[14] – I Won’t Say I’m In Love

“My flight arrives at ten and I’ll be sure to be in the studio after lunch.”

“Oh, Miss Goldberg, you really don’t have to –” Jeremy began but she interrupted.

“How many times have I told you to call me Harry?” she said teasingly, her soft laughter escaping from the speaker of the phone, “and please, it’s no big deal. People have jetlag but I have exactly the opposite – I get really energetic and restless after a flight so it’s no big deal.”

Jeremy fumbled with his phone, managing to keep it pressed to his ear as he shrugged on his suit jacket and picked up his car keys and briefcase for work, chuckling a little at Harry Goldberg’s response, “Well then, I’ll be expecting to see you soon. Do you wish to start work today or shall we just go over the preliminaries?”

“The latter please, I’d like to discuss our contract in full, if that’s okay with you? I’ve been so busy these past few weeks that I had no time to go over it.”

“That sounds fabulous,” Jeremy replied, leaving his house and locking the door behind him, making his way down to his jeep, “I’ll get the paperwork ready for your arrival this afternoon, then.”

“Brilliant. See you in a bit, Walker.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes because no matter how many times he’d told her to call him Jeremy, she’d either ignored him or forgotten. She’d said she normally referred to people by their surnames and it had become a really bad habit to break so he forgave her for it.

“See you soon, Miss Gold – uh, Harry.”

She laughed pleasantly before cutting the call and Jeremy sighed, pocketing his phone and entering his car. Along with Harry Goldberg finally showing up to their office for work, he also had to interview the new guy coming to work with Laura in the exhibition room of the studio.

He thought about Rory then, his heart pounding in his chest. He’s had the most terrifying nightmare that morning. It was something about Rory dying. He just knew in the dream he was in a hospital and a doctor had come to tell him that Rory didn’t make it. He remembered having a ring in his pocket and then he’d suddenly woken up, glancing at the clock which read its usual time; 3:13 a.m. – the same time he woke up every other night, except this time, he could remember the dream quite vividly.

He shook his head to clear it, hoping the dream wasn’t some sort of sign as he texted Rory that he was on his way to pick him up for work. He could feel his heart speeding up even more underneath his ribcage as Rory texted his affirmative and he was on his way to his boyfriend’s house. They’d spent nearly the whole weekend making love –they’d taken a break on Sunday and spent that entire day making out and lazing around because Rory could only take so much – and Jeremy couldn’t get it out of his head, couldn’t get the sight and sound of Rory screaming out his love during his orgasm out of his head.

God, he wanted – no, he ached to hear Rory say those words again.

This time, he wanted to hear Rory say them without the guise of an orgasm. The thought terrified and excited him because it made him think about how he might also feel for Rory, which he really wasn’t ready to face at all yet.

He was just pulling up into Rory’s driveway when the bleached blonde was bounding out of his house, smiling brightly at him as he locked his door and then literally skipped down to Jeremy’s jeep.

Jeremy swallowed thickly at the way Rory looked at him when he entered the car; his dark eyes were shining brightly with that emotion that terrified the shit out of Jeremy and his cheeks were already pinking with a shy blush.

“Hey,” he said sweetly, leaning over to kiss him passionately and Jeremy melted into the kiss, moulding their lips together passionately before pulling away to pull out of the driveway, his stomach flipping at the sight of Rory’s flushed cheeks when he pulled away.

He cleared his throat a bit, “So, Harry Goldberg gave me a call today.”

“Did she?” Rory asked excitedly, “that’s great news! I told you she would come around and to be honest, it took her long enough.”

Jeremy managed a short laugh, “also, I’ve got to do a couple interviews and tours this morning. More than a couple people responded to the Ad to work with Laura in the exhibition room. Hopefully, this is going to help Laura and we can be able to have enough for the summer show that I’ve been planning.”

“Someone’s been working hard,” Rory teased, leaning over to gently rub his hand on Jeremy’s thigh, the slightly innocent action sending heat rushing up Jeremy’s spine.

God, you would think that after taking Rory in nearly every position imaginable during the weekend that he would be at least be a little bit satiated but no, each time Rory so much as looked at him, all he could imagine was Rory’s flushed face and breathy moans and how fucking responsive he was to Jeremy and it made him want to fuck his brains out over and over again.

