Free Breaking Joseph by Lucy V. Morgan Page A

lounge. Things had been awkward
since our conversation the previous evening. He was behaving as if
he’d been rejected and I…well, I wasn’t sure what the proposition
was in the first place.
    Who is
it? he mouthed at me.
    Mother ,
I replied. Perhaps I gave him cause to be suspicious, but I buzzed
with our achievement and felt so excited to tell my parents, I’d
dashed off as soon as my phone rang.
    “What time do
you touch down?” Dad asked as he took the phone. “Do you need a
lift again?”
    “No, I think
I’m okay actually. I’m going to share with Aidan.”
    Dad snorted.
“There’s another boy, already?”
    “Oh God, no.” I
laughed. “Aidan’s just a mate, Dad. Really.”
    “That’s what
they all say.”
    “He likes
boys.”
    “Oh. Well I
suppose you’re allowed, then.” He sounded flustered and I had to
bite my knuckles to stifle a giggle.
    “You’ll see me
next weekend, anyway–I’ve got the last payment for you.” I glowed
just saying that. “Then you’re all sorted, right?”
    Dad cleared his
throat, embarrassed. “I think so.”
    “Great. Right.
I’m off. Places to go, bars to drink dry.”
    “You take care
of yourself. And call us when you’re home.”
    “I will. Love
you both.” I stopped just short of doing my usual kiss-face.
    “You too,
petal.”
    I made my way
back and perched on the armchair opposite Joseph. The coffee cup
wobbled in my hands.
    “I’m sure
they’re very proud of you,” he said.
    “Yeah.” The
coffee had gone cold. I set it back down. “Not that I did much of
the work, though.”
    “You’ll make up
for it when we get back.” He shrugged. “And you know I would have
had you pitch if it hadn’t been for…circumstances.”
    I nodded. He
couldn’t be seen to favour me, not when Poppy and I had applied for
the same spot on his team and the result had yet to be announced.
“Thanks.”
    My
chair-for-one was so damned isolating. In public, we were Punch and
Judy in daylight bondage, trying to ignore the crocodile’s teeth
gleaming in the corner. In private, it was so natural to brush past
him and be savaged by my own urges, and while things were strange
between us, it didn’t stop flesh triumphing over logic–or at least,
it hadn’t as he’d shoved me against the shower wall several hours
ago. To sit apart like this was to be severed.
    Aidan appeared
by the revolving doors and I shot him a smile.
    “I’m off now,”
I said, jumping to my feet. “Is that okay?”
    Joseph blinked,
somewhere else entirely. “I’ll see you back here in a couple of
hours–for the club, remember?”
    “I will.”
    Blood surged
beneath my skin in the stampede to get to him. Go on, kiss him
goodbye.
    He stared up,
drinking me in, his lips just slightly parted. “Later, Leila.”
    I found myself
blushing. “Yes, Sir.”
    “Lei-Lei! Get
your arse over here!” Aidan waved like an idiot and I cringed as I
strode over.
    “My boss is
just–”
    “Like I care.”
He grabbed my shoulder with his spare hand. The other held a large
box of doughnuts. “We have a date with a very handsome man.”
    “I thought we
were going for dinner?”
    “We were.” He
ushered me toward the lift. “But then I managed to injure Mattman,
so I have to comfort him.”
    “More
homoerotic wrestling?” I pressed the button for Matt’s floor.
    “Pah. I wish.
No, we set a little challenge at the gym.”
    “Aidan!” I
scolded.
    “What? He’s a
big rugby boy–he can handle a few press-ups.”
    “You train for
three hours a day!”
    “I…well, yeah.
I’m superior.” He flashed me a mischievous grin. “But those shorts
he was wearing…nom. I would wear him like a hat.”
    “There’s an
image I didn’t need.”
    I grew uneasy
as we reached Matt’s door. No longer a couple, he and I were in
limbo, barely friends–if we ever would be again. I knew I made him
uncomfortable.
    “Does he know
I’m coming?” I whispered as we knocked.
    “Yeah, checked
with him. It’s