After clearing the table and tidying the kitchen between them, they took their wine to sit in the lounge. Joe had closed the doors to the outside, and Rocco was now lying on the cold tile floors in the kitchen.
Another of Seb’s playlists was playing in the background, a compilation of easy listening songs, some Adele and Sam Smith.
Seb looked really relaxed, and Joe was glad that he’d been able to do this for him. He’d needed it with all that was going on. He just wished he could do more.
“So…” Seb looked over at Joe. “Have you always lived here? I know your parents are here and your sister.”
“Apart from when I was in university. I lived with my parents until then, and when I came back, I got a place of my own. Mom and Dad helped with the deposit, same as they did with Jayne and Aidan. I worked with a small accountancy firm for a couple of years, then moved to Atkins and Partners when I was twenty-four, and I’ve been there ever since. I became a senior partner about six or seven years ago and bought this place four years ago.”
“It’s a beautiful house, not what I expected.” Seb looked around the room, and Joe wondered what he saw. Did he see him or Clare?
“What did you expect?” Joe asked him, curious as to what he was thinking.
“I’m not sure, really, just not this. It’s beautiful, though.” Seb had a glazed look in his eyes.
“I did promise you the grand tour.” Joe stood and held his hand out to Seb. He took it gingerly, and Joe pulled him to his feet, reluctantly letting go of his hand. “Let’s start with down here.”
He led Seb through the kitchen and through another door, which led to a downstairs bathroom and a utility area where the washing machine and dryer were.
“Not too much to see down here. Most of its open-plan as you can see. He continued into the hall and opened the door that had been closed earlier.
“This is my office space for when I work from home and another sitting room. I don’t really use it much.” When did he start using ‘I’ and not ‘we’?
They went back into the lounge, and he heard Seb making appreciative noises as he looked around. Joe took them upstairs onto a large landing. Two doors led off to the left of the staircase and three to the right. Joe turned right first, opening the doors.
“These are the two guest bedrooms.” He stepped back so Seb could get a good look inside. “You can take one of these tonight. It doesn’t matter which.” He opened another door. “This is the bathroom. Feel free to take a shower if you want to.”
He moved to the other side of the stairs and opened the first door. “This is the door to the en-suite, but you can get to it from the master bedroom too.” He closed that door and moved to open the remaining door. “This is the master bedroom.” Joe had tidied up earlier, so he knew there was no mess, but Clare’s things were scattered all around the room, knick-knacks, bottles of perfume, and photographs.
They lingered there for a moment whilst Seb took it in.
“That’s it, not much to show.” Joe stood with his hands in his pockets and waited for Seb to say something.
“It really is lovely, Joe. I could only dream of a house like this,” Seb said wistfully.
Seb stepped out of the room and stumbled into Joe. He caught him before he fell, but it brought Seb close to him. He could feel the heat from his body as he pressed close, the warmth of his breath against his neck. Joe was so tempted to put his arms around him and bring him closer, but before he could, Seb moved away from him.
“Sorry, I’ve drunk a bit more than I thought.” Seb laughed quietly and patted Joe’s cheek. Joe held his breath, waiting to see what Seb would do, but he stepped around him and made his way downstairs. Joe took a deep, calming breath, closed the bedroom door, and followed him back down the stairs. They sat on the sofa and picked up their drinks again.
“How did you get into dancing?” Joe asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
“I pestered my parents to go when I was about four, I think? I used to watch Angelina Ballerina and wanted to be just like her. They were unsure to start with, but as soon as I started to dance, they realised how much I loved it, and I’ve never looked back.
“I entered competitions when I was younger, right up until I was about 18. I was never quite good enough for the Royal Ballet in London but better than average, I suppose. Getting into a school like that is really hard. The pressure to do well is immense, and a lot of students end up with food disorders and just wear themselves out trying to be the best. I didn’t want to go that far but knew I wanted to do it for a living.”
“When did you meet Natalia?” Joe asked. He knew that he’d toured with her in the dance company.
“We met when we were quite young. I feel like I’ve known her forever.” Seb spoke fondly of his friend. “Her parents lived close by, and we just clicked at dance school. We used to do competitions together, and when we both got accepted to the dance company, we just stuck together.” Seb took a gulp of his wine.
“That’s where I met Daniel and she met Louis.” Seb looked down at his drink. “We were all great together. Then we came here, to Chester, and founded Nava Dance Studios. Natalia put up most of the money, I paid the rest, and here we are, four years later already.”
“Why did you call it Nava Dance Studios?” Joe was curious. It wasn’t a word he was familiar with.
“It means beauty in Hebrew, so it’s personal to both Natalia and me. She means a lot to my parents. They were there for her when her parents weren’t. We’re like brother and sister.” Seb smiled gently. It was clear to Joe that Natalia was important to him.
