Jonah looked at his phone, then at the clock, then at his phone again.

It was nearly noon, and he hadn’t heard from Mitch since the previous morning when they’d all left the hospital.

Not that Jonah was worried about him or anything.

Well, not super worried…

Jonah looked at his phone for the millionth time. It wasn’t like he had to wait for Mitch to call first. All Jonah had to do was dial the number.

But what would he say? Did he need a reason to call?

No.

He didn’t need a reason. He just needed to hear Mitch’s voice.

Jonah stood up from the couch and grabbed his phone. “I’m gonna make a call in the other room, Pop. Do you need anything from the kitchen while I’m up?”

“No, thank you,” Pop waved a dismissive hand, barely taking his eyes off the TV. “Say hi to Mitchell for me.”

“I’m not necessarily calling Mitch,” Jonah lied, shooting his grandpa a sideways glance as he walked into the kitchen and started dialing Mitch’s number.

The call connected after just one ring, but Jonah almost couldn’t hear Mitch’s voice for all the background noise. It sounded like he was taking the call from an airport runway.

“Hey, I was just, uh… thinking about you,” Mitch said. “How’s it going?”

Even through all of the noise, Jonah could hear the exhaustion in Mitch’s voice.

“Where are you?” Jonah asked, ignoring Mitch’s question for now. “I mean… hi. But really, what’s all that noise? Are you landing a plane?”

“It’s the plumber and his crew… and the Shop-Vac… and the, uh, fans.” Mitch paused as the noise receded. “Sorry about all of that. I’ve stepped outside now. Can you hear me better?”

Jonah blinked. “Yeah, but… wait, what?”

There was a lot to take in all at once. Plumbers and fans and what in the world was Mitch even talking about?

“The plumber has been here all morning. I spent most of the night ripping up carpet and setting up fans, and… it’s a mess, Jonah.” Mitch sighed. “The whole place is flooded and it’s so frustrating because it was just starting to look and feel like an actual home, you know?”

“Oh my God, Mitch,” Jonah paced from the dining room to the living room without realizing until he noticed Pop giving him a concerned look. “How is it flooded? We haven’t even had any rain. Did your pipes burst?”

“Mitch’s house is flooded?” Pop asked.

Jonah could only nod as Mitch continued.

“It was the water heater. Dad came to install a new one and either fucked it up completely or… or I don’t even know what, but it’s pretty awful. The plumber is saying I probably shouldn’t even stay here tonight.”

“Tell him he can stay here,” Pop stage whispered, then gave an exaggerated wave to make sure he had Jonah’s attention. “Tell him.”

“Okay, okay,” Jonah mouthed, edging back toward the kitchen.

For a guy who could tune out a four-alarm fire if it interfered with Judge Judy, Pop sure could hear pretty well when he wanted to.

“Pop says you can, um, stay here for the night if you want,” Jonah offered.

“For however long he needs,” Pop called from the other room.

“Or for as long as you need,” Jonah repeated, moving to the far side of the kitchen.

Seriously, did Pop have some kind of super power now?

But more importantly, why did the thought of Mitch staying the night—or longer—make Jonah’s palms feel clammy and his heart start racing?

It wasn’t like they were going to have a chance to do anything together under the same roof as Jonah’s grandpa.

Still, though, Mitch presumably would be right next door to Jonah’s room, and that thought alone brought all sorts of other wildly inappropriate thoughts with it.

“I don’t know…” Mitch began. “I mean, that’s a very kind offer, but I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Tell him it won’t be any trouble if that’s what he’s worried about,” Pop interjected, still shouting from the living room.

Jonah held the phone away from his ear for a moment and looked at it. There was no way Pop had heard that. He probably had just predicted Mitch’s response.

Still… freaky.

“I’ve got this, Pop,” Jonah called back. “Thanks, though. I’ll let him know.” Jonah could hear Mitch snickering on the other end of the line when he put the phone back to his ear. “I suppose you heard all of that?”

“Most of it,” Mitch confessed. “Are you sure it won’t be a big deal, Jonah? Honestly, I don’t want to put you guys out or… or make things feel weird.”

“I don’t think it’ll be weird at all,” Jonah lied, doing his best to sound nonchalant. “But yeah, you obviously can’t stay in that house until they do something to dry it out. And it would be ridiculous for you to get a hotel room or something when there are still two empty bedrooms here.”

Mitch hesitated, and Jonah heard him exhale a long, deep breath. “Well… if you’re absolutely sure it’ll be okay…”

“Of course,” Jonah answered. “You heard how excited Pop was at the idea. I think his feelings might be hurt if you turn down the invitation.”

Jonah was starting to feel less nervous about the idea the more they talked about it.

Well… a little less nervous, anyway.

But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? It would be hard as hell for Jonah to keep his hands to himself while he and Mitch were under the same roof, but there really wasn’t much he could do about that.

And Jonah really did want to spend more time with Mitch before it was time to head back to New York.

