Intrigue

Chapter 111

Sean's POV

"I'm telling you, he was perfectly civil, we ended up spending like four hours working on the case together," I told Jeremy as we strolled through the street leading to his second bar that evening. It was going to be my debut visit, almost a month after I'd been released from prison. Jeremy hadn't returned there after that evening, either.

"I do not believe it," Jeremy answered. He was wearing a plain light blue shirt and black chinos, together with dark blue Doctor Martens, and a quilted jacket. His hair was adorably messy.

I, on the other hand, had let my hair loose again, and was wearing a grey shawl collar Ralph Lauren sweater, and classic Versace jeans, together with my Tommy Hilfiger boots and the black Balmain coat Sophie had bought for me.

"Yes! We even got takeout together. Him and Clark and I," I said.

Jeremy stopped walking. He'd been working all day. "Who told him off?" he asked me. "Because that's the only way he can be civil. You just said that he acted like an asshole yesterday."

I looked at Jeremy thoughtfully. "I don't know. It was just him and I and Christine and Sophie at the office yesterday. And Paul during the argument. Must be Sophie."

"Or Christine? Maybe she saw you take your anxiety pill." I could tell that Jeremy didn't want Sophie to have been the one to tell Malcolm off about the way he treated me. "Or... Paul?" he suggested.

"Ha!" I laughed. "I'd like to see that. The poor guy looked shell shocked at the realisation that Malcolm was wearing the watch I'd given him. And I think he realised something weird happened."

"I'm not sorry for him, he was rude to me," Jeremy mumbled. I chuckled and hooked my arm through his. He glanced at me. "Are you going to keep holding me this way in public?" he asked me now.

"Yes, like you're my little, baby brother," I said to him jokingly, trying to keep a straight face. He laughed and shifted even closer to me. He liked being close to people he cared about, and with him I'd grown accustomed to being the same.

"Don't you feel strange, seeing Malcolm with someone else?" he asked me now.

I shrugged. "Yeah." We carried on walking. "He looked so gorgeous in that beanie this morning, I was almost drooling," I admitted.

Jeremy glanced at me in amusement. "Beanies?"

"Only on Malcolm," I answered. "He looked like he used to when we were a couple with that casual look he had."

"I've never heard you speak this way about anyone," Jeremy said. "You never spoke to me about crushes."

"Malcolm's not a crush," I replied quickly. "I'm just reminiscing about the past. And I've hardly had crushes in my life anyway. Just... you... and Cole." I stopped speaking. I frowned at my own admission. "So even if I do tell you everything, Jer, I wouldn't have told you about either of those."

Jeremy forced a smile. "You look better these past couple of days," he told me.

I nodded. "I feel better," I answered him. "I'm really looking forward to tonight. I can't believe I haven't been yet, after a month."

Jeremy looked away. "We had other priorities this month," he muttered. "A rollercoaster ride, like you'd describe it." His eyes shifted to me. "When you were at the office this morning, I packed up every gift Sophie ever bought me, together with the stuff she kept at our house, so that I'll drop them off at her house tomorrow."

I felt my heart sink. This felt final. "I'm sorry you had to do that," I mumbled.

"Me too, that I'm putting you in such a situation." Jeremy looked at me forlornly. We'd stopped again, in the middle of the street leading to the bar. His face was lit from the lights of the different restaurants and lounges. There was a humming of music and people around us.