“When did Daniel leave?” Joe knew this was a sore point for Seb, but he was interested to see what had happened. He realised he might have been overstepping the mark, though. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s fine. I can talk about him. He left three years ago, maybe six months after we started Nava Dance, and died another six months after that. It was hard, but I got through it with Natalia’s help. I met Dominic about twelve months ago, and we became good friends too. He really is just a good friend. He has been there for me when I needed him. I sometimes have days where it all comes back to me, so it’s good to have your friends around when that happens.”
Joe looked at Seb sheepishly. “I know Dom’s your friend, I do. I don’t know what got into me that night at the club. I know I’ve apologised already, but I truly am sorry about that.”
“It’s fine, Joe. I know. Now, let’s talk about something else.” Seb looked at him through hooded eyes, a crooked smile on his lips.
Joe asked more questions about Seb’s earlier life, his brother and sister, and carried on topping up both their glasses.
The talk moved to favourite television programmes and movies, and they both found that they enjoyed a good murder mystery and Marvel movies were a must-watch for both of them.
Eventually, they both sat in a companionable silence, the wine having mellowed the mood, music playing quietly in the background.
Joe looked at Seb. His eyes were closed, and a piece of hair had fallen over them. He reached out to brush it away but pulled back at the last moment.
“Hey,” he whispered. “It’s late. We should go to bed.”
Seb stirred, his eyes sleepy as he roused himself. “What time is it?”
“It’s just after midnight. I’ll get you something to sleep in. Will Rocco be OK down here, or does he sleep with you?”
“He’ll be OK down here for tonight. I’ll just let him out before we go up.”
“I’ll do it, then I can lock up. You go on up and get ready; you look shattered.”
Seb thanked him and made his way upstairs.
He opened the door and let Rocco out where he quickly sniffed around and did his business. He closed the door after him, and the dog settled back in the kitchen. Joe put some more water out for him and went upstairs.
After getting some clothes for Seb to sleep in, he went to knock on the guest room door that was ajar, but as he approached, he could see Seb inside, stripped down to his jeans. He’d removed his shirt and had just started to undo his pants.
Joe checked him out. His chest had a smattering of dark hair and an even more interesting trail of hair that led from his belly button down into his boxers. He had an incredible physique, his abs defined but not overly so. Dancing obviously kept him in shape.
He knocked gently on the door before he got caught ogling.
“Will these be OK? As I said, they might be a little big on you, but you’re welcome to borrow them.”
“Thanks, I’m feeling a little tipsy tonight. That was good wine you were serving.”
“Glad you liked it. If you need any painkillers, I can go and get some for you.”
“No, I’m good. I’m just going to crash and get out of your hair early tomorrow. I’m assuming Clare will be back then.”
“She won’t be back until later tomorrow evening. Her flight isn’t until six at night, so she’ll be home around eight or nine o’clock. No rush to leave; we could go for breakfast.”
Joe was eager to keep Seb around longer tomorrow. He still hadn’t told him about the wedding, and he didn’t want to put it off any longer. He’d sleep on it tonight though and tell him tomorrow.
Seb nodded. “I’d like that, thanks.”
“Well, goodnight then. I’ll see you in the morning.” Joe backed out of the room reluctantly, wishing he could just tell him what he wanted now and drag him to his bed to sleep, his arms wrapped around him. He couldn’t think of anything better.
“Goodnight, Joe.” Seb stepped towards the door and closed it with a soft click.
Fuck it, Joe thought. If only he weren’t such a coward. He turned and entered his own bedroom, leaving the door ajar. He lay for a while, just listening. He couldn’t hear anything from Seb’s room but could hear Rocco snuffling about downstairs, then settling.
Eventually, he must have dozed off; he dreamt of him and Seb. It was nothing sexual, and he couldn’t really remember the details, but he woke the next morning feeling refreshed and relaxed, the way he hadn’t felt in a while.
That was… until he realised he couldn’t move his legs. He sat up to see a fifty-kilogram dog lying on the end of his bed. Ah, that would explain it. A grin split his face. So much for Rocco sleeping downstairs.
He managed to move his legs without disturbing him, relieved himself in the bathroom, and went downstairs to put the coffee on. He was surprised to see Seb there, looking all kinds of delicious and sleep-rumpled, the coffee already made. He poured himself a cup and sat next to him at the breakfast bar.
“Have a visitor last night?” Seb smirked.
“I couldn’t feel my legs this morning. It was a shock; I can tell you.”
“Should have warned you to close your door; he loves sleeping on the bed.” Seb grinned at him.
“Yeah, well, he’s certainly made himself comfortable. I couldn’t move him.” Joe stood up and stretched, watching Seb’s eyes follow his movements.
“So, breakfast. Eat in or eat out?”