London Boy | Jamie Flatters

Twenty-six

I feel like a teenager, waiting for their crush to show up to class as I sit at the table in the breakfast spot by our hotel, subtly glancing towards the door as I wait for Jamie to walk in. I'd texted him once since last night, letting him know I'd put some ibuprofen on his nightstand for him to take when he woke up, something I'm sure he'd needed.

    "I wish you guys didn't have to leave," Bailey pouts, nudging me with her arm. We were all leaving pretty soon, headed home for the Christmas holiday. Lilly was going skiing in Colorado with her parents, while Jack was headed back to Virginia and Trinity and I back to California, over 5,000 miles away from Jamie, who's going back to London in a few days.

    "Me neither," Jack agrees, looking over at Lilly slightly as he speaks. I can't help but smile when her gaze finds his, eyes sharing promises that none of us can hear. I can see the reassurance in them that he wasn't going to have to go long before they'd see one another again, and the thought of the two of them getting their happy ending makes my heart rise with happiness.

    Even after everything that's happened, all of which Lilly explained to me the other night, tears pouring down her perfect features as she apologized to me, they deserve it. She told me she was no longer going to do what made her management happy but, instead, what made her happy. Jack is that, I can see it in her blue eyes, the way they squint slightly in the corners, her lips pressed together into a grin that shows off the slight dimples on her cheeks, which I'd never noticed until now.

    When the bell rings above the door, my head snaps toward it, relieved that finally, the one person I wanted to be entering was here. Jamie's hair is a mess, and he is wearing the same button-up as last night, and pair of dark jeans, dark sunglasses rest on the bridge of his nose, blocking his eyes from the rest of us. "There you are," Trinity cheers, the first of us to greet him.

    Jamie winces at the sound of her voice, and I have to bite my lip to stifle the giggle that threatens to escape past them, "what happened to you last night?" Lilly asks brow raised accusingly, "you left early."

    "Yeah, I, uh, guess I celebrated too hard," He chuckles, rubbing his temple as he takes the seat beside me, not bothering to hide the fact that he's severely hungover right now. It was obvious to all of us, so there was no point in trying; even Trinity could tell, and she's never even had a sip of alcohol. "I can hardly remember anything."

    My heart sank low into my stomach at his admission, trying my best to keep my expression neutral as Jack slid over his untouched cup of coffee, knowing Jamie probably needed it more than he did. "And this, dear Trinity, is why you don't drink," Lilly teased my younger sister, wiggling her brows at her, "otherwise, you'll look half-dead like Jamie over here."

    Trinity laughs, a glorious, adorable sound that makes Jamie wince again, leaning his forehead in the palm of his hands as a groan escapes past his lips, "can we lower the volume a bit this morning? Maybe whisper?"

    He's forgotten. Everyone else begins speaking, but I hardly hear a word they say as the realization settles in. Everything that happened last night, the moments I'd been replaying on repeat in my head, like a movie I never wanted to end... he doesn't remember any of it. On my lap, I twist my hands together nervously, trying my best to seem like I'm listening in on the conversation taking place.

    But all I can think about are his hands, running over my skin, his lips delicately pressed against my lips, then my cheeks, all the way down to my stomach. His words, things I'd been longing to him to say for ages, words that I'd never forget, no matter how much time passes.

    But he already has.

     No one else seems to notice me stuck in my head, that is, until someone reaches over beside me, ring-clad fingers interlocking with my own. When I look over at Jamie, he's already looking back, tired blue eyes waiting for mine, "hey," he breathes, talking so quietly I nearly miss what he says, "can we, uh, talk later? Just us two. I think you might be able to help me fill in some gaps from last night."