So yeah, if Mitch was okay with it, Jonah would be okay with it, too.

“Okay,” Mitch said, finally. “I’ll take you and Pop up on that offer. Is it okay if I come by this evening with my suitcase and stuff? I still need to help out around here a little longer.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Jonah replied. “Take as much time as you need. Is there anything I can help with? Do you need an extra set of hands over there this afternoon?”

“I appreciate the offer, but honestly? I think I’m already in the way more than I’m helping. The plumber will probably do a happy dance when I tell him I’m leaving in a bit. Besides,” Mitch continued, “getting out of here to see you will be the thing that motivates me to hurry.”

Jonah laughed and shook his head. “Just give me a call if you change your mind, okay? Otherwise, I’ll just see you when you get here.”

“Looking forward to it,” Mitch answered, before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Jonah sighed as he set his phone down on the kitchen table and slumped down into a chair. There was no denying that he was looking forward to it, too.

Probably a little too much.

It was going to be hard enough to leave Pop here by himself in a few days. But if Jonah was sleeping just a few feet away from Mitch for the rest of the week—and especially if he couldn’t do anything about it—that was going to make things even harder.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Jonah’s boss would hunt him down and kill him if he missed the design expo, Jonah would probably be able to talk himself into staying for a few more weeks.

And that was dangerous.

That meant even though Jonah’s head knew what he needed to do, his heart already had other ideas.

Other ideas that he thought he’d gotten over ten years ago.

If Jonah hadn’t already been awake, he never would have heard the soft knock on his bedroom door.

For a moment, he still wasn’t sure he’d heard it. His heart started beating faster as he sat up in bed and listened.

There was no mistaking it the second time, though.

“C—come in,” Jonah said, clearing his throat and pulling the covers tight around him.

The door opened and Jonah could see Mitch’s head peek inside the dark room.

“Jonah? Did I wake you?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep.” Jonah waited while the door opened wider and Mitch stepped inside, closing it behind him. “Um… what’s up?”

Mitch walked over, gingerly feeling his way through the darkness until he was able to sit down next to Jonah on the bed. “I couldn’t sleep either. I was hoping you’d still be awake. Damn, being back in this room brings back some memories…”

Jonah laughed as he leaned against Mitch’s shoulder in the darkness. It was the closest they’d been all day, and it felt really nice. “It really does, doesn’t it? It’s almost like no time has passed at all. Which probably doesn’t help when I’m lying here thinking about… stuff. Life stuff.”

Mitch laced his fingers with Jonah’s and gently squeezed his hand. “I hate that you have to go back to New York so soon. It’s been really nice getting to spend some time with you again.”

“I hate it, too,” Jonah said, blinking hard as a wave of emotions hit him. He hadn’t really planned on having this conversation now—or ever, really—but here they were. “I’ll be honest… I sometimes wish things could have turned out differently for us. You know? I feel like I know you better than anyone on the planet, and it just sucks that there’s always something that gets in the way. Do you ever feel that way?”

Mitch snorted. “Do I? Only every waking minute of my life, Jonah. Don’t think for a minute I wouldn’t beg you to stay here if things were different. But…”

“Yeah. I know.” Jonah sighed. “Things are what they are. My job. Your dad. Just… life. It all gets in the way.”

As much as Jonah hadn’t been looking forward to saying some of those things out loud, it at least felt good not to have the words bottled up inside him anymore. And it was good to know that Mitch felt the same way.

“So what do we do about it?” Mitch asked, turning slightly to kiss Jonah on the side of his head. “Maybe it’s dumb, but even after saying all of that, I don’t want to go back to just friends. We might not be able to make things work right now, but I don’t think I could stand it if I never got another chance to kiss you. Or hold your hand. Or just be close to you like this.”

Jonah turned to face him, so that even though there was just a sliver of moonlight in the room, he could see Mitch’s eyes.

And even in the darkness, Jonah could see the vulnerability and the honesty there.

He could feel it.

“I don’t want to stop doing this, either,” Jonah said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Not ever. But I think if we’re going to keep going down this road together, we both have to be realistic that it’s only temporary. I want to enjoy every minute I can with you over the next week… but that doesn’t change the fact that I still have to leave when the week is over.”

“If there was something I could do to change your mind, I would.” Mitch took a deep breath. “But like you said, I’ve got my own issues. I agree that we should be realistic, though. We’ll have as much fun as we can and we won’t think about the fact that you have to leave… but when the time comes we have to promise each other not to be sad. That it’s for the best… right?”

Jonah nodded. “Yeah. Just fun. No strings. No hurt feelings. No sad tears. I promise.”

“I promise, too.”

Mitch moved to put his arm around Jonah’s shoulders and pulled him closer, then kissed him sweetly as they sat together in the quiet darkness.

Jonah could feel Mitch’s heart beating, could feel the rise and fall of his broad chest with every deep, steady breath.

And as Jonah closed his eyes, he already knew a week would never be enough.

He was already breaking the promise he’d just made.