Swallowing and ignoring his reaction, he managed to beam at Rory, “I have such big plans, you have no idea. It’s taking everything in me not to share it with you but I want it to be a surprise for all of us.”

The way Rory smiled proudly at him made Jeremy’s chest warm as he said, “that’s good. You’ve piqued my curiosity now – no thanks for that,” Jeremy laughed, “but I’m so happy you’re not telling me, that way I can be genuinely excited with the others when you finally get to announce your ‘big plans’. Oh gosh, now I’m going to be thinking about this all day.”

Jeremy laughed and wagged his eyebrows evilly making Rory chuckle along with him and smack him in the shoulder playfully.

They chatted about random things until they got to the office and Jeremy planted a soft kiss on Rory’s lips, telling him he’d see him during lunch before he was making his way upstairs.

He entered his office, closing the door behind him and opening the windows and blinds before settling down behind his desk, pulling up his briefcase to remove his laptop. He switched it on and went straight to his inbox, eyebrows rising in surprise at the sight of an email from one of his sisters.

Hey bro,

So I would have called you and stuff but I thought an email would be more professional. You’d never guess but Mum and Dad are renewing their vows in August!

I know, I’m totally shocked too, totally didn’t see it coming (can you sense my sarcasm?)  I’m already brimming with ideas because they want to get married on their Anniversary (which is their golden jubilee if I’m not mistaken :D ) and I’ve already got some brilliant themes going which I attached to this email (the only reason why I’m currently not calling you right now and screaming in your ear)

And in case you didn’t notice, then I have to say yeah, you, me and the girls are helping to plan the wedding. Mum doesn’t want any professionalism, she figures since we have all the money we might as well sponsor the thing.

Oh, and you could bring Rory as your date! It’ll be nice to finally introduce him to the family, especially during a wedding (when everyone’s happy *hint hint*) and I know you’re getting serious with him, it’s been almost three months now and there’s been no complaint (I’m proud of you by the way, if you needed me to spell that out)

And this email is getting too long so I’ll just end this here.

I’m going to call you during lunch just to go over everything again so, until then.

Lots of love,

Octavia.

As Jeremy re-read the email, he could feel a slight headache coming on. He was happy for his parents of course, it was romantic of them to renew their vows on their fiftieth anniversary but what was scaring Jeremy was just one part of the email.

I know you’re getting serious with him…

That terrified the hell out of him and for some reason, that stupid nightmare he’d had that morning kept coming back to replay in his head. The doctor breaking the news, him feeling painfully numb before the pain and disbelief had come crashing into him like a tidal wave and then he’d woken up soaked in cold sweat and feeling like his heart was about to fly out of his chest.

I love you.

Rory’s words of last night made Jeremy feel like he couldn’t breathe – and not in a good way. He felt like he had a plastic bag over his head and he was suffocating.

He’d thought they were taking things slow. Wasn’t it too early for love? Did he even want something so serious and almost permanent? Why did Rory have to say those words?

It was because of his orgasm, Jeremy thought desperately, trying to convince himself even when his sub-conscious was screaming ‘Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!’ It had been Rory’s first time anyway, so it was bound to be overwhelming, right? He seriously felt like intense feelings like love would only make things complicated. He liked his relationship with Rory the way it was just perfectly, why did his suddenly blurting those words so passionately like that last night affect him so much?

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple distractedly just as there was a soft knock on his door.

He quickly sat up straighter and tried to look composed as he called out, “Come in!”

The door opened and Laura poked her head through, “Hey, the new guy,” she glanced down at her clipboard, “Timothy Brown? He’s here for his interview,” she beamed.

Jeremy grinned, “I’ll be right down in a second. How does he look?”

“Like he’s done this before,” Laura replied dryly and Jeremy managed a small chuckle.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It’s going to take some getting used to,” Laura replied, only just hiding the bitterness in her voice, “I like working alone.”

“Well, for what I’m planning this summer you’re going to need all the help you can get,” he replied, putting his laptop on sleep mode and picking up the necessary files from his desk before making his way out, Laura following him down the stairs after he’d shut the door to his office.

“I’m quite excited for it really,” Laura said and Jeremy could hear the excitement in her voice, “it’s going to be one of our biggest shows since you opened, I can tell.”

“I certainly hope so. We need the money and the publicity.”

