Somewhere To Be Read Online Free PDF Page A

Graham,” Jamie replied in a clipped voice.
    “Steve… Graham?” Nick asked, still confused. His breath hitched for a moment. “Hold on. You’re that Jamie?” he asked.
    Jamie flushed, a mix of embarrassment and anger. “Yeah, I’m that Jamie,” he ground out. His pathetic reputation preceded him, it seemed. “Look, Nick, I can’t do this. I can’t be tangled up in Steve and all of that. I don’t want any links to that guy anymore, and I can’t just—” He paused and took a breath. “I’ll let you down. It’s what I do,” he said quietly.
    He’d thought he’d been doing so well with getting himself back on track, but truth was he was just a guy working in a takeaway and barely scraping by on rent. He definitely wasn’t a catch, and his doubts all bubbled up in his chest, replacing anything good he’d felt before when talking to Nick.
    “Jamie, look, I—” Nick began softly.
    Jamie hated that placating tone, one Steve had used so often when he said Jamie was being unreasonable and childish.
    It raised his hackles again. “It’s fine, Nick. Like I said. I’ll see you around sometime,” he snapped, ending the call and flicking the phone to vibrate. It buzzed in his hand before he’d even dropped it onto the seat, but he ignored it and turned up the radio, drowning out the little insistent sound. He was much better off not going down that road again, and he knew it. But it didn’t stop him feeling achingly lonely as he sat there.

Chapter Five
     
    S O THERE was no way they were making it home tonight. The motorways were backed up, not only from the snow but also from cars being left on the roadside as their drivers sought warmth from the rest stops. The airport was hectic, an absolute riot of angry people missing their flights or being delayed and frantic staff trying to smooth things over and get people where they should be.
    The chairs were full of weary people, and the floor was littered with bags, and even those people who were just sick of standing around waiting and had decided to hunker down against the walls. It was, in a word, hell.
    Jamie finally located his grandma and Auntie Mimi seated in a corner, Grandma asleep and snuffling and Mimi looking both wide-eyed and exhausted. Jamie’s dad had been on the phone and had tried to arrange a hotel room for them somewhere, but no luck. Jamie’s heart was already somewhere around his knees after dealing with Steve and Nick today, but it sunk even further at the idea of spending the rest of Christmas Eve in an airport. He hoped they would make it out of here in time for Christmas dinner tomorrow, but he was resigned to missing Christmas morning.
    He stooped down to hug his auntie and sat cross-legged at her feet, listening to the tannoy announcements and the general bustle. Jamie was loath to wake his grandma just to inform her they were stuck for the time being, so they let her sleep on.
    “So no luck getting out of here, uh?” asked Mimi, looking both hopeful and resigned all at once.
    “No, Auntie. No luck. Baba is trying to sort something out, but he forgets sometimes how badly we cope with snow here, I think.” Jamie smiled tiredly up at his auntie.
    “Snow, huh?” she mused. Her brow furrowed as she looked him over, and she took his chin in her hand, lifting his face to hers. “You look tired, Jamie. No sleep?”
    “I slept okay,” he said. “Just a long drive is all.”
    “Jamie,” she said warningly. “There is more.”
    He sighed and rubbed his hand over his head. “Just stuff going on with friends.”
    “Only friends? No girlfriend?” His family in Malaysia had always assumed him straight, and he did nothing to dispel the idea. Coming from a country where being gay meant being completely ostracized, Jamie figured they’d struggle to get their heads around it, and it wasn’t worth the hassle of explaining. But he never outright lied.
    “No, Auntie, no girlfriend,” he sighed.
    “You need a nice girl to take care