"Don't pity me," Jasper said a little more sharply than he intended, setting the kettle down heavily. He looked immediately apologetic. "Sorry. You just..." Sounded like my mother, he didn't say, instead just worried over the steeping tea.
He was surprised when Justin took hold of his chin like that, Jasper's eyes going wide behind his glasses. Biting his lip, he gave Justin's question some serious thought. "Last week," he said finally. "I met up with some people." His agent and someone from the publishing house. Jasper had been uncomfortable having lunch out in public where anyone could hear about his, well, his secret career, but it had gone well and the food had been good.
Justin's second question had Jasper's ears practically glowing bright red and he jerked his head away to go back to the tea, his version of hiding in plain sight. "That's...that's not important," he mumbled, handing Justin his tea without looking at him. Jasper then headed for the fridge to put a bit of milk in his own mug. "Not that long," he added, burning face buried in the cool interior of the fridge. It was a blatant lie. It had been at least a year.