Jeremy had big plans for the studio – he was hoping that if the summer show was a success, then he would try to make the studio even bigger. He could get professional artists selling and auctioning off their work here and even get some new talent into the industry. The tutoring of the adults and children was also going successfully, the numbers of parents that had already started applying for a place for their kids next year was steadily increasing that Jeremy was sure they would need more employees and studios.

He couldn’t help but feel a slight swell of pride in his chest at that because he really was working hard for this and it felt so good to reap the fruits of his labour.

When Jeremy got to the exhibition studio, he could instantly tell Timothy Brown apart from the other visitors in the area. The man was tall and dressed in tailored fine grey slacks and a white buttoned down collared shirt, the clothes complementing on his ebony skin. Jeremy quickly skimmed his file for the man’s resume, just to make sure he remembered everything before smiling when Timothy finally looked at him with a big smile.

It was only when Jeremy was standing right in front of him that he realized that Timothy was tall. Jeremy was six foot one and he hardly met anyone his height around but Timothy had to be a good six foot three at least.

“Good day Mr Walker,” he said, his voice rich and deep and his smile contagious, “I’m a really big fan and this is such an honour to be considered for the job.”

“Don’t get too comfortable, Laura doesn’t like partners,” Jeremy teased as they shook hands and Laura pretended to growl at Timothy, scrunching her face in what she probably thought was a menacing glare but instead came of as looking like she got a bee on her nose and Timothy just laughed at her.

Jeremy raised a slight eyebrow at how relaxed they were around each other and it wouldn’t take a genius to know mutual attraction when they saw the way Laura and Timothy looked at each other.

Coughing slightly and making Laura blush and immediately take to her heels, Jeremy grinned at Timothy, “So, let’s get on with this shall we? I’ve got a busy day ahead of me.”

*

Jeremy sank against his office door for some reason feeling extremely exhausted. It was five minutes before lunch and he felt like a week has passed. He knew it was because he’d just finished seven interviews and tours for Laura’s new partner and damn, he didn’t realize it would be so bloody exhausting. He was only happy that he was done with the interviews and could now narrow it down to who was going to work here from now on and he really didn’t feel like seeing Harry Goldberg today.

He had so much on his mind and it left him feeling completely stressed out.

He glanced at his wristwatch and moved away from the door to turn around, about to go downstairs to catch up with Rory so they could go for lunch together but just the thought of seeing him made Jeremy feel like he was going to throw up.

When he opened the door however, the bleached blonde was already standing there, hand poised as if to reach for the doorknob. Rory started in surprise before beaming at him and walked into the office, a mischievous glint in his dark eyes.

Jeremy raised a questioning eyebrow at him as Rory turned and locked the office door behind him, testing it to make sure it didn’t come open before turning back around to face Jeremy, that glint shining brighter, a small smile teasing on his lips.

Jeremy instantly felt his heart rate pick up.

There was a blush finding its way up Rory’s neck and dusting his cheeks as he moved forward making Jeremy take involuntary steps backwards. His slim hands came on Jeremy’s chest and before he could blink, he found himself seated on his chair behind his desk. Rory pushed the chair until it hit the wall before getting down on his knees.

“Holy shit,” Jeremy whispered, slightly panicked and at the same time majorly turned on, “what the hell are you doing?”

His eyes couldn’t help darting up to the door even though he’d seen Rory lock and test it and it was lunch time anyway, so the only person in the studio right now would be Simon with the kids downstairs.

By now, Rory’s face was red with an embarrassed blush and even the tips of his ears were pink, showing that it was taking a lot of courage to do this as he fumbled to get Jeremy’s slacks open.

“I noticed how stressed you looked this morning doing those interviews and I just thought you deserved a little something to relieve you of that,” Rory whispered, licking his sinful lips as he stroked Jeremy’s rapidly hardening cock through his shorts, before pulling down the material to cup him in his hand.

“Fuck, Rory, Jesus,” Jeremy whispered on a groan, unable to help the way his hips pushed forward.

When Rory wrapped his pale pink lips around his already throbbing shaft, Jeremy had to grip the armrests of his chair to keep from bucking his hips up. He ground his teeth at the feel of Rory’s breath, the heat of his mouth and that wet tongue currently repeatedly flicking over the sensitive head of his shaft.

