“Duh?” She grabbed the device back, swiped the screen, and held it up.
It was a text message from Justin.Did you get in safe?
Her reply was the photo she’d taken.
Glad to see it. Tell Antonio I said hi.
Antonio handed the phone back, as a million emotions vied for his attention.
“You okay?” Emily asked, concern in her voice.
He wasn’t sure. The snippet of conversation hurt—that Justin reached out to her, that he sent along his greetings after everything that had happened, and simply the reminder Justin wasn’t gone, even if he was on the other side of the world. “I thought you two left things on a sour note.”
“I couldn’t. I told him to keep in touch, and he made me promise to check in when we landed. Is that a problem?”
It hurt that Justin and Emily had that, but while Antonio was still desperate to have Justin here, he wouldn’t do it without Emily. Was it selfish to want them both?
“I’ll be fine.” He forced a smile. “And we have about two hours before we have to leave. Plan accordingly.”
How long would it take before something as basic as hearing Justin’s name didn’t threaten to devour Antonio from the inside out?
* * * *
JUSTIN HAD DEVELOPEDa new routine in the two weeks since he’d been unemployed.Retired? Self-employed?The last one felt odd, since he’d considered himself his own boss for so long. That had never quite been true, though. There was a lot to adjust to since he gave up APPropriate Designs, but the thing he minded the least was being out from under the board’s thumb.
In the mornings, he worked on his business plan. It took a lot of dry research, and his brain could only do so much at a time. Afternoons and nights were for coding. He was in the process of contracting the engine from his former company, and he operated under the assumption it would happen. Lunchtime was his break from it all, and he never skipped lunch these days. He was guaranteed to get Emily on Skype.
She hadn’t been able to convince Antonio to join, and that gnawed at Justin, but her company was fantastic. Her being so far away deprived him of the ability to press her to the wall and make her whimper, and—fuck—he missed that, but it also meant they talked. He enjoyed the company.
He missed Antonio too. So much, it chewed on his brain and kept him up until he collapsed from exhaustion around two or three every morning. The best way through it, as far as he’d found, was working. Justin expected that to fade with time, but so far, it seemed to intensify as each day passed. Or it was the lack of sleep. It was hard to tell where one stopped and the other started.
His laptop chimed, and a notification popped, telling him Emily had logged on. He gave her a few seconds before he sent the video chat request, and she answered on the first ring.
It didn’t matter that the video quality was choppy; seeing her face was calming. “My favorite siren,” he said.
“You’ve got more than one?” Her stuttered image flashed a scowl that was a grin half a second later.
“No. Only you.”
“Then, technically, that also makes me your least favorite.”
The logic made him chuckle. That felt good. “I’m pretty certain there are holes in your argument.”
“Nope.” She shook her head fast enough her face became a blur. “Absolutely flawless. Are you going to ask?”
“Ask what?”
“Same thing you ask every time you call. We make jokes, you ask your question—”
“You gloss over it with a generic answer. Should we skip that part today?”
“No. You can’t break the cycle.”
He sighed. Might as well get it out of the way. He wanted to know, anyway, even though the response was always,He’s well. Same as usual. You know.“How’s Antonio?”
“He misses you. A lot.”
Justin swallowed hard, surprised at the gouge the words left in his heart. He should have a clever come back, like,Of course he does,but he couldn’t find his voice.