His smile slips. Gabe’s message is disturbingly fitting to Cal’s struggle. It also reminds him of Dawson’s insistence that they should start from scratch. They’ve been writing a new story this whole time, but that doesn’t erase the past. Except…Dawson said he doesn’t think of the past anymore. There was nothing in his eyes that suggested he wasn’t telling the truth. And Cal believed him, he did. He does believe him. So, why is it not enough? Is it always going to be like this? Will he always feel so damn helpless and guilty?
A sudden need to see Dawson overtakes him. He checks his phone. Dawson won’t be home for at least another hour.
Cal looks at his full hands. Well, he can’t show up with all this anyway, Dawson would let him have it. He’ll just have to wait and try not to spend the whole time thinking of Dawson and last night.
He doesn’t have much hope.
Chapter 28
“I’mhome!”Calannounceswhen he gets back to the apartment an hour later. He doesn’t get an answer from Dawson, but Donut comes barreling towards him from the bedroom, butt shaking and tongue out.
Cal drops into a crouch, laughing when Donut all but flies into his arms. “Hello, you. Miss me?” It’s always surreal whenever Donut is being nice to him, especially after he made it his life mission to terrorize Cal. It would seem that bribery did the trick, despite Dawson’s protests. It’s almost worth Donut’s toxic gas. “Where’s your dad?”
Donut pants happily and takes off, running back to the bedroom. Chuckling, Cal follows him, finding Donut sitting down in front of the closed bathroom door. The sound of the shower reaches Cal’s ears, and he smiles proudly. Donut actually understood him.
“Good boy.” Cal scritches behind his ear, getting a gust of dog breath in his face as Donut starts panting again. Cal huffs, dropping down so he can use both hands. His heart melts at the happy sounds Donut is making before he flops onto his side and shows his belly. “Well, aren’t you demanding?”
Too busy being Donut’s personal scratcher, Cal must have missed the shower switching off. He jumps when the bathroom door opens and Dawson steps out in a cloud of steam.
Wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.
Dawson staggers back with a startled yelp, bumping into the door frame.
“Fucking Christ.” He clutches a hand to his chest—his very naked chest, droplets of water rolling down his skin. “You gave me a fright.” He tries to scowl but ends up laughing when he takes in the scene in front of him. “Am I interrupting?”
Donut chooses that moment to roll over and waddle towards Dawson to lick his freshly showered feet.
“Thanks for that,” Dawson quips, then looks at Cal. “Thought you’d be home before me. I almost texted you.”
“Why didn’t you?” Cal stands up, forcing his eyes to stay on Dawson's face instead of ogling him like a pervert.
Dawson shrugs, licking his lips. “I didn’t want to come across as needy. You don’t have to report to me whenever you want to do something.”
A sense of dread settles in Cal’s stomach, chasing away all the warmth that started building inside him.
Is this something he used to do to Dawson? Demanded to know where Dawson was when he wasn’t at home?
A citrusy scent hits his nose when Dawson takes a step towards him, his brows pinched with worry. “Hey. Something wrong?”
“No,” he lies. There’s plenty wrong, but he made Dawson a promise. He’s not going to ruin it by digging into the past when he said he wouldn’t. “How was your day?”
Realizing how close they are, he walks towards the bed to sit down. He needs some space. He can’t think with Dawson so close to him, practically naked.
If Dawson finds his behavior strange, he doesn’t show it. “Well, I got peed on, hence the early shower.” He chuckles, and Cal gives an obligatory laugh. “Everyone’s asking about Donut. I had to show them pictures. Again.”
At the sound of his name, Donut lets out a whine, tilting his head.
“What if we took him for a visit some day?”
“I don’t know about that,” Dawson says. “He could freak out and think we’re taking him back. He liked the staff, but…”
“Oh. I didn’t think of that.”
“It’s okay. It was a good idea. So, how did it go with Ellis?”
“He wasn’t happy I barged in on him, but we went out for lunch. It was…nice. A little weird, but nice.”
“Look at you, hanging out with your baby bro,” Dawson says with a laugh.