Oh God, this was so fucking hot. The fact that it was the middle of the day and he was in his office and Simon was downstairs made it all the hotter for Jeremy and he felt like he was already on the edge, ready to tip over at any second.

Rory clenched his eyes shut, feeling his heart slamming against his ribcage. Good God, what the devil was he doing? Even though he knew that this was just insane and really brash of him, he couldn’t help just how turned on it made him. He was so very hard, ready to burst out of his jeans and had to keep palming at himself to relieve the ache.

With his eyes closed, it seemed to enhance his other senses, the way Jeremy’s thighs were lightly quivering as he obviously tried to stay in control, the hot and heavy feel of his throbbing shaft against his tongue and the slightly salty taste of his pre-come bursting to life on his taste buds. It made Rory’s mouth water and he began sucking in earnest, lightly bobbing his head and using his free hand to pump the part of Jeremy that he couldn’t reach.

Jeremy was holding back his moans with difficulty, even though they were basically alone, he still felt like they were going to get caught any minute now. He rolled his hips desperately until he couldn’t stand it anymore, hands gently fisting in Rory’s hair as he began to thrust his hips up.

“Fuck, fuck,” he hissed through his teeth, toes curling hard in his shoes as he tugged roughly on Rory’s hair, “Jesus fuck, Rory, I can’t – I’m about to –”

Rory hummed around him and Jeremy grit his teeth, his cock jerking almost painfully in Rory’s mouth as he came hard, eyes wide as he watched Rory swallow every single drop, licking him clean when he was done and twitching.

Rory pulled away and licked his lips, opening his eyes to look up at Jeremy before his shaky hands were gently pushing Jeremy back into his shorts and closing his pants back up and then he stood up to sit across his lap, connecting their lips in a passionate kiss.

Rory was trying desperately not to come in his pants. God, he was so hard and he was leaking badly, thighs shaking lightly from the restraint. When Jeremy reached for his jeans, fingers brushing against his zipper, about to return the favour, Rory hissed and jumped off his lap.

Jeremy was about to apologize, thinking he’d done something wrong but Rory was clutching at his desk and arching, his hips pushing forward and thighs shaking, lower lip caught between his teeth.

“Oh God, oh God,” he whimpered and Jeremy suddenly realized that he was obviously desperately trying not to come in his pants and fuck, that was so fucking hot.

“Fuck, Rory, you are so fucking sexy,” Jeremy groaned.

He rolled his chair forwards until he was between Rory’s thighs. Because he was sitting and Rory was on his desk, he only had to lower his head and was in perfect height with Rory’s crotch. He licked his lips, lightly rubbing Rory’s thighs until he’d calmed down a little before fumbling to get his jeans open.

“Oh God Jeremy,” Rory moaned softly, arching into Jeremy’s hot mouth as Jeremy began to suck. Rory began to squirm on the desk, trying to make it last, but he’d been aroused for so long that he couldn’t keep it in check, “Jeremy, I-I’m…” he whimpered and Jeremy gave his thighs a little tap, sliding his hands down to gently dig his fingers into Rory’s ass, lightly lifting him up in an affirmative gesture.

God, if he hadn’t already come, Jeremy would have fucking creamed his pants with the way Rory suddenly shoved his head down, burying his cock in Jeremy’s mouth and coming hard down his throat. Fucking hell. Jeremy’s eyelids fluttered and he tried to control his breathing as he swallowed, lightly tasting the sweetness of Rory’s release before he pulled out of his mouth with a soft pop.

“God,” Rory gasped, thighs shaking violently as Jeremy tucked him back into his shorts and then zipped and buttoned his jeans up before he was collapsing down into Jeremy’s waiting arms.

Jeremy managed a small laugh, “Well, I have to tell you that now, I’m definitely stress free.”

Rory chuckled against his neck, breathing heavily. He tilted his head up to look at Jeremy and Jeremy again felt that suffocating feeling swamp over him as he saw the pure love shining nakedly in Rory’s dark gaze. He felt lightheaded, holding his breath as his gaze dropped to Rory’s mouth, for some reason feeling like he was about to give his first kiss.

Jeremy’s phone suddenly began to ring, making them both jump out of it. Rory quickly got off his lap and Jeremy pulled his phone out of his pocket, eyeing the collar ID and rolling his eyes at the name.

