to be on the spot and in the moment. The podcast stuff, where they recorded it, and where he could do his job mostly remotely from home, was super cool. Hawk didn’t mind sitting and talking about shit for hours when there was nobody watching him.
“That’s really awesome. Caleb gave a wry sort of laugh that also sounded a tiny bit hysterical. “I guess I’m going to have to figure out what I’m going to do now. Maybe I can get a job with the X Games or something.”
Caleb held out a hand and Hawk took it. “Do you not have savings or…”
That made Caleb laugh again, but this time the sound was stronger. “Oh, I do. I mean I won a lot of shit right? I have a lot of prize money tucked away that I’ve never touched and this little surgery won’t even put a dent in that. I could go for a long time without working, but I’m used to being busy.”
Hawk got that. The enforced inactivity that had happened to him while he was healing up his knee and having several surgeries… It had made him want to lose his mind.
“You wanna watch a movie or something?” Hawk asked. “While we wait for the food?”
“As long as it’s not like a Food Network thing or one of those shows they played on marathon while I was in the hospital, because God!”
“Yeah, no, I won’t make you watch anything that you hate. We could play video games too if you’d rather.” There was this feeling unfurling in Hawk’s chest and he was trying toexamine what it was without giving himself away, but it felt good.
It felt right to have Caleb here in his house and to be spending these moments with him. It was just time… as if they had all of it in the world to spend together.
Okay so maybe it was weird to feel that way when Caleb was convalescing, but shit, the man was convalescing at his house so if he was going to feel in some kind of way, maybe it should be this way.
He handed Caleb the remote, then messed around with pillows and blankets and all sorts of stuff to make them more comfy while they sat and waited there for the food to come.
He looped an arm around Caleb’s shoulders and damned if the man didn’t arch up and kiss his chin. Simply a warm press of lips and a tiny hint of teeth that made him tingle.
Caleb, leaning against him, hand on his side, fingers idly drawing circles, was threatening to make him hard, in fact. But Caleb wasn’t up for any kind of acrobatics, so he grabbed that hand and held it tight.
A soft puff of air escaped Caleb, sounding a little bit like a laugh, and Hawk squeezed his fingers gently. “Not tonight, baby.”
“No? You don’t think so?” Caleb’s voice rang with laughter, his smile wide and happy.
“Nope. I don’t think your body can handle an orgasm right now, and don’t argue with me.”
“Damn you’re harsh.” Caleb didn’t necessarily sound put out though. Hawk thought he was probably pretty tired.
They settled on reruns ofThe Big Bang Theorywhile they waited for food. They chose that Skull Island King Kong movie for after they got the delivery.
They’d both seen it, but it didn’t matter. There was Tom Hiddleston and a giant gorilla. There was nothing wrong with that at all.
Hawk had to admit he could see doing this a lot with Caleb, and he hoped he wasn’t putting the cart before the horse. This was about getting Caleb back up to speed physically, not about having a deep, long-lasting thing.
But that didn’t mean a guy couldn’t feel hope deep in his chest.
Twenty
Caleb panted because doing any kind of hardcore physical activity right now made him feel like he might just die. It was crazy but he knew inflammation was a thing, and he was trying to heal up a break while dealing with a slight flare from his RA.
While he hadn’t been able to make it up to Hawk’s home gym because of the stairs, he had been able to get to physiotherapy and work some on everything but the foot that was injured. Caleb couldn’t get in a goddamn ice bath or a hot tub, either one, because of the boot.
“Good job Caleb.” His new therapist, Lucas, handed him his water bottle and a towel as he sat panting on the weight bench he’d been using.
He squirted the water into his mouth, nodding. And he wiped sweat off his face. “I think you’re probably right. I am blown out.”