“Did you get my email?” Octavia giggled the minute he answered and Jeremy groaned.

“Yes, I got your email. I’ve been having a really busy day so I couldn’t respond.”

“I’m going to get us some lunch from our restaurant,” Rory whispered, silently leaving the room, “should I get your usual?”

Jeremy nodded at him with a soft smile and Rory blushed, beaming before unlocking the door and leaving the office, closing the door gently behind him.

“That’s why I said I would call you during lunch! Aren’t you excited? The girls and I are freaking ecstatic! I don’t want to trouble you right now, I just wanted to confirm things,” she said excitedly, “and oh! I also wanted to say that you can ask Rory for his advice if you want. He is going to be your date after all and since you told me that he cooks like a god, I have a feeling that he might have great taste for wedding themes. Oh-em-gee, we could all plan this, like, me, you, Reina, Amanda and our respective husbands slash boyfriend – isn’t this just exciting?”

She squealed and Jeremy swallowed hard, glancing at his office door a bit worriedly before whispering urgently into the phone, “I don’t think I’m going to invite Rory for the wedding.”

He could hear Octavia frown through her voice, “what? I don’t see why not?”

Jeremy groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. He really didn’t want to talk about this.

“Just because. Don’t you think taking him to a family event like that would give him ideas? It’s too serious and too soon and I don’t want him thinking I’m about to propose or something as ridiculous as that.”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line while Jeremy felt like he was poised at the edge of a volcano, about to be hurtled into its burning depths.

“Jeremy, are you fucking kidding me right now?” Octavia snapped, “You are not doing this to Rory.”

Jeremy frowned. There was a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him he knew just exactly what he was doing but he stubbornly ignored it as he asked indignantly, “And just what am I doing to him exactly?”

“Oh don’t you dare go around acting coy on me young man, you know exactly what you’re doing,” she practically growled into the phone, “You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?”

“What?” Jeremy gasped, frantically glancing at the door like Rory could hear what Octavia had just said, “I have not!” He hissed and couldn’t quite help how high-pitched his voice had become when he said those three words.

It was like Octavia’s annoyance suddenly disappeared because she giggled into the phone, “So you are in love with him.”

“Can you stop saying that?” Jeremy hissed angrily, “he’s the one that’s gone and fallen in love not me. I didn’t ask for this.”

“Wow, Jeremy are you even listening to yourself? You sound like a heartless asshole. And at the same time you sound like a five year old who just got told that Santa Claus isn’t real. But then again, aren’t you always this shitty when it comes to serious matters of the heart?”

“This isn’t the same. We barely know each other –”

“There you go with the fucking excuses! You’ve been dating for what? Nearly four months? I would say it’s about time!”

“Octavia I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“Well you have no choice but to bring him as your date because the girls and I have already told Mum and Dad about him. On a serious note though, Jeremy I know you have something special with Rory. Don’t ruin it with your silly insecurities and fear of commitment.”

“My insecurities are not silly!” he gasped righteously but she had already cut the call and Jeremy growled in frustration, squeezing the phone in his hands in an attempt not to throw it against the bloody wall.

He was only just calming down when his office door came open and Rory walked in holding two take-away bags from their usual restaurant on the other side of the street.

“I got your usual,” Rory grinned as he walked into the office, handing Jeremy one of the brown paper bags before settling on one of the seats on the other side of Jeremy’s desk and opening his own paper bag.

Jeremy was watching him intently, heart pounding and slamming against his ribcage. His stomach was roiling with butterflies and he could feel that overwhelming warm emotion rising in his chest as he watched Rory gingerly pick out the pickles and tomatoes out of his burger and place them on top of the paper bag, scrunching his nose up adorably at the offending items before tentatively taking a small bite out of his burger. God, why did Jeremy feel like he was drowning completely in a sea of feelings at the sight of Rory doing a task as simple as eating a damn burger?  

Jeremy was not in love, he told himself sternly. He was fond of Rory, yes, but it wasn’t love. He was just…used to him.

“Jeremy, you’re not eating,” Rory said in concern and Jeremy snapped out of his thoughts.

He managed to smile at Rory, “sorry, just got a lot on my mind.”

“Take it easy, yeah?” Rory replied softly and Jeremy felt like he’d been punched in the gut.

I am NOT in love, he growled inwardly to himself before dragging his paper bag toward him and bringing out the items. He almost furiously ate his food and didn’t even realize how aggressive he was being until he heard Rory laughing softly at him.

“Looks like someone’s offended by their food.”

Despite himself, Jeremy couldn’t help blushing and tried to watch how he was eating. Rory was already done and was pulling at his straw with his lips, the straw currently poked into a plastic cup which Jeremy could bet held a pineapple and mango milkshake.

The sound of voices filtered up from downstairs, alerting them that lunch was over and the others had returned to the studio.

Rory got up, sucking at his straw noisily as he walked up to Jeremy.

His lips were cold when they pressed against Jeremy’s cheek and then the corner of his mouth in soft kisses.

“Take a deep breath and try not to think too much, okay?” Rory said with a smile and once again, Jeremy felt blown away by the obvious love showing in Rory’s gaze as he leaned forward to plant an open mouthed kiss on Jeremy’s parted lips, “I’ll see you after work.”

“I…right, yeah,” Jeremy replied breathlessly and Rory grinned, placing all his rubbish in the paper bag before picking it up and heading out of the office.

Jeremy quickly finished his food, suddenly remembering that Harry Goldberg was going to be visiting the office today. He dumped the discarded items into the bin under his desk before reaching for his laptop and checking his emails. When he was done, he picked up his briefcase to bring out the contract he’d written up for Harry, quickly skimming through it to make sure it was okay before getting ready for her arrival.

*

It had been a long day.

He and Harry had spent nearly the entire afternoon going over her contract, editing and improving on it to better satisfy the both of them before she’d finally signed it then Jeremy had shown her around the studio and introduced her to the employees. Harry was going to sell and advertise her art in the exhibition room, in the end bringing in more customers for Jeremy and increasing their pay.

Right now, Jeremy was driving Rory home but all he could think about was falling asleep. He didn’t even understand why he was tired exactly, he just wanted to sink into his sheets and sleep for a good eight hours.

Like Rory could somehow read his mind, the minute he got to Rory’s house, the bleached blonde was reaching over to squeeze his thigh gently and give him a small smile of understanding.

“You should get some sleep,” he said softly, “you look knackered. Take it easy, okay?”

“I will,” Jeremy replied with a smile, feeling blinded by Rory’s blatant display of love and affection for him.

When Rory leaned in to kiss him, their lips meeting softly, Jeremy’s heart was pounding like it was the first time they were kissing, Rory’s lips soft and moulding perfectly against his.

After a while, Rory pulled back just an inch so that their breaths were washing hotly over each other’s faces, their gazes locking and for a second, Jeremy was terrified and at the same time anxious that Rory would tell him those three words.

I love you, Jeremy. God, I love you, Rory thought, feeling like his chest was about to implode from just how deep and intense the emotions ran within him.

For a second, he felt like blurting the words out, they were there, just hooked in his throat but he couldn’t make himself voice them out.

He swallowed and gave Jeremy’s thigh another loving rub, hoping that his eyes showed just how much he cared for him, “Text me when you get home?” he said gently.

“Yeah,” Jeremy replied, coughing a little because his voice had come out slightly choked.

Rory smiled at him before exiting the jeep and making his way to his door. He waved lightly at Jeremy before entering his house and Jeremy drove off, trying not to think too much about petty things like feelings and emotions.

When he got home, he was about to head straight for his bed when he received a text from Octavia.

Check your email xx

Frowning curiously and silently cursing her in his head for delaying his well-deserved nap, he went to the kitchen and pulled open his laptop. When it was up and running, he checked his email as Octavia had ordered and saw that it was another email from her.

When he opened it, it was only a smiley face with a YouTube link underneath it. He clicked on the link and it opened on a new tab.

Jeremy grit his teeth when he saw the title of the video; I Won’t Say I’m In Love – Hercules, quickly closing the tab in annoyance and ignoring the way his heart was suddenly pounding.

He almost furiously slammed his laptop closed, rapidly typing a text to his sister.

You think you’re funny, don’t you?

He ignored his phone when it vibrated in alert of a new text and made his way to his room, not bothering to change and only taking off his shoes, socks, tie and jacket before collapsing on his bed and burying his face into his pillow. Rory’s face flashed in his mind and that sweet pain filled his chest.

He was NOT in love.